Posted July 21, 2010    

•Joe Mauer

•Bill Lester

•Claiming Crown

•Francisco Liriano

•John Anderson

Grandpa Mauer Would Move Joe to Third Base 

Joe Mauer doesn’t complain about his problems but Jake Mauer told Sports Headliners his grandson isn’t healthy and it’s impacting his performance for the Twins. 

“He’s got black and blue all through the chest and he’s got a welt on the right shoulder,” Jake said on Monday.  “He’s just sore all over.  He’s really beat up.” 

Although it’s Mauer’s hitting that draws the most attention, he may not be throwing as effectively as in the past when he seemed to toss out base stealers on auto pilot.  He is batting only .297, with four home runs and 41 RBI.  Last season his totals were .365, 28 and 96.  His lifetime batting average is .324. 

Twins pitchers frequently can’t place the ball where they want.  Mauer then tries to catch or block pitches that are in the dirt, or even coming off home plate.  The erratic pitches make catching more challenging and has contributed to Mauer’s health problems, according to his grandfather.  So has tough luck like in the recent White Sox series when a batter’s foul ball hit Mauer’s chin, finding an unprotected area near his mask.  

Jake said Joe, 27, should rest but he realizes neither Joe or the Twins, competing for a third Central Division title in five years, can allow last year’s American League MVP to be on the bench.  An occasional day off from the demands of crouching behind the plate will continue and then Mauer will probably be a designated hitter, still in the lineup.  

Jake is a former baseball player who started tutoring Joe as a hitter when just a toddler.  Jake said if he were the manager he would move Joe to third base starting with next season.  The move would lessen the physical demands on Mauer’s body and presumably extend his career and boost his hitting production year after year.  

“He wants to catch,” Jake said.  “He won’t move to another position at all.  He says, ‘Grandpa, if I can’t catch, I can’t play.’ 

“I don’t know why (he can’t change positions).  I said, ‘Jesus, that’s kind of ignorant isn’t it?’  I said, ‘You could go another 10 years playing. …Play in the third base or on the outfield anywhere.’  But, no. …He just loves catching.  I don’t understand that (the reluctance to move).” 

When Mauer was at Cretin-Derham Hall High School he was more than a catcher so Jake said previous experience can help his grandson change positions with the Twins.  “Because he played shortstop in high school, you know,” Jake said.  “He played shortstop, pitcher and catcher.  He can field and throw.” 

It mystifies a lot of observers, Jake included, that Mauer has only four home runs after seemingly experiencing a breakout season last year with 28.  “To me he’s (got a) lazy swing,” Jake said.  “God, he doesn’t have that whip, you know.  And I think he’s tired.  He just needs a rest, and that’s what I think.  But he can’t.  Can’t rest him.” 

Jake seems too optimistic thinking that Mauer will win his fourth batting title.  Mauer trails the American League leader, Josh Hamilton, by 60 points but Jake said if his grandson closes the second half of the season with a lot of two hit games it will make for an interesting batting race.  

“He’s struggling along,” Jake said.  “I think he’s still going to win the batting crown.”

 

Vikings to Play on New Surface, Pay No Rent at Dome 

A new artificial playing surface, Sportexe, will be in place at Mall of America Field when the Vikings play their first preseason game at home on August 28.  The Metropolitan Sports Facilities Commission paid $475,000 for the turf which replaces a six-year-old playing surface, according to commission executive director Bill Lester.  

Lester also said the commission has spent $700,000 for the new Gridiron Club and $100,000 to relocate the Vikings’ ticket operations.  The club is a hospitality area available for a fee to Vikings’ season ticket holders and is located in the space formerly occupied by the Twins’ offices at the stadium.  The club will include an outdoor deck overlooking the stadium’s plaza and provides views of downtown.  The facility will be open for the August 28 game.  

The new ticketing operation, now located on Chicago Avenue in the Twins' former ticket locale, will provide the Vikings about “four times” the space the NFL team had on the stadium’s east side, Lester said.  

The Vikings will also continue to play rent free in the stadium which became Mall of America Field last year, Lester said.  The commission’s budgets for 2010 and 2011 include no revenues from Vikings rent, a policy that dates back to the late 1990’s after the debt on the Metrodome was retired.   

The Vikings will continue to pay a 10 percent admissions tax to the commission.   The team’s lease at the stadium expires after the 2011 season. 

The Twins' move to Target Field eliminated 81 playing dates for baseball at the dome.  Lester said, however, that since January 1 the dome has hosted more than 400 amateur baseball games including a full schedule played by the Gophers.

 

Worth Noting

Jake Mauer, 79, is selling his tip sheet at Canterbury Park, working a reduced  scheduled on Saturdays and Sundays only.  After last season he had planned to retire.  “I really missed those people (customers),” Mauer said.  “If I had good health I would do it all four days.” 

Next week Mauer visits the Mayo Clinic where a lens will be installed in his eyeglasses to improve his sight.  He is blind in the right eye but his vision is okay in the left.  

The 12th annual Claiming Crown will be at Canterbury Park on Saturday. The six-race series, featuring $500,000 in purse money for thoroughbred racing’s “blue collar” runners, starts at 1:30 p.m.  This is the 10th time in 12 years that Canterbury will host some of the nation's leading trainers and jockeys for this one-of-a-kind event. 

Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said on his KSTP AM radio show Sunday that the club isn’t interested in re-signing Mike Redmond who was cut by Cleveland.  The former Twins catcher, now 39, doesn’t run or throw like he once did, according to Gardenhire. 

Anthony Slama, a short reliever with a 1.71 ERA at AAA Rochester, has often been on the wish list for recall by second-guessing Twins fans.  Monday night the Twins put Slama on their roster.  He is a strikeout pitcher.  He had 64 strikeouts in 52.2 innings at Rochester.

Francisco Liriano, who is scheduled to start for the Twins today against Cleveland, has allowed only two home runs this season, both against the Red Sox in Boston.  Dating back to last year, Liriano has gone 64.1 innings without giving up a home run.  

John Anderson has been named the Mideast Coach of the Year by the American Baseball Coaches Association for leading the Gophers to a fifth Big Ten title since 2000.  Fundraising for a new outdoor baseball stadium is ongoing, although the Gophers are probably better positioned to win and improve by continuing to play inside at Mall of America Field.  

Kevin Noreen, Minnesota’s 2010 Mr. Basketball, will be given an opportunity to play this fall as a freshman at West Virginia and isn’t planning to redshirt.

Aw shucks.  The word on the web is Tiger Woods’ alleged friend Rachel Uchitel will not be invited to appear on TV’s hit show Celebrity Apprentice.  

 

John Anderson

Kevin Noreen