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.