Author: David Shama

Happy to watch Nathan close out games in the ninth, almost making the Twins unbeatable in the last inning.  Happy to have Morneau for several more years, an all-star first baseman with 14 home runs (best on the team), 68 RBI (third in the American League) and a .323 batting average (second best in the league).

Happy to have baseball’s best catcher in Joe Mauer (third in the league with a .322 average) and see the farm system develop new starting pitchers Scott Baker, Nick Blackburn, Glen Perkins and Kevin Slowey, and also second baseman Alexi Casilla who has been a catalyst for hitting, fielding, and running the bases since being recalled from Rochester.  Our smile isn’t so big but we can still give a lower case “h” to newcomers Delmon Young, Denard Span, and Brendan Harris, and veterans Nick Punto (the play-anywhere infielder who found his bat after a dismal 2007) and Jason Kubel (second in home runs with 13).

Inexperienced players are erratic and that description fits Casilla, Gomez and Young.  Particularly aggravating has been Gomez’s lunging at bad pitches and Young’s miniscule total of three home runs.

We’re handing out “S’s” to infielder Mike Lamb (.220 average in 65 games) and Adam Everett (.189 average in 25 games), and outfielder Michael Cuddyer (.252 average, three home runs in 62 games).  Everett and Cuddyer have missed a lot of the season because of injuries, and even when healthy were disappointing.   At 29-years-old, with a big contract, and Span excelling in right field, Cuddyer might be trade material in the months ahead.

Another “s” word comes to mind when sometimes describing the team’s relief pitching in the mid to late innings.  Shaky.  If the Twins are going to beat baseball’s best teams, they need better results than Mike Bass and Matt Guerrier delivered in a Red Sox sweep of the Twins last week.  Boston scored 25 runs, and won two of the three games because Twins relief pitchers didn’t deliver.

The Twins score lots of runs (fourth in the American League with 464) but they’re way short on long balls that can decide games quickly.  They don’t matchup in power to the American League’s top playoff contenders.  The Twins are tied with Toronto for fewest home runs in the league, 65 each.  For run scoring the Twins receive an “H,” but the power outage draws an obvious “S.”

When it comes to winning, a team’s performance is influenced by who the opposition is and where the game is played.  The Twins wore a happy face as they built baseball’s best interleague record this season, winning 14 of 18 versus National League teams.  In the Central Division, the Twins are 27-17.  But against East Division teams they are 7-12 and 5-9 versus the West Division clubs.

The Twins have played 50 of their 95 games at home.  They’re 32-18 at home and 21-24 on the road.

Give the Twins an “H” for cleaning up on the inferior National League, defeating their Central Division rivals, winning at home and being on a roll in recent weeks winning 19 of their last 25 games.  But after the all-star break and through August the Twins play seven series on the road and six at home, with the competition including two series with the Yankees, and one each with division leaders Chicago and Los Angeles.

That period will determine whether the Twins stay in contention.  If not, pull on a cap with a big “S” on it.

We thought before the season the Twins were a second or third tier club because of the unsettled number of everyday players and the inexperienced starting pitching.  We have that big “S” cap in the closet and hope it stays there.  Right now we’re wearing one with an “H” on it.

Joe Mauer is both a baseball and family all-star.  The Twins’ catcher plays in his second major league all-star game next Tuesday night and thanks to his generosity 10 family members, including 78-year-old grandfather Jake Mauer, will be watching the game at New York’s Yankee Stadium.

“Am I thrilled!” Jake told Sports Headliners. “I really am. …”

Jake loves baseball and started tutoring Joe when he was a little boy growing up in St. Paul.  “I have never seen a game at Yankee Stadium,” Jake said.  “I told Joe before he signed (a contract with the Twins, out of high school), I said, ‘Joe, there’s really only one thing that I would really like in my whole life before I pass away, and that’s to sit in Yankee Stadium and watch you play ball because I have never been there. …’ ”

The timing of the trip couldn’t be better because Yankee Stadium will be replaced with a new stadium after this season.  Jake said he “can’t wait” to see the monument area at Yankee Stadium where plaques of Yankee greats like Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Joe DiMaggio and Mickey Mantle are displayed.  He also hopes to walk the famed tunnel leading from the clubhouse out to the field.

Jake said the trip for 10 will cost his grandson “every bit” of $20,000 or so.  Just the game tickets will be $5,000.  The group leaves Monday, will stay in a hotel across from Central Park, take a three-hour sight-seeing tour of New York, plus enjoy the all-star home run derby and game before returning on Wednesday.  Limo service to and from Yankee Stadium will be part of the package, too.

Two years ago Jake was Joe’s guest at the all-star game in Pittsburgh.  New York, though, will be even a better experience, he said.   He described Pittsburgh as a “terrible town” with no excitement.  “No nothing,” Jake said.  “Outskirts (of Pittsburgh) are nice but we didn’t get to the outskirts.”

Joe, who will be joined at the all-star game by teammates Justin Morneau and Joe Nathan, is second in the American League in hitting with a .328 average.  Unlike two years ago when he won the league batting championship with a .347 average, he isn’t stringing together three or four hit games.  Joe told Jake that pitchers are pitching around him and he’s not seeing good balls to hit, but he thinks more multiple hit games are coming in July and August when he expects his performance to improve.

Another batting title?  “Definitely,” Jake said.  “Definitely. …Nobody will beat him. No.”

The Twins had won 16 of 18 through Sunday before losing three of their last four.  Jake said the attitude in the clubhouse is extraordinary this season, according to Joe.

“Everybody is happy,” Jake said.  “There are no harsh words.  I mean if they sit on the bench and they have a replacement, nobody disagrees with anything.  They give the cheers to them, and it’s just like a family.

“And he says it’s unbelievable when you walk into the clubhouse.  Nobody is down.  Everybody’s up and everybody thinks they’re going to win it.  And that’s the spirit.  He’s never seen it like this.”

Win what?  If the pitching is good, a world championship, Jake said.