Mauer Goes Gold

For the second time this week I get to congratulate Joe Mauer on this blog. Yesterday the 25-year old Minnesota Golden Boy truly won gold. After winning his second batting title in 2008 Joe will have to find room in his trophy case for his 1st ever Gold Glove Award.

The Gold Glove Award often has the reputation of being biased towards players who are good at their position, but also do great things with the bat. Mauer certainly fits the bill, but really is a great defensive catcher and proved it this year with his numbers.

Mauer caught a career high 134 games behind the plate and refused to rest down the stretch during the playoff run putting on the pads and gear everyday. Mauer posted a .997 fielding percentage which ranked 1st in the American League. The award winner committed only three errors all year while throwing out 29 of 80 potential basestealers, a rate of 36% which ranks 2nd in the AL.

As usual Torii Hunter collected his 8th straight Gold Glove so it was good to see another Twin win the award after the perennial winner Hunter left. Mauer becomes just the second catcher to win the award in franchise history. Former great, Earl Battey, won the award twice in 1961 and 1962. As long as Joe stays healthy I have no reason to believe he won't win a few more Gold Gloves of his own.

With a 2008 season that ended in a batting title and a Gold Glove there is no denying that Joe Mauer is one of the best, if not the best, catchers in baseball!

Congrats Joe

In honor of the start of awards season tomorrow, I thought we here at Twins MVB were overdue in congratulating Joe Mauer on his second American League Batting Title!

With the chaos and frustration of a tie breaking loss the Chicago White Sox the season ended on an abrupt and sour note. The players walked away with the stinging loss and at best the hopeful thoughts of next year. Yet Mauer's accomplishment cannot go unnoticed.

The St. Paul native now has two batting titles at the young age of 25. In 2006, Mauer hit .347 to become the first AL catcher to ever win the title and the last catcher to win it in either league since Ernie Lombardi hit .330 for the 1942 Boston Braves. In 2008, Mauer hit ONLY .328 but grabbed his second title as a catcher leaving him in a league of his own.

With just over 2000 at bats in his young career, Mauer owns 653 career hits with a .317 career batting average. It's hard to project these numbers into the future with Mauer's injury history and the nature of the catcher position, but it is undeniable that Joe is truly a special hitter. If I were a betting man I would say Mauer will win two more batting titles by the end of his career, and possibly more if he can successfully transition to a new position in the distant future.

For now, I'll always remember the story I read about Joe's grandpa who taught him how to hit as a little boy. When the Twins drafted Mauer with the No. 1 overall pick in 2001, Joe's grandpa came into GM Terry Ryan's office and said, "You just drafted the next .400 hitter!" Let's hope that oracle someday comes true.

For now... how many more batting title do you think Joe can win? Let's hear your comments.

Give me a T-I-G-E-R-S!

After both the White Sox and the Twins went 1-2 in their final season series, neither team was able to step up and win the division. The Twins had two ugly, uninspiring losses to Kansas City on Friday and Saturday, but thankfully took care of business Sunday at the Dome.

The final regular season game saw an amazing pitching performance from Scott Baker, a huge clutch hit from Delmon Young, sloppy defense from the Royals, and a possible 2nd AL Batting Title for Joe Mauer!

Unfortunately, Joe must wait before being crowned batting champ because there is potentially more baseball to be played. Which brings us to the Tigers...

The White Sox finished 1/2 game behind the Twins and thus need to play the rainout game against Detroit tomorrow night in Chicago. If Chicago loses the Twins clinch the division and are off to Tampa Bay for the first round of the playoffs. If Chicago wins the Twins fly to the Windy City for AL Central Tie Breaker at U.S. Cellular on Tuesday.

A tiebreaker in Chicago would be a tough win for the young Twins. I think this motivated club could handle the pressure, but I'd much rather have the day off and head to Florida to prepare for the playoffs. So that's where for one day, just one day, all Twins fans and MVB readers are becoming Tiger's fans for a day. I'm so excited to hang out with these people...

Tomorrow's game is 1 pm CT on ESPN2. Tune in and Go Tigers!

Twins MVB LIVE Blogcast

7:10 PM - Here we go folks the first ever Twins MVB LIVE Blogcast!
7:10 - Can't think of a better way to start... 1 pitch... 1 out!
7:15 - Well, they don't call him a flyball pitcher for nothing! Let's see some hits from the offense.
7:18 - FSN shows a smiling Ozzie after Span's bloop single. He won't be smiling after tonight!

