Giants' Michael Morse offers some A-ha and ha-ha moments

Recommended Video:

Michael Morse to Giants fans:

"I've got to act like I've done it before."

Morse was discussing his fist-pumping, leg-kicking enthusiasm on Saturday in the Giants' clubhouse.

"I get very excited at key moments of the game," he said, shaking his head. "I get carried away a little bit."

Giants fans to Michael Morse:

Please don't change.

Morse, after just his first week at AT&T Park, is already becoming a fan favorite. He's enthusiastic, productive (batting .444 during a nine-game hitting streak that ended Saturday), a little bit nutty and - oh, yeah - he has that awesome walk-up song.

That's the one thing that most Giants fans already know about newcomer Morse, who was signed in the offseason to play left field. Born in 1982, Morse has a noteworthy soundtrack - the 1985 hit "Take on Me" by the Norwegian group A-ha.

"I love 80s music and I'm a big fan of one-hit wonders," said Morse, who used to watch VH1 with his older brother T.K. When Morse was with the Nationals, the song became a thing, with talk of the band performing a concert during the playoffs. Washington fans sang along after the music stopped.

That's already happening at AT&T Park, as you could hear on Saturday. The classic '80s track swells during Morse's third at-bat - the better to have the crowd's collective vocal chords lubricated. And who doesn't want to try to hit that high note during a baseball game?

The Giants crowd has always been eager to embrace a player's quirks, and Morse has plenty. He's taken to rubbing legendary clubhouse manager Mike Murphy's head for good luck - if he can't find Murph in the dugout he'll run up into the clubhouse to complete the ritual. He has a "Samurai Cobra Snake" coiling warm-up swing when he's on-deck. With the Nationals, his nickname was "Beast Mode," but here on the West Coast that's already been taken.

Morse got to know Bruce Bochy and some of the Giants during a 2011 exhibition trip to Taiwan and liked what he saw. He was told by former Nationals teammate Mark DeRosa that he would be a perfect fit with the Giants. He's a free spirit, a player who likes to have fun.

Michael Morse struggled with injuries last season, but he's quickly turning into a fan favorite in San Francisco. Michael Morse struggled with injuries last season, but he's quickly turning into a fan favorite in San Francisco. Photo: Jeff Chiu, Associated Press Photo: Jeff Chiu, Associated Press Image 1 of / 1 Caption Close Giants' Michael Morse offers some A-ha and ha-ha moments 1 / 1 Back to Gallery

"I agree with that," said Bochy, who once called his team a "band of misfits." "With the group of guys that we have, the city that we play in, he's a great fit. He's loose but he plays with a lot of intensity."

In that way, Morse is like a long lost twin of his outfield teammate, the equally enthusiastic, also quirky Hunter Pence. The two, who previously only knew each other as the admiring opposition, immediately clicked in spring training, causing jokes of a bromance.

"I've always respected his game from the other side," Morse said. "He makes you push yourself.

"But he's got super-speed. Me, I run so fast it makes me look slow. Deceptive."

Pence returns the love.

"We just have similar quirky personalities," Pence said. "We're both very passionate for the game. He has very good charisma. Leadership. Humor.

"There are a lot of different personalities on the Giants, so we enjoy that."

Oh, and there's that addition of another big bat in the lineup.

"He's a huge spark," Pence said. "He makes us a lot more dynamic. He's one of the best hitters in the game when he's healthy."

Health was an issue for Morse last season. After being traded from Washington to Seattle before the 2013 season, he tried to fight through a wrist injury.

"It was either try to play through it or not play," he said. "I didn't know what else to do."

But his production dropped and after being traded to Baltimore in August, Morse appeared in only 12 games before the wrist forced him to shut down for the season. Now he's healthy, after having a bone spur removed in October. Despite going 0-for-4 Saturday, he's hitting .351 with two home runs and 10 RBIs.

"He's a presence in the lineup," Bochy said. "I really like his at-bats with runners in scoring position. He's a good two-strike hitter. He's a big strong guy with power, who knows what he's doing up there."

Morse grew up in Florida, though he spent some of his childhood with his maternal grandparents in Jamaica (he has a Jamaican flag tattooed on his ankle). Now he and his wife are living a few blocks from the ballpark.

"I love it," he said. "Everyone's so nice, people are always out along the water, there are so many good restaurants."

After a rocky first outing in AT&T's left field, during the Bay Bridge series with the A's - when he was trying to figure out his new workplace - Morse has settled down.

"The ballpark has so many elements," he said. "The fog, the seagulls, the wind, the cold. No play is routine here.

"That makes it fun, and the fans are unreal."

So far, the fans return the appreciation. Morse might want to circle July 25 on his calendar and dig deep in his closet for a Members Only jacket and into his files for A-ha's contact number: that's '80s night at AT&T Park.

"He might be," Pence said, "the head honcho of '80s night."

One gets the feeling that Morse would love that title.