Mauer missed the early weeks of the season because of inflammation in his right sacroiliac joint but Jake said health isn’t an issue now.
Jake, 79, won 12 letters as a high school athlete at Cretin in St. Paul. He was all-state in baseball, football and basketball. He’s been selling his racing tip sheet at Canterbury Park since 1985 and is in the race track’s hall of fame.
Twins second baseman Matt Tolbert is hitting .167 since being recalled from Triple-A Rochester. Alexi Casillia, who Tolbert replaced, is batting .326 at Rochester.
Twins president Dave St. Peter told Sports Headliners that relief pitcher Pat Neshek, on the disabled list this season, is expected to rejoin the club in spring training next year. Neshek is rehabbing his right arm following ligament replacement surgery last year at the Twins complex in Fort Myers, Florida and St. Peter said there’s optimism that the late inning reliever will be a “big part” of the team’s future.
The team’s beleaguered bullpen and failure to advance runners were factors in the Twins losing four straight games to New York by a total of five runs. If the Twins fail to win the Central Division title by a few games, there’s no doubt the disastrous Yankees series will be a contributing factor.
The Twins, who have lost two straight to Chicago and are on a six game losing streak, have a 4-14 road record this season, the worst in major league baseball.
The Twins hope to host the All-Star game at Target Field in 2014 or 2015, according to St. Peter.
As a result of Tuesday night’s NBA draft lottery, the Wolves will choose sixth in the June NBA draft. The Wolves have never selected higher than third and three times picked sixth. Fans who took advantage of the Wolves’ “Pay the Pick” promotion will only pay $6 per game for the team’s 29-game NBA Sampler package, featuring one game against each of the other 29 teams.
In addition to the sixth overall pick, the Wolves also have the first round picks of Miami (18th) and Boston (28th), along with the second round picks of Philadelphia (45th) and Miami (47th).