LOS ANGELES — Justin Morneau’s long, arduous climb back to his baseball mountaintop was completed Sunday.

The Rockies first baseman planted the flag as the 2014 National League batting champion, completing a return journey that began with the severe concussion he suffered in the summer of 2010 as a member of the Minnesota Twins.

“This is one of those things that’s really hard to put into words. I’m not sure it’s really sunk in yet,” he said. “I think when you go through rough times, it makes you appreciate the good times even more.”

Morneau, 33, finished this season hitting .319, the lowest average for an NL batting champion since Terry Pendleton hit .319 for the Atlanta Braves in 1991. Morneau beat out Pittsburgh’s Josh Harrison, who went 0-for-4 during the Pirates’ 4-1 loss Sunday in Cincinnati and finished at .315.

Morneau didn’t play Saturday night and was not in the starting lineup again for Sunday’s season finale against the Dodgers. He pinch hit in the eighth inning, grounding out to second base.

Manager Walt Weiss said it was his decision to sit Morneau in an effort to secure the league batting title. Weiss and Morneau received criticism for the tactic, but both stood by the decision.

“I’ve got him out of the lineup. It’s my decision,” Weiss said before Sunday’s game. “The way I look at it, the guy has experienced a career-threatening injury and if he’s in a position to win a batting title, I’m going to try to make sure he does. Anybody who has a problem with it, then their beef can be with me.”

Said Morneau: “The (Pittsburgh) game was done before we started, so we knew where we stood. I mean, you work all year for it, so it doesn’t really come down to the last two games.”

But the Houston Astros’ Jose Altuve took a different route to winning the American League batting crown. He was added to the Astros’ lineup Sunday after they reversed their original decision to bench him — against his wishes — to protect his lead in the AL batting race. Altuve went 2-for-4, including a double. He finished at .341.

“People can talk about backing into it and stuff, but that doesn’t bother me,” Weiss said of Morneau sitting out. “It takes six months to win a batting title, not one day. So that’s how I look at it.”

Signed by the Rockies to a two-year, $12.5 million contract during the offseason, Morneau revived his career, not only batting .319 but slugging 17 homers and 32 doubles, while driving in 82 runs. He was the 2006 American League MVP, but this is his first batting title.

Morneau became the seventh different Rockies player to win the NL batting championship.

Patrick Saunders: psaunders@denverpost.com or twitter.com/psaundersdp