By Alexis Brudnicki
DUNEDIN, Fla. – It can be lonely at the top.
As Canada’s top high school player heading into this year’s draft, Gareth Morgan has been going down a path filled with a lot of anticipation for some time now.
“People put some expectations on me because I was the young guy,” the 17-year-old outfielder said. “But I’m supposed to be here, so I immediately need to think that I’m the best on the team. There’s an expectation to perform and to be one of the leaders on the team now that I’m older.”
As the first player since Brett Lawrie to play for the Canadian Junior National Team for four straight years, with Morgan starting at age 14, the two very different players have drawn many comparisons.
“He’s kind of more the rowdy type,” Morgan said. “I’m more of a shy guy. But over the years I’ve opened up a little and gained some confidence.”
Heading into his final tour with Team Canada’s 18-and-under squad, Lawrie had some advice to offer to Morgan, with the Toronto Blue Jays third baseman now six years removed from his junior national squad tenure.
“Professional baseball is not supposed to be fun,” Lawrie said. “You think it’s fun, but fun is when you’re with Team Canada, playing with your buddies from home and going on trips. That’s fun. When you come here, it’s work now and that’s your life. Everybody in work wants to get to the top no matter where you’re at or what job you’re in, you want to get to the top.
“For me, that basically says you either want it or you don’t. If you don’t want it, you’re going to stay here in the minor leagues and have a minor-league career and that’s it. If you want that, then it’s there for you, but if you don’t and you want to make it to the top then I suggest you do something about it.”
The young Toronto native believes he has taken advantage of everything that Baseball Canada’s program has offered to him, and Morgan thinks he is ready for his next steps.
“I feel like I’ve taken it in and turned this experience into the best it can be,” he said. “This is kind of like the big leagues of high school. We get treated like Gods. It prepares us for the future to come, because playing every day for the long trips in the hot sun kind of sets an example for pro ball.”
One very evident difference between the games of Lawrie and Morgan during their time with the Canadian junior squad is their levels of confidence. The 24-year-old infielder was a catcher in his early days with Team Canada, and the 6-foot-4, 220-pound Morgan takes his spot in centre field most often, but what separates them most is that Lawrie both walked the walk, and he talked the talk.
“That’s kind of how I’ve always done things coming up,” Lawrie said. “I’ve never played with kids that were my own age, so I’ve always had to step it up another level. I was always playing with kids two years older and three years older than myself. That always told me that you either have to be the best or you’re not going to make it because these kids are older than you, so there’s always going to be that stipulation that you’re too young and whatnot.
“I always had to have a chip on my shoulder and always prove to somebody that I belonged. That’s what I’ve always done and it’s stuck with me all the way from when I was seven years old to [being] 24 now and that’s just the way it is. If you don’t have that mentality, it’s awful hard because there are so many other guys who are coming for your job.”
Morgan is beginning to learn exactly what Lawrie realized, and he’s building up to that level of self-assurance that he needs.
“You have to go on the field thinking you’re the best on the team or you’re the best on the field or else you’re going to be unsuccessful,” Morgan said. “You have to be confident when you go on the field and say, ‘I’m better than this guy I’m facing, so I’m going to get a hit off him,’ or ‘I’m going to make a play and I’m going to do this,’ and have that confidence.”
Being on the junior roster for so long, Team Canada is where Morgan really developed as a young man and a player, and started the process of determining who he is and what kind of game he plays.
“I have figured out who I am through the [junior team],” Morgan said. “Back home playing high school baseball, everyone here would be the leader, or the best on the team, or the power hitter. But here you realize that not everyone is that power hitter; not everyone is the fast guy.
“People have their certain roles on the team. There are power guys, speedy guys, and when you come here you realize what to expect and what you are.”
Not only has Morgan taken on the role of being the squad’s hard-throwing, power-hitting top prospect over time, but head coach and Baseball Canada’s director of national teams Greg Hamilton has also asked him to take on more of a leadership role as well.
“Being on the team for a while, Greg says that going into this year he wanted me to be a leader, kind of get the team going when things aren’t going right, and do things right on and off the field,” Morgan said. “I should set an example for the younger guys…
“I’d like to leave a legacy kind of like Brett’s,” Morgan. “There are a lot of stories around Brett and what’s happened with him on the Junior National Team, so I’d like to have the same thing.”
Thanks to time and maturation, Morgan realizes how much his time with Baseball Canada so far really means, and is beginning to understand that he’s been afforded an opportunity – or several – that not everyone else gets.
“You’ve got to cherish this moment because it’s going to end quick,” Morgan said. “I started when I was in Grade 9 and didn’t really take it all in until about Grade 11 almost that I was on the team. Every trip is just a plus. It’s great to be on the team and represent my country.”
The most recent winner of Baseball Canada’s Alumni Award, Lawrie continues to be grateful for every chance he’s been given on the national roster and because of the program that he came through as well.
“I’ve had the opportunity to play with the national team for a number of years now and I’m thankful for that,” Lawrie said. “I thank Greg and all of Baseball Canada for giving me that opportunity. I love playing for my country and I’m more than willing to do it any time at the drop of a hat.
“It’s how I got to where I am today and in professional baseball, so definitely a lot of hats off to Baseball Canada and the national team. It’s helped me throughout my career, and they’re going to be my family for the rest of my life because Baseball Canada is a family, it’s not just a team.”
Rounding out his final junior tour with Team Canada, Morgan is looking forward to the end but is also a little heartbroken about leaving that same family, however temporary it might be.
“I feel like I’m coming up to the finish line,” Morgan said. “It’s kind of sad to me to be at the end because this is such a great team to be on. But I’ve got to move on with my life. I’m kind of excited for that too, so it’s a win-win situation.”
This article was originally published at the Canadian Baseball Network.
