Author: David Shama

Don’t expect all the weeks on the disabled list and the injuries from past seasons to persuade the 28-year-old three-time batting champion to move to another position in the field where the physical demands would be minimized.  “I know Joe will just play catcher,” Jake said.  “He won’t go to any other position.  He’s determined to play there.”

Jake’s opinion is Joe’s absence behind the plate is a major factor in explaining the dismal performance of the Twins’ pitching staff.  He believes Joe’s knowledge of American League hitters and experience in calling pitches can’t be matched by three catchers who have filled in for him.  “Without the catcher, the pitcher isn’t much,” Jake said.

The Twins, losers in nine of their last 10 games, have the worst team ERA in the major leagues at 4.96.  They have scored 123 runs, lowest among the 30 big league teams.

Although Jake is a loyal Twins fan, he describes the team’s awful spring start as a “nightmare” and admits there are games he can’t watch all nine innings.  “They (the opponent) get seven or eight runs, I don’t even want to watch it, and I am an ardent fan,” he said.  “It eats your stomach.”

Jake, a former baseball player himself, celebrated his 80^th birthday last month.  He’s a horseracing enthusiast who predicts Dialed In will win Saturday’s Preakness Stakes.  The horse was a Kentucky Derby favorite earlier in the month but disappointed.  “He is overdue,” Jake said.

Jake has been selling his tip sheet at Canterbury Park since 1985 and will work a reduced schedule this year.  He will be greeting customers in his flamboyant way on Saturdays and Sundays through September 4.

The Shakopee race track opens for live racing on Friday night.

Thanks to the many readers who responded on Monday to the Sports Headliners tribute to Harmon Killebrew.  Among those who emailed was a fan who said his dad still watches Twins games wearing a Killebrew jersey, and another emailer who wrote: “I have never blogged, called in or sent fan mail but felt compelled to tell you today’s column re: Harmon was ABSOLUTE PERFECTION.”

Local author Dave Wright, who wrote a book about the greatest Twins wins, recalled via email watching Killebrew, a home run hitting legend who passed away yesterday.  “When I was a kid in Detroit, he was one of the ‘uh-oh’ guys.  Whenever he came to the plate, you would hear a lot of ‘uh-ohs’ in the stands.”

The Toronto team that swept the Twins in three consecutive games in Minneapolis last weekend is 5-1 against Minnesota this season.  The Blue Jays have outscored the Twins 44-14.

Prep basketball authority Ken Lien told Sports Headliners that Orono senior guard Jordan Smith, who visited St. Louis University last week, has been offered a basketball scholarship by coach Rick Majerus.  Another source said via email that Smith will make a decision on the offer by today.

This past season’s St. Louis roster included Jordair Jett from St. Paul and Grant Gehlen from Edina.

Lien also said Bloomington Jefferson guard Marcus Alipate will play basketball for St. Thomas.

It’s worth a web search to find Bill Simmons’ recent espn.com column on North Dakota native and former Lakers’ coach Phil Jackson.  Simmons writes convincingly that Jackson’s physical miseries are such a problem that the 11-time NBA championship coach will never coach again.

Quoting Gophers’ athletic director Joel Maturi in the May 9 issue of Sporting News Magazine about whether college athletes should be compensated beyond tuition, room, board, books and fees:  “I believe that for those kids in need, I have no problems getting them aid to help with cost of attendance (at school).  They should be able to buy laundry detergent and go out if they want and have a good time.  And they all have access to the Pell Grants, where they can get more resources.

“I don’t think it’s necessary beyond that.  If they’re doing what they’re supposed to do and we help them with the costs of the education, that’s a pretty damn good payment.  Now, if they don’t get a degree and we only use them to win a championship, that’s not really a good thing for anybody.”

Gophers’ football coach Jerry Kill makes promotional stops in Hutchinson, Willmar and Mankato tomorrow.  “On the Road with Coach Kill” will continue on June 6 with visits to Red Wing, Rochester and Owatonna.  The tour ends July 7-8 in Brainerd.

Although the Vikings need wide receivers, incarcerated Plaxico Burress isn’t likely to come here next month when released from prison, but his name is being rumored with a few teams including the Jets and Rams.

Marian Gaborik told the Minnesota Wild Radio Network he was “shocked and devastated” by the death of former teammate Derek Boogaard.  “Really, we were pretty close,” Gaborik said.  “It’s just hard.”  The two played together with both the Wild and the Rangers.

In journalism school they taught us to be objective in our reporting.  Write the news with accuracy, balance and fairness.  No biases…keep your personal feelings out of the news.

With Harmon Killebrew it’s an impossible assignment.  He’s been a hero to Minnesotans for six decades and deservedly so.  The greatest slugger in Minnesota Twins history commanded our attention with his work on and off the field, but now he’s in the news because esophageal cancer will end his life.

Killebrew is in hospice and issued this statement late last week:  “It is with profound sadness that I share with you that my continued battle with esophageal cancer is coming to an end.  With the continued love and support of my wife, Nita, I have exhausted all options with respect to controlling this awful disease.  My illness has progressed beyond my doctors’ expectation of cure.

“I have spent the past decade of my life promoting hospice care and educating people on its benefits.  I am very comfortable taking this next step and experiencing the compassionate care that hospice provides.

“I am comforted by the fact that I am surrounded by my family and friends.  I thank you for the outpouring of concern, prayers and encouragement that you have shown me.  I look forward to spending my final days in comfort and peace with Nita by my side.”

The statement reflects the character of Killebrew.  The words are consistent with the grace and class with which he lived his life.  Unlike so many athletes, Killebrew was a man who thought not just of himself, but how he could acknowledge and serve others including through the nonprofit Harmon Killebrew Foundation.

During the last several years Killebrew, who lives in Arizona, came here to help the Twins Community Fund and the Miracle League of Minnesota, a charitable organization providing children with mental and/or physical challenges an opportunity to play baseball on a team in an organized league.  Miracle League rules stipulate that every child must bat and score a run in a game.  “You should see the smiles on their faces when they do that,” Killebrew told Sports Headliners in 2009.  “It’s just great. …”