Joe Mauer, who won the American League batting title with a .347 average in 2006, will try to win the championship again this year for grandfather Jake Mauer. “He said, ‘I’ll try to get it for you a second time, grandpa, this year.’ I said, ‘That’s all I want to hear,’” Jake told Sports Headliners on Monday.
The two Mauers are close and have spent time together since Joe was a baby. Jake started instructing Joe on how to hit when he was a pre-schooler and still gives his opinion.
Jake claims earlier this year the Twins organization was filling Joe’s ears with advice about positioning the bat, pulling the ball and hitting home runs. Jake said Joe was confused but now his approach is like the past when he built a career average of .313 in three-plus major league seasons. “He’s back in the groove, I’ll tell you that,” Jake said.
Mauer has hit safely in 15 of his last 16 games. He’s hitting .429 in his last 10 games and last night had the Twins’ only hit against Gavin Floyd in a 7-1 loss to Chicago. He is third in the American League with a .337 batting average.
Injuries have been part of his big league career including last season when he played in only 109 games after appearing in 140 the year before. Last season he hit seven home runs with 60 RBI and his average slipped to .293. He had 13 home runs and 84 RBI in 2006.
Is Joe healthy now? “You know he’s very healthy, and I’ve got to say if he stays healthy, there’s no question he will be another Ted Williams,” Jake said. “I know he will. …”
Williams, a Jake Mauer favorite, is considered by some baseball authorities to be the greatest hitter of all-time. He was the last major leaguer to hit over .400, batting .406 in 1941. Williams’ career average was .344 and he hit 521 home runs.
The Mauer critics talk about his modest home run totals. He has 35 home runs in three-plus seasons, with a career high of 13 in 2006, and zero this year. Jake predicts that when Joe is 27 or 28 years old (he just turned 25) he will hit 30 per season. This year Jake predicts 15 home runs.
Joe is passionate about remaining a catcher. He enjoys the role of being so involved with the game while in the field. And some think he’s baseball’s best at what he does.
He has two errors in his last 157 games as the team’s starting catcher. So far this season he has just one error.
That’s pretty much perfect play and just about the way Jake looks at his grandson.