Adapting to the process

TORONTO - The murky and uncertain nature of head injuries can make the wisdom gleaned from past experiences an invaluable ally, and Justin Morneau has come to appreciate that while spending a second straight winter struggling to overcome post-concussion syndrome.

A year ago at this time, the Minnesota Twins first baseman from New Westminster, B.C., was just turning the corner in his recovery from an accidental glancing blow that abruptly ended his 2010 season, allowing him to finally shed concerns over his ability to enjoy a normal life again, let alone play baseball.

Now, once again trying to leave behind lingering symptoms from another concussion that shut down his 2011 campaign, Morneau is more at ease, and more comfortable with the process he is following to get him ready for spring training next month.

Yes, there are still times when physical exertion triggers the state of fogginess and debilitating headaches he has worked so carefully to avoid, but he says that's happening less and less frequently these days.

And with a slow return to baseball activities underway - he played some catch and took dry swings this past week, and is due to hit off a tee in the days ahead - Morneau is finding plenty of reason for optimism.

"We learned a lot last winter of trying not to get to that point where it feels bad, get to a point of doing enough to work and get ready for the season but try not to do too much," Morneau said Saturday ahead of Baseball Canada's annual awards banquet. "It's a fine line, you build it up as it goes along and we've done that pretty well this winter. I haven't had really had any (periods) where I've been shut down for three to four days because I feel so bad, and I think that's a good sign. That's been encouraging for me."

Still, the 30-year-old slugger knows all too well how quickly things can revert from good to bad, so he's taking nothing for granted.

Well aware of Sidney Crosby's ongoing struggles with head injuries and how they've become etched in the national sporting consciousness, Morneau realizes he's becoming the point of association for concussions in baseball and he's fine with that status, unwelcome as it may be.

Last spring he spoke passionately of how his fellow players should push vanity aside and wear unsightly but much safer batting helmets, something that became part of the new collective bargaining agreement, and is full of praise for the concussion protocol put into place last April.

Though such incidents in baseball usually occur as a result of an unusual play - unlike hockey where unnecessary head shots are frequently to blame - Morneau feels there's a growing understanding in his sport that no head injury can be taken lightly.

"When you look at a guy like Derek Boogaard, a guy that's 30 years old and has degenerative brain issues, it's something that should wake everybody up and let you know these are real issues and there is long-term damage and that's the thing we're protecting," he said. "We're not doing it just for the sake of doing it, we're doing it for long term health, and I think baseball has taken big strides in that direction with diagnosing, the seven-day DL, making sure guys are ready to play before they go out there."

Helping keep Morneau in check on that front this winter has been Brett Fischer, a physical therapist for the NFL's Arizona Cardinals who put together his training program, monitors his workouts and keeps in touch with his doctors.

It's been a busy job, as Morneau has also needed rehab after surgeries to help repair wrist, knee and foot injuries on top of the concussion recovery.

The slate of ailments are the latest in what has been a staggering 2½ -year stretch of afflictions for Morneau, starting with the lower back fracture that cut short an impressive 2009 campaign, when he was a strong candidate for MVP honours.

Morneau was on track for perhaps the best year of his career in 2010 when he suffered his first concussion during a collision at second base with infielder John McDonald in a July 7 game at Toronto. His batting line at the time was .345/.437/.618 with 18 homers and 56 RBIs in 81 games, but he didn't suit up again.

He opened the 2011 season with the Twins but struggled out of the gate and eventually ended up on the disabled list in June for surgery to repair a pinched nerve in his neck. Though he returned to action in August, feeling as good as he had all year, he made it through just 16 games when he fell awkwardly diving for a ball at first base and suffered another concussion.

In all, Morneau made it through only 69 games, batting an uncharacteristic .227 with four homers and 30 RBIs, and found himself running through a gamut of feelings again as all the side effects of a head injury returned.

"Frustrated, scared, the emotions that go through it, you fear something is going to be taken away that you love, it's pretty intense, it's pretty difficult to deal with sometimes," Morneau said. "But I try to have perspective on it. I've been to the children's hospital many times and things that aren't fair are a seven-year-old kid with cancer, or something like that.

"You learn not to feel sorry for yourself, you learn there are people a lot worse off than you are, and as scary as it is, and as uncertain as it is, you remember that you still have it pretty good and you're still able to wake up in the morning and hold your daughter and do the things you need to do."

For now, the thing he needs to do is stay the course.

Slowly, Morneau says, he's starting to feel like his old self, first off being able to get through every day normally. The next step is to keep feeling good on a daily basis while playing baseball, and while he's hopeful, he just doesn't know if that will be the case.

As for being able to play a full season for the first time since 2008, that's an even bigger question mark.

"The one thing I've learned, as much as I want to be ready or how badly I want to be out there, it's not up to me, it's up to however long it takes to heal," Morneau said. "Anyone that's been through it knows the frustration of it. It's kind of got its own timeline and you kind of have to go along with that.

"That's life, things could be a lot worse."

Shi Davidi is the MLB Insider for sportsnet.ca. Come back to read his insight and opinion regularly.