7:22 - Bert's never looked so smart after calling that Griffey is playing too shallow as Mauer puts a double over Griffey's head. Or maybe Junior's never looked so slow!

7:31 - I know Jr.'s swinging a hot bat, but do you think Ozzie really gave him the green light on 3-0? Slowey retires his first six!

7:38 - Someday I'm going to blog about all the possible things Carlos Gomez is saying to his bat

7:45 - Dick says it how it is, 30 pitches, 9 outs for Slowey. Great start!

7:52 - Mauer looking good with his second hit of the night. Keep those hits coming we want another batting title.

8:00 - The downside of flyball pitchers, Orlando Cabrera goes deep in the 4th to tie the game 1-1. No style points for Delmon's poor attempt of robbing a homerun.

8:03 - Listen Gomez!!! Definitely saw Span call that ball. Can't have mistakes like that.

8:09 - Slowey understandibly careful with Griffey as he walks. And Alexei Ramirez officially looks like an alien.

8:16 - Oh no! This is not good. Slowey is hit in the arm and throws the ball away, Sox take a 6-1 lead. How did this get so bad so quickly??? Mistakes by Gomez/Span and Buscher are taking their toll. Even worse, Matt Guerrier is coming into the game in the 4th inning.

8:26 - Great at bat by Brian Buscher. Twins need to be patient and get themselves back into this game. If we can get Floyd out of this game I like our chances against the Chicago bullpen.

8:31 - If Nick Punto's at bat lasted any longer I was going to have to leave and get a Banana Cream Pie Blizzard from DQ after staring at that sign so long. Telly Hughes reports that Kevin Slowey is on his way to the hospital for x-rays. I might hate Telly Hughes more than AJ. Anybody can do his job.

8:49 - Huge strikeout for Reyes on Junior. Twins certainly still in this game and most importantly they got the crowd back into it. 6-3 through five inings.

8:54 - Mauer is motivated tonight with his third hit of ballgame. That'll put him back up at .330. Let's see an MVP at bat here from Morneau.

9:02 - Twins can't bring the runners in. If I see another Menards commercial during this break I'll never buy a lawn mower in my life.

9:10 - BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOF!!!

9:14 - Gomez picks up his second triple of the night followed by a near bunt single by Span. Oooh, that was close. 6-4 White Sox.

9:33 - Crain gets the job done. For some reason after the Slowey fiasco it seemed like this game was over, but the Twins are right where they need to be with three more innings to score runs.

9:39 - That's it! Never buying a lawn mower!

9:46 - Craig Breslow for Rolaids Relief Man of the Year!

9:54 - To get an understanding of how poor the White Sox bullpen has been Ozzie turns to his closer, Bobby Jenks, to get the five out save.

9:57 - So Gomez picks up his 5th hit of the game and FSN shows that Jenks has an 8.22 ERA in his last 7 and 1/3 IP. Hehe.

10:04 - Just heard the Metrodome roof has a hole in it after a dangerous decible level. What a rally! Unfortunately Alexi couldn't get the bunt down and the Twins are retired at a 6-6 tie. This is right where we need to be though.

10:16 - Gomez makes a nice unecessary sliding catch for the third inning and Nathan retires the Sox 1-2-3 in the 9th with a questionable appealed called 3rd strike on Nick Swisher. I love how the 3rd base ump just threw his hands up in the air and told Swisher to take a seat.

10:21 - Let's hope MVP voters aren't watching Morneau's 0-5 performance tonight. Thank you Ron Gardenhire for letting Joe Nathan pitch more than one inning. This is for 1st place!

10:35 - Punto showing his aggressive baserunning style and now Span will be walked. Let's go Casilla.

10:45 - WOW! I knew we had to sweep, I said we had to sweep, and I thought we really could sweep... but it actually happened. This is one of the biggest Twins wins I can remember and this series was the most impressive feats of determination, motivations, and clutch play.

10:50 - Certainly wish I could have been at this game tonight, but I couldn't have picked a better game for the first ever Twins MVB LIVE Blogcast. If you followed along with me tonight thanks a lot and if you read this later leave me a comment and let me know what you think. We'll have to do future live blocasts here at MVB.

So the Twins pull off the impossible sweep and take control of first place. Three games remaining in the season. Three games at home in the dome against the Royals for the Twins and three games at home against the Indians for the Sox. It's going to be a good weekend!

