Mike Morse
Washington Nationals — No. 28
Utility player
Born: March 22, 1982 (1982-03-22) (age 27) Fort Lauderdale, Florida
Bats: Right	Throws: Right
MLB debut
May 31, 2005 for the Seattle Mariners
Career statistics (through 2009)
Batting average	.293
Home runs	6
Runs batted in	47
Teams
Seattle Mariners (2005-2008) Washington Nationals (2009-present)

Michael John Morse (born March 22, 1982 in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida) is a Major League Baseball utility player for the Washington Nationals. He was selected by the Chicago White Sox in the 3rd Round (82nd overall) of the 2000 Major League Baseball Draft. Morse attended Nova High School in Davie, Florida, the same school that produced future National Football League players Autry Denson and Omar Smith, and future Major League Soccer player Cory Gibbs.

[edit] Professional career

[edit] Seattle Mariners

Morse was acquired by the Mariners along with Miguel Olivo and Jeremy Reed for Freddy Garcia and Ben Davis on June 27, 2004. Beginning the 2005 season with the Triple-A Tacoma Rainiers, he made his major league debut on May 31, 2005. Although Morse made it to the big leagues as a shortstop, with the arrival of Yuniesky Betancourt, Morse began to develop as a utility player, having spent time at first base and left field.

On July 6, 2006, Morse had surgery to repair a torn medial meniscus of his right knee. In 2008, Morse had the best batting average in the major leagues in spring training batting .492. After playing only 5 games in 2008, Morse suffered a torn labrum diving for a ball against the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim; he had surgery to repair it and missed the rest of the season^[1].

[edit] Washington Nationals

On April 1, 2009, Morse cleared waivers and was sent outright to Triple-A Tacoma.^[2] Morse was traded to the Washington Nationals for outfielder Ryan Langerhans.^[3]

[edit] Personal life

He resides in Plantation, Florida.

[edit] Steroids

On September 7, 2005, he became the ninth Major League Baseball player to be suspended for testing positive for steroids. Morse admitted that he had taken steroids in 2003 after tearing his thigh muscle, being suspended in May 2004 after testing positive for the drug. Morse adamantly claimed that the 2005 positive testing was a result of the earlier usage^[4].

[edit] See also

• List of sportspeople sanctioned for doping offences

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Career statistics and player information from MLB, or ESPN, or Baseball-Reference, or Fangraphs, or The Baseball Cube

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