"Justin Morneau was back in the Twins' clubhouse Wednesday, but he had to watch his team from the sideline for the 24th time this season. Since 2009, Morneau has missed 117 games because of a wrist injury, concussion and a back stress fracture.

At age 30, in the prime of his career, it would be easy for Morneau to question, "Why me?"

He doesn't, though.

"When you see someone like Harmon Killebrew get cancer, that makes you say, 'Why him?' " Morneau said.

"Why me? I had to have a little neck surgery - that's not life or death. It's unfortunate; it's not a lot of fun. It's something I was hoping to avoid, but there are kids in children's hospitals, there are people off fighting wars, and there are people doing other things.

"This (baseball) is what I do, it's what I love to do. It makes me happy to be out there hitting a baseball, the challenge between the pitcher and the batter. But when I start feeling sorry for myself, I give my head a little shake and think about everyone else who is a lot worse off than me." "