Background: Not since Prince has a Minnesota native had so much talent. Mauer grew up as a three-sport star, excelling at football, basketball and baseball. What made him unique in the latter is that he was a catcher, a position teams have long had trouble filling. Given their hometown knowledge of Mauer and his lower price tag, the Twins passed on USC pitcher Mark Prior and drafted Mauer with the first pick overall in the 2001 draft.
What’s up: Mauer is threatening to become the first American League catcher to win a batting title. The last catcher to claim the honor in the National League was Hall of Famer Ernie Lombardi with the Boston Braves in 1942. Mauer entered Saturday batting .373 with seven home runs. Perhaps we should have seen this coming. His dad invented a hitting matching when Mauer was a kid, so he was raking pitchers before he was raking leaves. “We were confident that he would hit up here because he’s hit at every level,” Minnesota general manager Terry Ryan said. Ryan was ripped for not selecting Prior, but history will judge him kindly. Prior went on the disabled list again Friday, leaving it painfully obvious Ryan made the right choice.
What’s next: The challenge that lies ahead is daunting. Not from the competition – see Ichiro Suzuki – but the position. As a catcher, he must multitask, spending much of pregame working and meeting with pitchers. “It’s mentally draining. And physically, if you catch 100 games, you get tired. It’s not easy,” Tigers star Ivan Rodriguez said. Rodriguez pointed out two factors working in Mauer’s favor. He plays in a dome – “It’s a lot cooler there than in Texas or Detroit,” Rodriguez said – and the Twins are using him liberally as a DH because of their confidence in backup Mike Redmond.
Renck’s take: I met Mauer at the All-Star Game and was struck by his maturity. Mauer came across as Richie Cunningham in cleats. He’s certainly inspiring fandom worthy of Fonzie. Next month the Twins will hold sideburns night in honor of Mauer’s chops. As for winning a batting title, history will have to wait. There are too many holes in Minnesota’s lineup for teams to continue pitching to Mauer. Those walks will deprive Mauer of a handful of hits that will allow Ichiro to edge him out, .362 to .358.