All-Star Twins

As the all star game approaches I thought I would take the time to break down the mid summer festivities by reflecting on the game and also the 3 Twins who made the game. All in all I really do enjoy the MLB's All-Star Week, but it definitely has its ups and downs. A very heated debate over years past has been Bud Selig's decision that the winner of the all star game receives home field advantage in the World Series. I love this aspect of the game for it gives the game meaning and forces the players to play hard and take the game more seriously. I feel that the most over hyped aspect of all star week is the home run derby. The boo birds may come out for this statement but honestly I'm really only interested for the first 15 minutes and the next thing I know I'm watching reruns of Americas Next Top Model. I mean really how many times can we hear Chris Berman's "back, back, back, back, back, etc." in one night without going insane. Sure it's a fun event that the fans seem to adore, but I think it would be a lot better if it was tweaked to make it shorter and a little easier to watch.

Now onto the real important issue about All Star week, the Minnesota Twins that will represent one of the biggest surprises of the season. First I would love to tip my cap to Joe Mauer, for not only was he selected to the All Star game, he was also chosen to be a starter for the AL. This couldn't be more justified as he leads all catchers in runs and average and is also first in the AL in RBI's. It's also worth noting the job he has done in molding the young Twins pitching staff into one of the best staffs again this year. Another interesting thing I saw about Mauer came from the ESPN game last Monday verses the Red Sox (a heart breaker i know). During Mauer's last at bat Mauer was faced with a 3-1 count. Above the score on ESPN a statistic came up that said Mauer's average whenever the count as gotten to 3-1 is .480 on the season. That's right, Mauer gets a hit nearly 50% of the time if he gets ahead 3-1 in an at bat. I found this to be just an astounding figure and a true testament to the spectacular hitter Mauer has become .

The next Twin American League All Star is the punch to the Twins lineup. Cleanup hitter Justin Morneau was selected as a reserve at first base. This was another no brainer selection into the game for Morneau ranks 2nd among AL 1B in runs, and even better 1st in RBI's and Avg. Surprisingly so Justin Morneau is now battling aforementioned Joe Mauer for the batting champ not only on the Twins but also in the AL. Morneau has been a constant all year for the Twins and without him in the middle of the lineup the Twins probably would be sitting closer to where the Royals are now rather then 1 game and a half out of the division.

To anchor my article I decided to go to the anchor of the Twins rotation. Joe Nathan was probably the least likely of the three to make the All Star game coming into the year. No it wasn't because his skills had diminished or that he signed a lucrative deal, but rather because the Twins would be horrible and his save chances would be minuscule. But as it turns out the exact opposite has occurred as Nathan seems to have to close the door on a game at least once a series and almost always get the job done without giving my grandma any chance of having a heart attack (Something Latroy Hawkins and Eddie Guardado struggled with). When the Twins gave Nathan so much dough at the beginning of the year I questioned it thinking there wasn't a way closers were worth that kind of money. But Nathan has made me eat my words as he has been lights out in the 9th inning and is very deserving to be traveling to New York to pitch July 15th. - DY21

I certainly can agree with DY21 that Chris Berman's Home Run Derby commentary can be quite annoying, but with Twin Justin Morneau becoming a late addition to the derby I'll be watching tonight. Although Morneau has the least amount of homeruns of the 8 competitors, I think he an underdog candidate for tonight's competition. Morneau struggled last year in this same contest in San Franciso, but I believe he's learned from last time and will benefit from short right field porch in Yankee Stadium. Chris Singleton of Baseball Tonight predicted Justin Morneau as the winner. MVB's pick - Josh Hamilton. Enjoy the homers!

Twins prepare for Peavy

Twins start a short three game roadtrip in San Diego tonight as they get set to face last year's Cy Young winner Jake Peavy. The Twins are enjoying Interleague play thus far posting a 9-3 record against the Junior Division... I mean National League.



The Twins will send Kevin Slowey to the mound to face off against Peavy. Peavy is recently returning from the DL and only has a 5-4 record on the year, but has the capability to shut any lineup down on any given day. Slowey should be able to handle the Padres lineup which has struggled to score runs this year. As long has he can keep stud 1B Adrian Gonzalez in the ballpark Slowey should be ok. Gonzalez is having an amazing year already with 21 HRs and 65 RBIs.

In other news... Joe Mauer finally takes over the top spot in All-Star balloting for the American League starting catcher. Mauer had trailed Boston's Jason Varitek who is hitting a measly .230. Mauer deserves the spot and I don't want to see a starting All-Star lineup composed of only Red Sox. So keep voting for Mauer and also get Justin Morneau ahead of Boston's Kevin Youkilis. (Morneau also is more deserving)

I leave you with another one of my favorites in Baseball Tonight's "Battle of the Band" series. A bluegrass band call Punch Brothers, which stars Chris Thile, member of one of my favorite bands Nickel Creek and arguably the best mandolin player in the world. Enjoy...

