Author: David Shama

Jake Mauer said his grandson doesn’t have a girl friend and will not date anyone during the season so he can focus on baseball.

Jake will be selling his horse racing tip sheet for a 25^th year at Canterbury Park.  The Shakopee track opens on Friday, May 15.

Twins second baseman Alexi Casilla, a switch hitter, is batting .091 against left handed pitchers this season.  He’s hitting .167 overall.  Yesterday he was optioned to Triple-A Rochester and infielder Matt Tolbert was recalled.  Tolbert, who had seven hits in his last 12 at bats, was hitting .260 at Rochester.

When the Twins Jason Kubel hit a single, double, triple and home run (grand slam) on April 17 he accomplished something that baseball greats Ty Cobb, Tony Gwynn, Willie Mays and Babe Ruth never did—hitting for the cycle.  Kubel donated his batting gloves and helmet to the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum, https://web.baseballhalloffame.org/news/article.jsp?ymd=20090421&content_id=11962&vkey=hof_news

Assuming Brett Favre is healthy and can play at a level resembling past prowess, the arrival of No. 4 means an immediate upgrade at quarterback for the Vikings, a shuffling of the existing three-man quarterback roster, sellouts for every home game, no TV blackouts, higher broadcast ratings, a jump in merchandise sales, more sponsorship interest, soaring public popularity and maybe a better chance at winning the hearts and pocket books of state legislators for funding a new retractable roof stadium.  Other than all those things, acquiring Favre is meaningless.

Former Ohio State linebacker Chris Spielman, brother of Vikings vice president of player personnel Rick Spielman, has been selected for the College Football Hall of Fame.

Nikola Peković, the 6-11 center from Serbia who the Wolves drafted last year but has yet to join them, impresses as a scorer in Europe but probably isn’t the low post shot blocker the franchise needs.

Friends and family said goodbye to Frank Jirik at Church of the Risen Savior in Burnsville on Tuesday.  His children recalled how he had shaped their lives and dedicated himself to them, their grandchildren and, of course, Sharon, Frank’s wife since 1962.

In attendance were sports figures including George Gund III who with his brother Gordon owned the North Stars for many years.  Frank was an executive with the North Stars and started his career in the sports industry working on the grounds crew at Met Stadium.  He would have appreciated the full house at the church on Tuesday.  Someone once said to him, “If there’s an empty seat at a North Stars game, it’s one too many.”  He loved a capacity crowd.

Pittsburgh assistant general manager Chuck Fletcher is a name that interests Lou Nanne, former North Stars president, for next general manager of the Wild.  He likes Fletcher’s background including assistant general manager experience with three NHL  teams, plus experience as a scout and agent.

Wild forward Marian Gaborik is living here during the off-season and has worked out at Xcel Energy Center.  An NHL source e-mailed Sports Headliners to say he believes the star forward wants to re-sign with the Wild.

The Wild’s Houston farm team has a 2-1 series lead over Milwaukee in the West Division Finals of the American Hockey League.  Game four is tonight in Houston.  On Tuesday Houston goalie Anton Khudobin won for the sixth time in the playoffs in a 3-1 Aeros victory.

John J. Arlotta, owner and president of the Swarm, has been named the National Lacrosse League Executive of the Year, the league announced yesterday. In his first season as owner the Swarm set a franchise record for home attendance average, 12,308 fans per game at Xcel Energy Center.  The figure was the fourth highest average in the league and first time the Swarm has finished among the top one-third of teams for a season.  The club also attracted new sponsors.

College Sporting News recently announced its MIAC honorees for this year’s CSN Senior Student-Athlete Award. The 2008-2009 male and female winners are Joe Daly of Saint John’s and Katie Theisen of St. Thomas.  A selection committee of coaches, administrators and former MIAC athletes chose them from a group of 24 seniors nominated by the schools. They were honored for excellence on the playing field, superior academic performance and involvement in community service.

Good guy Harmon Killebrew, who will be in town from Arizona later this month for activities to help children with mental and physical challenges, told Sports Headliners the Twins have a few players capable of hitting 25 or more home runs per season.  For many years the Twins haven’t produced much power and this season the club ranks 13^th in home runs and 11^th in runs scored among the 14 American League teams.

