This story first appeared in 2020 during the COVID-19 shutdown as part of the "50 in 50" series looking at the 50 greatest Wisconsin sports moments of the previous 50 years (this was No. 16). Morgan has been announced as the thrower of the ceremonial first pitch at Wednesday's Game 2 of the National League wild-card series between the Brewers and Diamondbacks.

It's hard to imagine a stronger case of déjà vu for Craig Counsell. The Milwaukee Brewers manager had just watched Mike Moustakas end Game 1 of the 2018 National League Division Series with a single to help the Brewers beat the Colorado Rockies in 10 innings, 3-2.

He was asked if he could compare it to anything else in Brewers playoff history. It seemed too obvious.

"I think the closest probably was from the guy who threw out the first pitch today," Counsell said.Counsell was referring to Nyjer Morgan, who became a Brewers cult hero by driving in the winning run in the 10th inning of Game 5 of the National League Division Series against Arizona at Miller Park in 2011. That was a series clincher instead of a series opener, but it was the same inning and the same score. And Counsell was in the dugout for both, once as a 40-year-old utility man in the final season of his 16-year playing career and once as skipper.

Morgan had returned to Miller Park for that game in 2018, firing up the crowd before throwing out the ceremonial first pitch. Three days shy of the seven-year anniversary, Counsell and Brewers fans experienced it all again. All that was missing were the "T-Plush" shirseys.

During the 2011 season, the city fell in love with the brash and entertaining outfielder who had seemingly come out of nowhere, brought in by an under-the-radar roster move just before the season. Nyjer Morgan was his name, but most fans had warmed to his colorful alter ego, "Tony Plush."

Morgan's standout year included a .778 OPS and .304 batting average, and fans all over Miller Park were wearing shirseys with "T Plush" on the back in a goofy nontraditional script. But Morgan also gave the Brewers a lasting memory that made his celebrated stint in Milwaukee more than just a one-year phase.

He had one of the biggest hits in Milwaukee postseason history.

Morgan's base hit to score Carlos Gómez in the bottom of the 10th inning gave the Brewers a 3-2 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks on Oct. 7, 2011, capping a wild National League Division Series and sending the Brewers to their first League Championship Series since 1982.

When 'Plushdamentals' became a Brewers ethos

Nothing about Morgan was typical. His obsession with hockey led him to leave San Jose for Canada, where he could play in a developmental hockey league.

He'd also been drafted to play baseball by the Colorado Rockies, and though he was able to work his way up the chain, his personality didn't always mesh with big-league teammates, notably in Pittsburgh and Washington. The Nationals had witnessed some of Morgan's more destructive tendencies — such as when he struck a fan in the stands with a ball or charged the mound against the Marlins. Fed up, they traded Morgan to the Brewers in March 2011 for minor-leaguer Cutter Dykstra, the son of all-star Lenny Dykstra.

"I always attributed him acting the way he acted because he was on a young team with no veteran leadership," said Brewers veteran reliever LaTroy Hawkins during the 2011 season. "And I would be the first to tell Nyjer: 'Calm that (expletive) down, OK? Turn it down a notch. Please.'"

But the Brewers did allow Morgan to be himself, and that included the Tony Plush persona he'd developed since his days in San Jose.

"We needed his energy as far as seeing how much fun as a team we could have," said Brewers first baseman Prince Fielder. "Instead of being all-stars and leaders, we're more of a clubhouse again. He's helped bring that team fun back."

"Some people want you to be plain like Wonder Bread," Morgan said. "I guess you're supposed to be a choirboy out there. I do joke around, but I come to work every day prepared, mentally and physically ready to compete and win. ... I don't do anything that says I'm not playing hard or not hustling for my teammates. I've always been this kind of player. That's what got me up here."

Brewers fans ate up Morgan's electric personality and high-energy postgame interviews ("ahhhh, gotta go!"), especially when it came attached with results.

In June, his walk-off double gave the Brewers a 7-6 win over the Mets; afterward Morgan admitted he didn't even know it was the ninth inning. In July, his two-run double in the ninth tied the game against the Twins, and then Morgan scored the winning run in an 8-7 victory on his 31st birthday, a game the Brewers had trailed, 8-7.

"This is probably my best birthday ever," said Morgan, who finished the game 3-for-5 with four RBI and just a single short of the cycle. "Except my ninth birthday. My parents just moved into the new house and we had a sweet pool party."

When he clashed with the St. Louis Cardinals, enough that benches cleared in a September meeting, Brewers fans were along for the ride, even though the Cardinals got the last laugh in the National League Championship Series.

But before the Cardinals ended Milwaukee's season in a 4-2 series win, the Brewers found themselves in a nail-biting position, at home for Game 5 of the NLDS against the Arizona Diamondbacks.