On the campaign trail

The Twins faltered in the finale in Milwaukee, but still were able to pick up a series win taking 2 of 3 from the Brewers. With the Colorado Rockies handing the White Sox two losses the Twins reduced their deficit to 4.5 games; however, the Twins are still two games under .500 and only one game ahead of the Indians and a game and a half ahead of the Detroit Tigers. After a day off today, the Twins head home to the dome for six game homestand that included three games against the Washington Nationals and three games against the Arizona Diamondbacks. I'm excited for the Diamondbacks series, but lets hope the Twins can first sweep the Nationals starting tomorrow.

Speaking of Washington D.C. and politics, two Twins are making their case to start in the All-Star game at Yankee Stadium next month. As catcher Joe Mauer has seen his batting average rise, his All-Star votes also rise. Mauer now trails Boston catcher Jason Varitek by just 41,000 votes. Mauer clearly deserves the starting nod over the old Red Sox catcher, but it's always tough to pass the big media markets of the Yankees and Red Sox.

Justin Morneau also sits in second place for AL 1st baseman trailing another Sox member, Kevin Youkilis, by nearly 300,000 votes. Certainly a hefty amount of votes, but Morneau has enough time to make up this difference. The reason I dedicate today's post to this topic, well... the Twins are now offering a chance to win four lower club tickets and a ball autographed by both Mauer and Morneau if you cast your votes for the two Twin stars. If you have 10 minutes to waste, you're eligible to vote up to 25 times so let's get our stars in the starting lineup on July 15th.

VOTE HERE!

Interesting thing to look for in the National/Twins series, the Young brothers - Dimitri and Delmon - take the field together for their first time in a regular season game.

I have internet!

Long story short, I have internet access, I'm moved into Minneapolis, and I'm ready to start blogging again!

In honor of this big day, I'm headed to the day game today against Baltimore. Scott Baker (2-0) returns from the DL to make his start against Baltimore's Garrett Olson (4-1).

The Twins remain just 1.5 games behing the AL Central leading White Sox. The Twins are 7-3 in their last 10 games and are really playing solid baseball. Each day it seems like a new hitter steps up and has a big day. The other night Delmon Young had 3 doubles and 3 RBIs and its been great to see Joe Mauer hit 2 homeruns this week including 1 last night that went with his 3RBIs. I know Mauer doesn't hit for power and I'm ok with that as long as he hits above .300 but it's still very nice to see a little pop from his bat. I'm still waiting for Delmon to hit his first homerun of the year. I certainly haven't been thrilled with Young's play not only at the plate, but even in the field. But I haven't given up on him yet and there is a lot of season left to play.

Let's hope the Twins can win the series this afternoon and finish this homestand above .500 at 4-3 before they hit the road for an 11- game roadtrip.

DRAFT NEWS

The 2008 MLB First Year Player Draft commences this afternoon. The Twins have three selections in the first round including the 14th, 27th, and 31st picks. The 27th and 31st picks are supplemental picks from the loss of Torii Hunter to free agency. Look for coverage of the new Twins tomorrow!

Exciting on ESPN

Because I go to school in an area where the cable TV is for some reason considered FSN Chicago and not FSN North, whenever the Twins are on national TV, like ESPN, it's a big deal.

It was so nice to watch such an exciting ballgame tonight on television. The Twins and Red Sox battled it out through nine hard fought innings full of scoring. Nick Blackburn perservered the entire night despite not having his best stuff, but continued to give his team a chance to win. Ron Gardenhire gave DH Craig Monroe the nod against knuckleballer Tim Wakefield which turned out to be a great decision as Monroe smacked 2 HRs and drove in 4 runs. Gomez did look a bit overmatched at the play tonight which seems to be the case about every 3 games, but stole his 16th base in the process. Joe Nathan gave up just his second and third runs of the season and looked a bit nervous in the big game which is a rare occurence, but still buckled down and picked up his 12 save of the season.