Killebrew, who will celebrate his 73^rd birthday next month, is the greatest slugger in Twins history.  His 573 career home runs ranks ninth on the all-time major league list.  Killebrew is close to Twins players as a special consultant to team president Dave St. Peter.

Who are the Twins with the best long ball potential?  “There’s actually four of them,” Killebrew said.  “(Justin) Morneau, no telling how many he can hit if he changed himself a little bit and with the experience he gets every year.  He’s come a long, long ways, and he’s got tremendous power and ability.  Joey Mauer does too.  But Joey has been successful hitting a certain way and I doubt that he’ll ever want to change what he’s doing.

“Then (Jason) Kubel is certainly capable of hitting a lot of home runs as well as Michael Cuddyer.  I feel badly for Michael because of that injury he got last year, he’s just never really gotten into where he was when that happened. …”

Then Killebrew thought about erratic 23-year-old center fielder Carlos Gomez, who is hitting .196 this season and during parts of three major league seasons has hit nine home runs.  Killebrew said not only is Gomez fast, he is strong and has the potential to hit a lot more home runs than he has so far.

Morneau, 27, has twice hit more than 25 home runs in his major league career, now in its seventh year.  Mauer, 26, is in his sixth season and only once had a double digit home run season, 13 in 2006.  Kubel, a 26-year-old whose five year career has been slowed by injury, hit a high of 20 home runs last season.  Cuddyer is 30 years old with a nine year career best of 24 home runs in 2006 (16 in 2007).

Morneau is the team’s annual home run leader and the player with the most upside for power.  Killebrew said the “sky’s the limit” for Morneau as a hitter and first baseman.  The powerful Morneau hit a career high 34 home runs in 2007, his American League MVP season.  Last season his total fell to 23 and so far in 2009 he’s hit six, ranking 10th in the American League.

“I’d just like to see him hit a few more home runs because home runs help win ball games,” Killebrew said.  “I don’t know if that’s going to happen but I hope it will.”

Killebrew believes Morneau needs to pull the ball more to increase his home runs.  “If you want to hit home runs consistently, you’ve got to pull the ball,” Killebrew said. “There’s no way around it.”

Killebrew hit a home run every 14.2 times at bat during his 22 year career.  Morneau hits a home run every 20 at bats.  Killebrew was only a .256 lifetime hitter, though, while Morneau is batting .327 this season and is .283 during his career.

Killebrew said it takes different styles for a successful team and pulling the ball isn’t right for everyone.  As an 18-year-old he hit the ball all over the field, similar to Mauer.  “Ralph Kiner (hall of fame slugger) came to me one day in spring training when I was 18,” Killebrew remembered.  “He said, ‘Kid, it looks like you’ve got some power but you’re never going to be able to hit a lot of home runs consistently unless you pull the ball.’  He said, ‘If you’d move up on home plate a little bit, and start pulling the ball, you’d hit more home runs.’ …I tried that and it worked out pretty good, but it hurt my batting average and I struck out more that way. …”

Killebrew grew up with a mother and father who encouraged him to care about people.  “My mother would say things like, ‘The reason we’re here is to love and help one another.’  I guess that kind of stuck with me over the years.  I got a lot of help when I was coming up through the ranks as a young player. …”

He will host the 6^th Annual Kwik Trip Harmon Killebrew Classic on May 31 and June 1 to benefit 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.

Killebrew said his foundation found a niche helping the Miracle League which has a presence in various parts of the country including Minnesota.  The Miracle League’s work includes providing fields for the kids to play. “My wife and I are just enthralled with the thought of these kids all getting a chance to play the game,” Killebrew said.  “It fits so well with us. …This one is something special.”

Miracle League rules stipulate that every child must hit and score a run in a game.  “You should see the smiles on their faces when they do that,” Killebrew said.  “It’s just great. …”

The Killebrew Classic will include a dinner and golf, with more information available at  www.harmonkillebrewfoundation.org, or call 612-414-4506.