Category Archives: Mauer Power

AL MVP Announcement Coming at 1:30 ET

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All I have to say is that Mauer had better win. Its not even a contest. However, because he is going up against two Yankees, its always a contest. Although Jeter and Texiera had good seasons, they werent at the level of Mauer, who had arguably the best season in MLB history for a catcher. He did it all while missing a month due to a debilitating injury, and still came back to lead his injury laden team to the playoffs. Jeter was behind 8 other players on his team in some categories, and Texiera was just HRs and RBIs on an All Star team. If Mauer had as many runners on base to play with like Texiera, you would bet he would have had massive numbers.

Stay tuned for an EPIC rant if Mauer is snubbed for the second year in a row.

Two Amazing Games In Two Days

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What a high I am living right now, my Twins beat the Tigers in one of the best games in the team’s history, and the Vikings go and beat the crap out of Aaron Rodgers and the Packers (literally). Its the first time in a long time that its a great week to be a Minnesota sports fan.

Granted, the Twins are going to go to New York and get destroyed like the Death Star, but this win was good enough to validate their improbable ascension to division champs after losing Morneau and half their pitching staff. It sure helps that the Tigers had an epic collapse, but it was still a great victory none-the-less.
Photo Credit to AP
My main man Joe Mauer also should have secured himself the MVP, as if he didnt deserve it already. To the idiotic writers, the stats he put up would only have been enough if the team had made the playoffs, and now it looks like his resume is complete. That makes me very happy, as he is more
deserving than anyone in the AL, no question.
Photo Credit to UD Blog
As for Favre and the Packers game, I couldnt be happier for both him and for my favorite cattle roper Jared Allen. They did an amazing job putting up points against a good Packer defense, and it was awesome to see Aaron Rodgers get the shit kicked out of him on the other end of the ball. Yeah, yeah, I know it wont last, but it was nice regardless. The true test will be against Baltimore in 2 weeks, with one of the best defenses in the league, as well as a good offense with Flacco, Mason and company.
It was also sweet to see Sidney Rice have another great game, and I dont think much will be made of it, which is unfortunate. Rice had a great TD catch as well as two possible game saving onside kick recoveries, which definitely contributed to the win. Favre and Allen got the spotlight, but Rice deserves some of it.
Peterson, surprisingly had a mediocre game, mainly due to the Packers loading up the box. Of course, they paid for it, but it was discouraging to see him play just okay. The big play was the strip for a TD, and its scary to think that he has the most fumbles of any back in the last 2 years. That is not a good thing.
Lastly, I dont think I can watch another monday night ESPN game as long as Favre is playing. Gruden had crawled so far up Favre’s ass that he may as well try and get a couch in there with some direct TV. Its fucking brutal.
Here’s to another great Minnesota sports week, hopefully the high will continue.

The Twins’ Date With Destiny

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As the season wrapped up last year, I was not excited about playing a 1 game playoff against the White Sox in Chicago. Not a good place to be, especially coming off a horrible series against the Royals. They ended up losing 1-0 on a Thome home run, and ended up watching the playoffs from their couches instead of the dugout. This year, its a little different, as the playoff will be played in the dome, and they will have a rookie pitcher to hit off to add to it.

Aside from being happy that the Twins have even made it this far with the team as beat up as it is, their success has been even more of a testament as to Mauer’s place as the 2009 AL MVP. The Twins lose Morneau, and Mauer continues at a torrid pace to help his team into a tie on the last day of the season with NO pitching what-so-ever. If Mauer doesnt win, you may see him actually raise his voice for the first time in his life. He has had one of the best seasons in MLB history, and to not end up with the hardware is criminal.
Either way, the Twins do have a much better shot at Winning this year, especially with Baker on the mound and a day off to get themselves together. Funny enough, the Tigers are having problems getting hotel rooms because of Monday Night Football, so maybe that will play into the Twins’ improbable playoff run.
Ill be the first to admit, the Twins should NOT be in this position, and they will NOT go far into the playoffs, especially with the Yankees waiting for the winners in New York. But to see Detroit slip the way they have and to see the Twins turn it on, you can bet your ass that they are not going down without a fight.
The game starts at 3 pm PST, so I probably wont even be able to watch it all thanks to a few meetings I have on tuesday, but I will not hesitate to drive 80 down the 405 to make it as soon after the start as I can. Im actually thinking of concealing a radio in my suit, especially if things start out well for the Twins.
Regardless of the outcome, im sure all the Minnesota fans out there are happy to see the dome leave our baseball consciousness for good. After reading that Torii Hunter set himself on fire on a dive for a fly ball, I think its safe to say that outdoor baseball is where its at. That, and when the seats face the opposite outfield instead of the pitchers’ mound, I will be happy that my neck wont be sore during a game ever again.
Im hoping that Mauer does amazing on tuesday and shows the idiotic voters who is boss, all on the way to a Twins victory. Although this will probably be the last win for them this year, it was a treat to see them make it this far.
Now, where is my Homer Hanky?

