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Player in
the Spotlight: Joe Mauer
by Daniel Paulling
July 12, 2004
Floop…crack! Floop…crack! Floop…crack!
A young Joe Mauer is outside of his home in Minnesota taking batting
practice - as if he needed any. His father built a contraption out
of PVC pipe that honed Joe’s swing. The ball would roll out
of a pipe and drop downward. Joe would then swing at the pitch at
the almost last instant. He did this to help improve hand-eye coordination.
“I love hitting off that thing,” Mauer says. (You can
purchase your own by going to mauerquickswing.com.)
Whiff…whiff…whiff. That’s the sound of Joe
Mauer striking out. This was the only time (against Paul Feiner
of Elk River High School) that Joe struck out in his high school
career. He makes contact, to say the least. His senior year Joe
hit .605 and the Twins took him with the first draft pick in the
Amateur Draft.
Recently inducted Hall of Famer Paul Molitor said that Joe Mauer
has “one of the best swings he had ever seen.” Many opposing
general managers and farm directors gush over how great Mauer is.
One of them says that, “Mauer goes beyond ‘very impressive’.
He’s a star in the making.” After getting picked by the
Twins and signing, Joe’s grandfather (who had played a little
bit of baseball himself) said that his grandson had the best swing
since Ted Williams and that he will be the next .400 hitter. And
that’s what he did...in Elizabethon, Tennessee. In 2001, Joe
played in rookie ball in the Appalachian league for the Elizabethon
Twins and hit .400 with an on-base percentage of nearly .500. After
proving no difficulties changing to wood bats, he moved to an advanced
rookie league where he hit .302 for 411 at-bats. Once again not
being challenged enough Joe went to A ball and was promoted after
only 62 games in the 2003 season. He finished the year in AA and
hit .341 there in 276 at-bats. The only thing that has not come
about is the power, but with Mauer’s swing continuing to produce
sweet line drives, it should come when he adds muscle. Remember,
he’s only 21.
But Joe’s offense is not the only thing that awards him praise.
Pitchers have said that Joe is amazing in his calling of the game
and handling the duties of catching. His defense, said by many,
was major league ready during the 2003 season, most definitely by
now. How is this possible for someone who stands at 6-4 and weighs
230 lbs?
But Joe Mauer’s life changed on November 14th of
last year. He was at home in Fort Myers when the news reached him.
Jesse Crain, one of the pitchers in Double A that year, was calling
him. Crain was calling to tell Joe about the trade of AJ Pierzynski
to the San Francisco Giants. Joe was the man now.
So the 2000 Gatorade Player of the Year winner Joe Mauer, once called
the nation’s best prep QB as he threw 41 TD with 3 picks his
senior year, was going to the Majors. He played opening day, but
shortly thereafter injured his knee. Joe has recently returned to
action in the majors, but he has not been hitting the way that he
has shown he can. But don’t worry - this is Joe Mauer that
we’re talking about. He will hit and barely going out on a
limb, make the Hall of Fame.
Joe Mauer is the next best catcher Major League baseball has to
offer. Watch him play, if you can. He is history in the making.
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