A 10th-inning thriller against Arizona electrifies Miller Park

Morgan had already made something happen in the decisive fifth game of the series, scoring from third on a sacrifice fly when Jerry Hairston's shallow fly ball was caught by a ranging second baseman Aaron Hill in the fourth. That tied the game at 1-1.

The Brewers were nursing a 2-1 lead in the ninth when closer John Axford, who led the league with 46 saves and posted an ERA of 1.95 for the season, allowed a leadoff double to Gerardo Parra and faced runners at the corners with nobody out.

Axford and Fielder couldn't field a Willie Bloomquist bunt one batter later, and the tying run scored. The silver lining, though, was Axford working out of additional trouble and then navigating a 1-2-3 10th inning.

"The character of this team is unbelievable," Axford said. "There's a lot of perseverance in this room, from every single player here." 

Gómez, who had struggled most of the year — leaving plenty of playing time in center field for Morgan — singled with one out in the bottom of the 10th and stole second.

On a 2-2 pitch against Arizona closer J.J. Putz, Morgan slapped a ground ball back up the middle. Gómez scored with a headfirst slide, and the stadium went bonkers as players tumbled onto the field.

"That was 'Tony Clutch' all the way," Morgan said. "Just a little tickler into the outfield. Putz is a pretty solid pitcher. I knew he was going to challenge me. I was just looking for something up (in the strike zone)."

How the moment lives on

As mentioned, the Brewers lost to the wild-card winning Cardinals in the NLCS, and St. Louis went on to win the World Series.

The Brewers, who had bolstered their 2011 team with a number of key roster acquisitions (Zack Greinke, Shaun Marcum, Morgan, Jerry Hairston, Francisco Rodriguez, Takashi Saito) began to disintegrate in 2012. Hairston and Saito went elsewhere, Greinke was traded, Morgan struggled, and the 2012 Brewers finished 83-79, third in the Central after their 96-win run to the division title in 2011.

Morgan's hit is no longer the only walk-off in Brewers playoff history; in 2018, Moustakas delivered another 10th-inning single to the Colorado Rockies in the NLDS. Morgan was brought back during the 2018 postseason as part of the celebration and the club's first division title since that 2011 squad, a team that also matched the franchise-record 96 wins of 2011.

Morgan briefly tried to return with Cleveland in 2014, but 2012 was his last full season of Major League Baseball.

The one-time wonders

Morgan doesn't quite qualify as a one-year wonder because he played in 2012 for the Brewers, but he was a short-term thrill ride in the pantheon of Wisconsin sports.

Consider these other shooting stars in the past 50 years:

Matt Flynn (2011). The backup quarterback really had two crazy moments in the sun. He set a franchise record with six passing touchdowns in the season finale against Detroit in the 2011 season, and upon his midseason return to the franchise in 2013, he helped Green Bay patch together a tie and two wins to stay alive for a playoff berth the Packers later obtained.

Yuniesky Betancourt (2011). He won't be remembered as a cornerstone on that 2011 team, but he was sensational in the postseason, with 13 hits in 42 at-bats (.319), including a homer and six RBI. He had a go-ahead single with two outs in Game 5 of the NLDS and made a key defensive play to keep the game tied.

Brandon Jennings (2009). It's unfair to include him as a "one-hit wonder," because he spent five years with the Milwaukee Bucks and contributed to three playoff appearances. But he'll always be remembered for the seventh game in his career, a game Nov. 11, 2009, in which he scored 55 points against Golden State.

Samkon Gado (2005). Today, he's a chief resident at a hospital, but Dr. Gado was huge for the Packers in 2005 when he came out of nowhere to score seven touchdowns in eight games, with 582 rushing yards and 77 receiving yards. Promoted to the active roster after injuries to Ahman Green and Najeh Davenport, he won two NFL Rookie of the Week awards before his own injury ultimately short-circuited his season.

Jon Bryant (2000). The former Division II player at St. Cloud State played two years with the Wisconsin men's basketball team, scoring 7.3 points per game. But in the 2000 NCAA Tournament, he was unstoppable, making 18 of 39 from three-point range (46.1%) to lead the Badgers on a wild run to the Final Four. Bryant earned regional MVP for his efforts, which included three games of 6 three-pointers or more. 

Steve Woodard (1997). Like Jennings, he spent multiple years in Milwaukee, more than three with the Brewers. But on July 28, 1997, he out-dueled Roger Clemens in a fantastic eight-inning, one-hit performance for his major league debut, when the Brewers beat the Blue Jays, 1-0. It's one of the most dazzling debuts in Brewers history. 

Ned Yost (1982). Before he was the Brewers' manager, he was a lightly-used catcher who slugged his only home run of the 1982 season against Boston in the top of the ninth with six games to go, a three-run blast that broke a tie and gave the Brewers a crucial 6-3 win.