This Had Better Not Be The Case

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Last night I was driving home from work, listening to some of the dumbassery on fox sports radio. They were fawning over Derek Jeter’s latest accomplishment, as well as congratulating him for curing three sick yankee fans of swine flu by winking at them. I was about to change the channel, as I always do with any Yankee news, when they said the dumbest thing I have ever heard out of the mouth of anyone about baseball. They said that this is Derek Jeter’s year to win MVP because he will have broken Lou Gherig’s yankee hit record. I actually had to swerve out of the oncoming lane because I was rendered momentarily retarded by the stupidity of that idea.

Now, Jeter has had a good season, but there are at least five other people who legitimately deserve to win the award more than him. Yet, aside from all semblence of rational thought, the people on the radio thought he should win as more of a lifetime acheivement award, and for breaking a TEAM record that has no bearing outside of the pinstripes.

Even more scary of a thought, I could actually see people jumping on with this idea. In fact, after Buster Olney’s ridiculous fluff piece on what Jeter is all about, it could become gospel. No matter that someone like Joe Mauer has put together the best season that baseball has seen from someone not named A-Rod or Pujols in a long, long time.
Take a look for yourself. Its black and white to me that when you destroy every stat category in the league, as Mauer has, he should be MVP. Bottom line. For the American League, Mauer is at the top of every relevant stat, all while playing the most physically demanding position. When was the last time a Catcher did what he is doing this year? Oh, right, last year for the same fucking guy.

Sadly, because he plays in Minnesota, and because the MVP award has become more about which team makes the playoffs, Joe could be on the outside looking in AGAIN. Thats how stupid some of these voters really are. Its not about your individual production anymore, its about every other player on that 40 man roster too. I wonder what would have been the case if Mauer was playing with Texiera, Rodriguez, and company. What if Mauer’s TEAM actually had a pitching staff without injuries that won 9 more games this year? Is he MVP then? See, thats the craziness of this whole thing, even with a pitching staff that is in shambles, Mauer has kept them afloat.
If it is truly about wins, as of today, Joe has factored into more wins for his team than any other player per his Win Share stats on Baseball Prospectus. Funny enough, if not for Mauer, the Twins may very well be in the cellar of the division. He leads the American League by a ton in VORP, EqA, AVG, OBP, OPS, SLG%, everything. Unlike Jeter, he actually deserves this award for this monster season. Then you can add in that he has done all he has this year while missing the first month due to a painful injury, and you have a great case.
I would even go so far as to say that Jeter wouldnt want the MVP just for being there. Then again, I have ZERO confidence anymore in anyone who has a pick in this crap. As long as people like Woody Paige and his idiot bretheren have a say, true MVPs like Mauer may have to deal with the disappointment.

The Thrill Of The Chase

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Over the last year, I have been wanting a certain Joe Mauer card that could not have been tougher to find. Since I had been looking for it, the card had only come up for auction twice. It didnt go for a whole lot of money last time, but this time I knew things had changed. Being in the midst of the best season of his career, Mauer’s cards have gone fucking nuts. In the last auction, the card went for about 40 bucks, and I was quite anxious in waiting for this one to end.

The other issue that I have been contemplating is the locations of the auctions. Both times they have been in Taiwan, which prevented me from buying the first time around. In my mind, Taiwan is the land where crazy, crazy shit happens when it comes to cards. The comfort is that this time, the seller has 100% feedback, and I have some money from some stuff I returned at the mall today. Good for me to take a chance on it.
As the auction wound down earlier tonight, my hopes pf landing this whale started to slip away. Fifty dollars, sixty dollars, seventy dollars all came and went in the final hours. Since my budget was a c-note, I started sweating bullets about how much this could end for. When the final seconds ticked away, I entered my bid and won my prize by 1 cent. Yes, it came down to a penny, Im completely serious.
Despite the huge win, the water isnt calm quite yet.
First, I wont feel comfortable with someone shipping from Taiwan until I have the card in my hands. To help qualm any fear I have over the package, I will be videotaping the opening after I saw that one vid of the destroyed empty package on Youtube. I know I am generalizing about a seemingly harmless seller, but I cant be too careful with this much money on the line.
Secondly, the patch is pretty nice, which makes me question whether this card is truly “real.” I do have comfort in some of the other cards that I have seen from this product, but these days you never know. Thank you to the douchebag patch fakers for that paranoia. With things the way they are, I could easily get the card and see it split down the side. That would make me more angry than you could imagine, though it is highly unlikely to happen.
Lastly, the sig is seemingly quite faded on this card, meaning it may be hazardous to display in a room that gets a little sunlight. Maybe its just the large scan, but I am very worried that I might be getting a poor example of this card. Worse come to worse, I could always re-sell. Yet, as a player collector with a chance to pick up a REALLY nice piece, I cant help the happiness over my find. I guess this is the plight of someone like me.
Now what am I going to chase?