Justin Morneau hasn&#8217;t played since Aug. 28, when he dove to his left in an attempt to snag a double down the right-field line early in a victory over
Justin Morneau hasn't played since Aug. 28, when he dove to his left in an attempt to snag a double down the right-field line early in a victory over Detroit, possibly causing a concussion. (Pioneer Press file: Sherri LaRose-Chiglo)

DETROIT - Whether Justin Morneau has a new concussion or is still battling the one that cost him 81 games last season, the fact it's an issue again has the Twins first baseman concerned.

What particularly concerns Morneau is that the play that sidelined him this time was fairly routine.

"It's a normal baseball play. I should be able to do that without any problems," he said.

Morneau believed his July 7, 2010, concussion was long behind him when he dived to his left in an attempt to snag a double down the right-field line early in a victory over Detroit on Aug. 28 at Target Field. He stayed in the game, which he ended with an acrobatic unassisted double play.

But he hasn't played since, missing his 11th straight game Friday night at Detroit's Comerica Field, though he took batting practice and, for the first time since being injured, ran in the outfield before the game. If able, he'd like to play as a designated hitter before this road trip ends Wednesday in Kansas City.

Morneau said Friday he believes he suffered a new concussion when he made that diving attempt for Alex Avila's double in the second inning of an 11-4 victory.

"To me, I was fully healed, so whether you want to call it a new incident or not, the symptoms are there," he said. "Personally, I wouldn't call it faring up. I felt good and wasn't bothered by anything and was able to do everything I wanted to do. Before I dove, I felt fine."

Most troubling is that the symptoms can be traced to a relatively normal play. Last year's concussion was caused by a knee to the head while Morneau broke up a double play in a loss at Toronto, a relatively rare occurrence. Diving for a sharp grounder is pretty standard for a major league infielder.

"It's definitely something that concerns me," Morneau said. "I mean, that's not normal. You see guys dive all the time. You see guys run full speed into the wall, and they're all right after that."

Morneau and manager Ron Gardenhire met last week and concurred that if Morneau is able to return this season, he'll do so as a designated hitter and won't play the field again in 2011. Asked if he's concerned he might be a DH the rest of his career, Morneau said, "I don't know that I'd say something like that."

"My goal is to get through this year and then have the winter off, and whatever's in there will heal completely and I'll have a normal offseason, and then come into spring training and hopefully it's far enough away that we don't have to worry about it," he said. "That's the hopeful situation.

"The reality of it is it could come back. You never know. It's impossible to look into the future and see what's going to happen. Because I felt real good before this, and I just have to keep believing that it's going to heal and trust what the doctors are telling me."

Gardenhire said he has no plans for Morneau to play again this season.

"He hit the ground pretty hard, and it definitely didn't help matters with him," the manager said. "There's always concern. As I've said all along, we don't know enough about this concussion thing....I'm just hoping we can get past these things over the winter, and get into next year and maybe they'll be a thing of the past."

As for whether he'll play again this season, Morneau doesn't know. What he does know is that getting some swings in a real game before Sept. 28 is less important than being healthy.

"I always want to play, so it's not anything based on desire. It's based on moving forward," he said. "I've heard people say, 'Going into the offseason feeling good.' I think all that confidence comes from having a normal offseason and training and putting the work in and starting over each spring.

"I don't know if 10 games will make a difference, or five games or whatever it would be. Once I have a normal offseason, I think that will make the biggest difference."

Follow John Shipley at twitter.com/shipleykid.