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.