BOLD PREDICTION

I'm going to come out and make a bold prediction. Right here, right now, because that's what bloggers do. Especially when they don't want their posts to sound like every other postgame report. IF JOE MAUER CAN STAY HEALTHY, I predict he will win his second batting title in 2008. He may have only gone 1-4 tonight but he is hitting the ball hard and hitting it in the right places. Jacolby Ellsbury made a diving catch to steal a double away from Mauer. I just think the kid is in the zone this year just like he was in 2006. I tell myself, jeez, it May 11th and Joe doesn't have a homerun yet. That's b/c he's not trying to hit one. It's more of a sure thing for him to slap an RBI single, so he simply does. We all know he has a history of injury troubles, but if he stays healthy I'm looking for my BOLD PREDICTION to come true!

Here's the Sportscenter video recap of the game tonight!

BEST MOMENT OF APRIL

I want to leave you with this great video. In my opinion, it may not have been the flashiest or most important moment of the season thus far, but Micah Owings wins my award for the Best Moment of April!

2008 Team Preview: Catcher

With the roster probably near complete and Twins pitchers and catchers reporting in three short days, I thought I would begin my 2008 Twins Team Preview.

I decided to start behind the plate, with the team's most iconic and now young leader and star, Joe Mauer.

Behind those dark, long sideburns is a very special player. In 2007, in 406 at bats Mauer batted .293 with 7 homeruns and 60 RBIs. But his season like many in his young career was plagued by injuries. Mauer saw action in only 109 games and compared to his batting title season of 2006 last year was considered a bit of a disappointment.

The All-Star catcher suffered a stress facture at the end of spring training, strains to both his left quadriceps, and a left hamstring strain which resulted in a month-long stint on the disabled list.

Being a leader on a young squad, it will be critical for Mauer to be healthy to have his bat in the lineup. Whether he is catching, batting as the DH, or who knows even seeing some time at first base while Justin Morneau DH's the Twins need Mauer to get on base and drive runners in.

As important as Mauer's bat is, with the young rotation in 2008 his glove may be more important. Mauer calls very solid games and his experience will hopefully bring some stability and confidence to the young starters. Mauer truly is an excellent catcher and I understand why Manager Ron Gardenhire wants to keep the young star behind the plate.

There is no doubt Mauer is the new face of the franchise, and in 2008 the Twins will need more than just his pretty face and sideburns.

YOUR OPINION: Do you think Mauer can stay healthy this year and return to his 2006 numbers?

Twins join Super Bowl frenzy

If you need any proof as to the direction of the Twins future, look no further than last week's Super Bowl commercials. For the first time ever the Twins joined the madness of the Super Bowl ads and constructed this 30 sec. piece preparing for the new ballpark in 2010. The new leaders and stars of the team Joe Mauer, Justin Morneau, and Michael Cuddyer appear along with one more guest in the end. If you recognize who it is let me know if the comments!

Show Morneau the Money

With news from the Santana front appearing relatively still (could change any day now), I wanted to focus my attention on a different Twins star: Justin Morneau.

I think with Torii's departure to the Angels and the high likelihood of Santana still being traded away, the Twins stand to learn a lesson this offseason. SIGN YOUR STARS TO LONG TERM CONTRACTS AS SOON AS YOU CAN!


In the past, the Twins have maintained the philosophy of not signing long-term deals for fear of the signed player suffering a significant injury or turning out to be a fluke after a career year. I understand this is wise as the small market Twins cannot afford to get bogged down by bad long term contracts; however, there is something to be said for rewarding your star players and locking them up while you can still afford to do so.

During 2006 season when Johan Santana was revving up his campaign for his second AL Cy Young award the Twins could have locked up Santana to long term deal of roughly $15 million a season. This was the market value at the time for frontline pitchers. It was clear Santana was no fluke. He had already won one Cy Young award (should have won two) and had proven his durability over multiple seasons. Instead, Santana is set to change the market for star pitchers as he may possibly command a salary of nearly $25 million a year.

In that same 2006 season while Justin Morneau was putting up his MVP winning numbers, the New York Mets signed their young stars, David Wright and Jose Reyes, to long-term deals of 6 years $55 million and 4 years $23 million respectively. These may appear like heavy contracts, but these two players were emerging stars and now have very affordable contracts. It's ok that the Twins wanted to make sure that Morneau's MVP season wasn't just a fluke, but this past season he clearly showed he is a major league star. Granted, Morneau's 2007 season was a down year from the year before but he is one of baseball's best young players and an integral part of the Twins' future.

Joe Mauer was signed to a 4 year $33 million deal before the 2007 season to ensure he will be playing when the new ballpark opens in 2010. Now Justin Morneau MUST be signed to a long-term deal while we still can.

Consider the loss of Torii Hunter and the probable loss of Johan Santana a lesson. I don't think Twins fans could take much more.