"If you were wondering why Justin Morneau was batting .225 this season, it's because he could barely feel his left arm. He hasn't felt his left index finger since the last week of spring training, and the entire arm has been numb for much of the season.

"I'd like that to go away," he said Friday after it was revealed the Twins first baseman and 2006 American League most valuable player will have surgery Wednesday on a herniated disk in his neck.

Morneau is expected to miss six weeks after the surgery is completed.

Doctors will remove a bone fragment pinching a nerve in his neck. A cortisone shot in May helped ease the pain, but the numbness and weakness have never gone away, which goes a long way toward explaining why Morneau - a career .301 major league hitter entering the season - is batting .225 with four homers and 21 runs batted in in 55 games this season.

"It's kind of important to have two arms to hit and play baseball," he said. "The weakness and the numbness are the two things. The pain is still there, but I can deal with pain; I can play with pain. But going out there and trying to hit with one arm, obviously - you saw the results. It wasn't good.

"I wasn't helping the team. That also helped me to a decision to take care of it."

Already on the disabled list because of a sore left wrist, Morneau hopes to be back in August and help the Twins complete a remarkable climb from the American League Central cellar that started June 2. The Twins have won 15 of 19 since then and trimmed 8-1/2 game from their division deficit."