Morgan Ensberg has made a career of surpassing expectations. A California surfer who had to pay his own way onto his college team, he has been unwanted, undrafted and completely overlooked at virtually every stop of his baseball odyssey. Morgan has beaten the odds again and again—and even escaped death. Written off yet again after an injury-plagued 2004 campaign, he bounced back to become an All-Star in 2005, when he turned in the finest season ever by an Astro third baseman and emerged as Houston’s new leader. This is his story…

GROWING UP

Morgan Paul Ensberg was born in Redondo Beach, California, August 26, 1975. Morgan, the first of Martin and Laura Ensberg's three boys, grew up in the Los Angeles suburb of Hermosa Beach, where his family still lives today.

Morgan was a California beach kid, a surfer first and foremost. As a child, he could not imagine going without the feel of sand between his toes for a single day. The Pacific Ocean was literally steps from his front door.

Morgan got his first taste of organized baseball at the age of six, and played in the town’s Little League and Pony League programs into his teen years. As he grew toward his burly frame—he stands 6-2 and weighs 220—basketball became his sport. He rooted for the Lakers as a kid, but also loved his trips to Dodger Stadium, where he got caught up in Fernandomania and cheered for Steve Garvey, Davey Lopes, Bill Russell and Ron Cey during their final days in Dodger blue.

Morgan graduated to Redondo Union High School in 1991, and made the varsity basketball and baseball teams as a sophomore. Coach Tim Ammentorp hoped to motivate him to get more serious about the diamond, and decided to appeal to the teenager’s intellect. Morgan liked the idea of gaining an edge with his mind, and the deeper he immersed himself in the nuances of baseball, the better he played. Still, he was best known as the star of the Redondo Union basketball team. Morgan finally contracted the baseball bug as a senior, when the Sea Hawks went 24-5, and advanced deep into the state playoffs.

Morgan had wanted a basketball scholarship from a Division I school, but no offers came. Turning his attention to baseball, he hoped for a phone call on draft day, and knew the Seattle Mariners were interested. Nothing materialized.

With no other options, Morgan enrolled at the University of Southern California, and tried out for the baseball team as a freshman. Coach Mike Gillespie saw enough to make him the Trojans' third-string third baseman for the 1995 season. Morgan sharpened his skills against his teammates in practices, but saw little action that first year, logging just 16 at-bats.

Morgan’s lot had not improved much when the 1996 campaign began. But the starting third sacker flunked out, and second-stringer Ernie Diaz failed to hit in the early going. Gillespie turned to Morgan and told him to show what he had. The soph homered in his second at-bat. Given the chance to play everyday, Morgan went wild at the plate. He batted .354 with 10 homers and 35 RBIs, powering a lineup that included future major leaguers Jacque Jones and Chad Moeller to a season-ending #7 national ranking.

With expectations suddenly very high, Morgan started his junior season slowly. While his average hung around .300, he was not generating the power expected from a heart-of-the-order hitter. As the temperatures heated up, however, so did Morgan, who finished at .306 with eight homers and 44 RBIs. The Trojans, led also by Eric Munson and Seth Etherton, wound up 1997 with a #10 national ranking.

As one of the best players on one of the nation’s best teams, Morgan fully believed he would be drafted that June. He was shocked when his name went uncalled. It's not that Morgan minded playing his last season at USC, but his bargaining power with a future major-league team had taken a serious hit.

The good news was that Morgan would be a key player on a powerhouse 1998 USC squad. Etherton and Munson were back, along with leadoff hitter Wes Rachels, slugging first basemann Rob Gorr, centerfielder Jeremy Freitas, pitcher-outfielder Jason Lane, and closer Jack Krawczyk. The Trojans went 49-17 and finished second in the Pac 10 to Stanford. Morgan had a terrific year, batting .344 with a team-high 21 homers to go with his 69 RBIs.

Stuck in the East Regionals, USC battled their way into the College World Series with four victories in five games. There, they caught fire and advanced to the championship game against Arizona State. Everyone had a theory on how Morgan and his teammates could win it all, including former USC coach, Rod Dedeaux, who actually sat behind the Trojan dugout and gave advice to each hitter as he walked toward the on deck circle. In a wild slugfest that featured 39 hits, the Trojans won 21-14. With the game still close in the eighth inning, Morgan stole home. When USC arrived back home, hundreds of fans met them at the airport. Morgan was first off the plane, carrying the national championship trophy.

ON THE RISE

In the June draft, Morgan’s name was on prescious few lists. The Astros, who tabbed Brad Lidge with their first choice, grabbed him in the ninth round and assigned him to Auburn of the NY-Penn League. There he played in 59 games for the Doubledays, hitting .230 with five homers and 15 steals. Drafted as a line-drive type hitter, Morgan launched a couple of his homers so high and deep that the Houston brass began thinking they might have a classic slugger in the making.

