Nine Innings: Pirates outfielder Nyjer Morgan

Sometimes, when baseball players are interviewed, it’s easy to get the impression that they’d rather be wrestling with a porcupine in a vat of acid. This is tremendously not the case with Pirates outfielder Nyjer Morgan, who on Monday became the first person - let alone ballplayer - I’ve ever met to introduce himself with a three-step handshake. Morgan then told me that my eight-week-old beard looked like Rick Ross’ , and laughingly chided me when I came back to Shea Stadium on Wednesday clean shaven. There are a few things at play here. First, there’s Morgan’s natural ebullient personality - he doesn’t miss a chance to mingle or joke around with anyone in the clubhouse, from teammates to reporters to security guards. Then there’s the fact that he’s a rookie and a reserve, which means that he hasn’t had to deal with a ton of repetitive, daily grind questions from the media - an example of this effect is David Wright, who remains friendly ... [link]