Mark Brouhard (1982). He appeared only in Game 4 in the ALCS, but what a performance it was. The outfielder went 3 for 4 with a home run that gave the Brewers some breathing room late, plus a double and three RBI total. He also caught the final out in a 9-5 win.

Rules of the 50 in 50 series

• Moments are recorded over the 50-year window from 1970 to 2019 (sorry 2020, but you're disqualified)

• These are moments and not achievements, although that largely goes hand-in-hand.

• These are "greatest" 50 moments, so you won't see moments that are pivotal but ultimately heartbreaking (like the NFC Championship loss to Seattle, Kareem getting traded, etc.)

• You also won't see (many) moments that came to be recognized for their greatness later, such as the day the Bucks drafted Giannis Antetokounmpo or the day the Packers traded for Brett Favre.

• Moments considered include teams based in Wisconsin and Wisconsin athletes competing in individual sports or as part of national teams (such as the Olympics), or moments on Wisconsin soil.

• These are singular moments. You're supposed to remember where you were when they happened.

More of the 50 greatest Wisconsin sports moments of the past 50 years

No. 50:   Kulwicki's Polish Victory Lap

No. 49:   David Gilreath takes it to the house

No. 48:   Giannis in the Garden

No. 47:   Tiger Woods greets the world

No. 46:   Sam Dekker at the state tourney

No. 45:   Miracle in the Metrodome

No. 44:   Rodgers finds Cook in Dallas

No. 43:   Lambeau Leap is born

No. 42:   Aaron Rodgers tumbles in 2005

No. 41:   Al Harris pick-six against Seattle

No. 40:   Paul Molitor's hitting streak

No. 39:   Bronson Koenig beats the buzzer

No. 38:   Yelich and Cain on the same day

No. 37:   Doc Rivers stuns Notre Dame

No. 36:   Ray Allen in Game 6

No. 35:   Badgers at the Bradley Center

No. 34:   Russell Wilson in Big Ten title game

No. 33:   The 1980 Brewers blockbuster

No. 32:   Dan Jansen finally strikes gold

No. 31:   UWM rampages to Sweet 16

No. 30:   Jane Pettit donates the Bradley Center

No. 29:   UWGB stuns Cal

No. 28:   Al McGuire jumps on the table

No. 27:   Badgers make thrilling run in 2000

No. 26:   Baseball returns to Milwaukee

No. 25:   Juan Nieves throws a no-hitter

No. 24:   Brewers acquire CC Sabathia

No. 23:   Bucks acquire Oscar Robertson

No. 22:   George Petak switches his vote

No. 21:   Wide open Randall Cobb

No. 20:   The Hail Mary in Motown

No. 19:   Robin Yount reaches 3,000 hits

No. 18:   Game 163

No. 17:   Bevell, Badgers win Rose Bowl

No. 16:   Nyjer Morgan gives Brewers a playoff winner

No. 15:   Mark Johnson scores twice in Miracle on Ice

No. 14:   BJ Raji takes it to the house

No. 13:   Dwyane Wade carves up Kentucky

No. 12:   Ryan Braun sends Brewers back to playoffs

No. 11:   Easter Sunday

No. 10:   Eric Heiden wins record fifth gold

No. 9:   Ron Dayne storms into record books

No. 8:   Badgers beat undefeated Kentucky

No. 7:   Marquette wins thriller in 1977 semifinal

No. 6:   Favre wins one for his father

No. 5:   Reggie White signs with Packers

No. 4:   Bucks win 1971 NBA title

No. 3:   Cooper's hit gives Brewers first pennant

No. 2:   The Packers win Super Bowl XLV

No. 1:   Howard's returns spark Super Bowl XXXI run

'The Next Ten'

No. 51:   Abdul-Jabbar's winning skyhook in 1974

No. 52:   Favre finds Sharpe for breakthrough playoff win

No. 53:   Yount goes 4 for 4 in Game 5 of 1982 World Series

No. 54:   Antonio Freeman's Monday Night winner

No. 55:   Brandon Woodruff takes Clayton Kershaw deep

No. 56:   Yancey Thigpen's drop gives Packers division title

No. 57:   Marquette reaches 1974 NCAA final

No. 58:   Jamar Fletcher's pick-six is Rose Bowl dagger

No. 59:   Badgers football delivers a stunner to No. 1 Michigan

No. 60:   Brewers survive in 1982 finale

'The Next 40'

61-70   From instant replay game to Freddie Owens' winner

71-80   From UW's first hockey title to Villanova stunned twice in same season

81-90   From the Brewers clinching in 1981 to the Bucks in the draft lottery

91-100   From Andy North to a legendary high-school streak

JR Radcliffe can be reached at (262) 361-9141 or jradcliffe@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter at @JRRadcliffe.

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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Nyjer Morgan's walk-off punctuated last Brewers-Diamondbacks playoffs