Morgan got his bearings in 1999, his first full year as a pro, progressing at an encouraging rate. Still, his .239 average and 35 errors showed there was plenty of room for improvement, though in Morgan’s case the deficiencies were mental, not physical. Getting used to baseball as an everyday job was a bit of a challenge for him. In college, he had a chance to recharge his battery between game. In the minors, there was little time to recuperate—you had to keep playing, practicing, or traveling. Despite Morgan's slow adjustment to pro ball, Astro scouts believed he was on the fast track. He received high marks heading into the 2000 campaign, as the team ticketed him for Double A.

Morgan entered spring training knowing that he was being considered for a major-league job. Houston's starting third baseman, Ken Caminiti, was showing the effects of his 37 years, and Chris Truby was being groomed to take his place. Though Morgan harbored no illusions about making the big club when it broke camp, he knew he might be an option if one of these two were injured later in the year. It was going to be a season full of possibilities.

What was unimaginable to Morgan was the possibility that he would not live through spring training. Yet that was the situation in which he and five teammates found themselves one evening when two gunmen burst through the door of their room at the Kissimmee Holiday Inn. Morgan, Aaron Miles, Keith Ginter, Derrek Nicholson, Mike Rose and Eric Cole were tied up and blankets put over their heads as they were robbed and their rooms ransacked.

Morgan was certain that they would all be killed, so he wriggled out from under his blanket. He did not believe one human could kill another if he could see his face. Suddenly, there was a commotion in the adjoining room, as the intruders struggled with one of his teammates. The police showed up and shot one of the assailants and the other escaped. This was a life-altering experience for Morgan, who was extremely religious before this happened and became more so afterwards.

Vowing not to take his life or career for granted, Morgan powered his way through a terrific campaign for Class-AA Round Rock. He belted 28 homers, batted an even .300, and slugged a club-high .592. Starting all 140 games, Morgan paced the Express to the Texas League Championship.

Promoted to Houston in September, he appeared in four games for the Astros, collecting two hits in seven at-bats. Morgan also got married, and he and wife Christi honeymooned in Venezuela—where he just happened to be playing ball that winter. After contending for the league batting title, Morgan agreed to join another Dominican Winter League team, which needed a big bat for the playoffs.

After his solid year at Round Rock and his September call-up, Morgan watched Houston's third base situation closely from Class-AAA New Orleans in 2001. Caminiti moved on to the American League and Truby assumed the full-time duties at the hot corner for the Astros. When he failed to hit, there was thought of bringing Morgan up, but the team acquired Vinny Castilla instead, and the veteran performed well enough to keep Morgan at Triple A.

When Morgan fractured a hamate bone that summer, the team decided to maintain the status quo, and he finished out the year with Zephyrs. His final numbers were super: 23 homers and a .310 average in just 87 games.

That winter, after the Astros let Castilla fly via free agency, Morgan knew he was in for an interesting spring. The only player that stood between him and the third base job was Truby, who had not ingratiated himself to new manager Jimy Williams. For the third year in a row, Morgan made baseball a year-round sport, playing during the winter and taking less than four weeks off from the game. He wanted to be ready for his big shot.

After Morgan reported to camp in March, Williams confirmed to him that the third base job was his to lose. Truby was traded to the Montreal Expos for utilityman Geoff Blum a couple of weeks later. Enegized by the vote of confidence, Morgan was further bolsetred when his New Orleans teammate, Adam Everett, won the starting shortstop job.

Though excited about his Opening Day assignment, Morgan felt tired as the Grapefruit League season drew to a close. He failed to impress during the first two months of 2002, hitting a lackluster .236 with three homers and 17 RBIs. Morgan was sent back to the minors at the end of May. Everett, who was even worse, got demoted, too.

In New Orleans, Morgan began to look at his batting stance with a more critical eye. He had very quick hands, but was not generating the bat speed he needed. He scrapped his wide stance and brought his feet 10 inches closer together. Morgan also moved his hands back and closer to his body, tilting his bat over his shoulder. The results were very good. Morgan was clobbering fastballs, and most important was turning on inside pitches and drivingn balls he’d been popping up or banging into the ground. He finished the AAA season with a .288 average and 22 extra-base hits in 83 games. Morgan returned to Houston in September, where he raised his average to .242.

MAKING HIS MARK

In 2003, the Astros installed Morgan as their everyday third baseman again, but this time they platooned him in April to take the pressure off. The strategy worked like a charm, as Morgan went through his usual first-month doldrums, then batted over .300 in May and June to nail down the job for good.

