Mauer’s backup, Drew Butera, hit .167 this season ─ an average that tied him with Jerry Zimmerman for the lowest in franchise history for players with at least 230 at-bats. Butera hit safely in four of his last six games.

Twins rookie first baseman Chris Parmelee reached base in 19 of the 21 games he played.  His impressive performance included a .355 average and four home runs.

This season Twins first basemen combined to hit .303 with 18 home runs and 91 RBI.

The Twins open next season on the road, April 6 in Baltimore.

Vikings defensive end Jared Allen played his first four NFL seasons in Kansas City so Sunday’s game against the Chiefs will be a homecoming.  He said yesterday his current contract is “10 times more” than the one he was considering while in Kansas City.  He’s happy with the Vikings after he parted with Chiefs football boss Carl Peterson under less than ideal circumstances.

Allen said the outdoor tailgating experience at Arrowhead Stadium is memorable.  “You can smell the barbeque from like a mile away,” Allen said.  “The smell of the coals burning, it just gives you chills because you know this is football.  …I am excited to go back there and play, and go get a ‘W’.”

The Vikings need down the field playmakers and it wouldn’t be surprising if rookie tight end Kyle Rudolph receives more playing time soon.  His 6-6 size and athleticism, including speed, make him an exceptionally mobile tight end.  He averaged 11.5 yards per reception at Notre Dame

The Vikings are 0-3 and have blown three double digits halftime leads but former Vikings assistant coach Dean Dalton expects head coach Leslie Frazier’s calm approach to be a major asset in attempting a turnaround.  “Don’t panic and cause a bunch of anxiety in the building,” Dalton said.

Is the overall Vikings personnel just average?  “That’s a fair assessment of the talent,” Dalton said.  “They’ve got some holes where they’re below average, and then they’ve got some places where they still maintain Pro Bowl caliber players.  So across the board it’s not an outstanding football team.”

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The Gophers, who play Michigan tomorrow, have only won twice against the Wolverines since 1978, both times in Ann Arbor, 2005 and 1986.  All-time Gophers rushing leader Darrell Thompson recalled that before the 1986 game Minnesota assistant coaching legend Butch Nash spoke to the team, urging players to never look back regretting their efforts.  Nash was also credited with inspiring the Gophers in their 1977 upset of then No. 1 ranked Michigan in Minneapolis.

Brady Hoke, the first year Michigan coach, was contacted by Minnesota last fall when the Gophers job was open.  The guess here is that Hoke, then coaching at San Diego State, wasn’t interested in coming to Minnesota and perhaps was already thinking about a return to Ann Arbor where he had once been an assistant.

Gophers’ offensive coordinator Matt Limegrover is “1-0” at Michigan having been on the winning side as a Northwestern grad assistant in 1995.

Kyle Washington, the 6-9 forward from Champlin who is a junior at the Hotchkiss School in Lakeville, Connecticut, received a scholarship offer this week from Louisville coach Rick Pitino, according to prep basketball authority Ken Lien.

Because of demand, the Lynx are selling tickets in the upper level of Target Center for Sunday’s opening WNBA Finals game against Atlanta.  Tickets are available starting at $15.

Lynx chief operating officer Conrad Smith said the franchise has sold over 500 new full season tickets in the last two weeks since the playoffs started.

Former governor Jesse Ventura and ex-Vikings running back Chuck Foreman spoke to the Lynx yesterday at practice.  Ventura is a Lynx season ticket holder.

The song “Apache” has been the Lynx players’ theme song since 2006.  Sunday The Sugarhill Gang will perform its hit single “Apache” during a halftime concert.  The Sugarhill Gang is a hip-hop group comprised of Wonder Mike, Master Gee and Henn-Dog.

The Wild will practice on Monday and Tuesday at AMSOIL Arena in Duluth.  A team spokesman said via email the visit to Duluth is part of a “team building” effort on the North Shore.  The Wild have about one week between the last preseason game tonight and the regular season opener on October 8.

Augsburg’s football team will try to stay unbeaten tomorrow when it hosts Carleton (1-2). The 3-0 Auggies earned their first win in Collegeville since 1980 last Saturday defeating Saint John’s, 32-31.  Augsburg defensive back Tyler Phillips had 13 tackles while quarterback Marcus Brumm threw four touchdown passes including the game winner as time expired.  Phillips and Brumm are the MIAC’s defensive and offensive players of the week.

Minnesota native Karl Gregor is the new assistant men’s tennis coach at Tufts University.  He has previous tennis coaching experience at Harvard, Boston University and Air Force.

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