The Twins’ Joe Mauer should be awarded the American League MVP today. There is no doubt about that.
And if there is any justice, he will get every first-place vote cast by the baseball writers.
He probably won’t. Some New York-area yahoo will insist that the Yankees’ Derek Jeter or Mark Teixeira were more valuable. Please, spare me.
What Mauer did this past season almost defies belief. He hit .365, had a .587 slugging percentage, a .444 on-base percentage, cranked out 28 homers and knocked in 96 runs. And more important, he led his team to an incredible comeback to win the American League Central Division title. He did all of this after missing the first month of the season with a back injury.
And he did so as a catcher, among the most physically and mentally demanding positions in major professional sports. A catcher is the infield quarterback, keeping track of everything in front of him. He’s also an on-field psychologist for the pitcher.
Day in and day out, a catcher takes punishment behind the plate, from nasty foul tips to collisions at the plate.
Catchers must handle 95-mph fastballs and dig squirrelly breaking balls out of the dirt.
Catches are often the smartest, wittiest and most articulate players on the diamond. They are without question the toughest.
One day this past summer, I saw the Rockies’ Yorvit Torrealba with a massive, ugly, black-blue-and-yellow bruise on his right biceps. I asked him how he could keep playing.
“Just part of the game, bro,” he said with a grin as he walked into the training room.
Mauer won another Gold Glove this year. His .365 average earned him his second consecutive AL batting title and the third of his young career. Mauer’s only 26, but he’s the only catcher in major-league history with three batting titles.
“The year Joe had was incredible,” Twins manager Ron Gardenhire told . “It’s almost hard to wrap your mind around where he now stands in the history of the game. I know what he means to our ballclub and our organization. But I think everybody, nationally, is starting to get a little bit of a feel now how really, really good this guy is.
“I think you just top it off by giving him an MVP award, which he rightfully deserves.”
Patrick Saunders: 303-954-1428 or psaunders@