Morgan’s surge came at a critical time for the Astros, who seemed to be aging all at once. Craig Biggio wasn’t getting on base as in years past, Jeff Bagwell’s power had all but disappeared due to shoulder problems, and newcomer Jeff Kent was battling a wrist injury that sapped his strength for much of the year. Morgan and Richard Hidalgo carried the club for much of the season.

Houston just missed the playoffs, finishing one game behind the Chicago Cubs in the NL Central. Morgan put up 25 homers, 60 RBIs and 60 walks, despite an elbow badly inflamed with flexor tendonitis. He decided to rest his arm over the winter but it was still aching when he reported to spring training in 2004. Though it showed no improvement during the exhibition season, he told no one.

Unable to swing for the fences, Morgan concentrated on making solid contact for singles and doubles—basically hitting with a two-strike approach rather than his smooth, natural power cut. When June rolled around and he was still homerless, everyone in baseball wondered what the problem was. Morgan’s power drought finally ended at 67 games in early July, when he went deep in three consecutive games. By then, Morgan was being written off as a flash in the pan by most fans, who didn't know the pain he was experiencing.

After a dismal start in '04, the big news for the Astros was a miraculous second-half turnaround triggered by the firing of Williams and hiring of Phil Garner, the elevation of Lidge to closer, and the addition of centerfielder Carlos Beltran. Houston—days away from pulling the plug on its season—surged into Wild Card contention and snagged the final spot with a marvelous September run. Morgan watched much of the excitement from the bench, as he fell into a lefty-righty platoon with Mike Lamb. Also seeing more pine time was Jason Lane, who became an extra outfielder with Beltran in center.

Like any good team player, Morgan accepted the fact that he would have to adjust if he was going to help the Astros down the stretch. Resetting his mind, he became an excellent half of Houston's lefty-righty third-base combo. Morgan very quietly knocked in 29 runs during Houston's final 33 home games, including several huge ribbies after Bagwell and Lance Berkman had been pitched around. He did all this while missing time with back spasms.

On the strength of a 12-game winning streak, the Astros rolled into the playoffs, where they came within an eyelash of beating the St. Louis Cardinals for the pennant. Morgan appeared in all 12 post-season games and had 10 hits. A better fielder than Lamb, he was in there for his glove, however, and he knew it. For 2005, Morgan would have to prove he could hit all over again.

In the final analysis, Morgan took one positive development from the 2004 campaign, as he had learned to be more selective at the plate. Not wanting to aggravate his elbow, he ignored strikes on the edge of the zone, simply conceding perfect pitches to opposing hurlers. This would prove to be a silver lining as he prepared to attack the ball in '05.

Looking ahead to his first full year as manager, Garner was undecided about his third base situation. Morgan was a better player than Lamb, but the Houston skipper wanted to find time for both. With Berkman out thanks to an off-season knee injury, and Beltran signed by the New York Mets, there were enough at-bats in the outfield for Lamb so that Morgan would have a chance to redeem himself at third.

And redeem himself he did. Morgan absolutely clobbered the ball in April and May, making up for the lost production in the middle of the Houston lineup, especially after Bagwell hit the DL with a bum shoulder. Morgan was a one-man wrecking crew all spring, providing the lone offensive spark for the pitching-rich Astros, who could not buy a road win in the first couple of months.

During this time, Morgan began to establish himself as a team leader. In a game against the Reds at the end of June, Cincinnati's Luke Hudson threw a fastball right at Morgan’s head. With the Astros on the edge of the dugout steps, he calmly picked himself up up, dusted himself off, and crushed the next pitch 400 feet. With Biggio and Bagwell winding down their careers in Houston, fans and management were glad to see a new star emerging who handled himself with class.

As the All-Star break neared, it was clear that Morgan had no chance to beat out Scott Rolen for the fan vote. He hoped that he would be selected as a substitute, but Aramis Ramirez got the nod instead. There was a great outcry among Houston fans, but Morgan looked forward to the three days off. He and Christi planned to take a quick vacation with former teammate Scott Linebrink and his wife. But minutes before Morgan was to leave for the airport, GM Tim Purpura called him and told him that Rolen had backed out because of injury. Morgan jumped on a plane to Detroit for the Mid-Summer Classic. Though he went 0-for-2, he had the time of his life.

Ensberg owns one of the prettiest swings in baseball. It is quick, compact, and solid to all fields. He has been at his best when he goes to the plate relaxed, and at his worst when he tries to outthink the pitcher.

It is not unusual for natural hitters like Morgan to struggle until they trust their ability, and in 2005, he finally figured it all out. The most encouraging sign? Even when he was going badly, Morgan was still an excellent clutch hitter.

Morgan will never win any Gold Gloves, but he has an above-average arm and does not commit many errors. As a baserunner, he has decent speed and will steal the occasional base. As a leader, he has the respect of his teammates, both for his perseverance though tough times and his ability to produce in big spots.