Here’s the thing about Minnesota’s Joe Mauer, Everybody’s All-American: He can even
We knew he could catch. We knew he could hit. We knew he could play hoops, because he was a high-school all-stater.
Bobby Bowden, Florida State football coach, knew he could play quarterback, otherwise he never would have offered him a full ride.
“Joe,” Bowden told him one day back when the coach was recruiting him in high school at St. Paul’s Cretin-Derham Hall. “I want to come up and see how you move around the basketball court. But I’m not coming up in that cold for a no.”
Says Mauer, who, of course, ultimately decided against FSU and football: “I remember trying to put on a show for him.”
He was the American League MVP last year. He won his third AL batting title. He earned a second Gold Glove. Talk about putting on a show yes, beyond even the monster co now he’s honing his acting chops.
As the coverboy of this year’s Sony PlayStation game , he’s featured in a clever commercial that already has been screened in the clubhouse of the defending AL Central champions this spring.
“It’s funny. It’s really good,” says new Twins shortstop J.J. Hardy, a friend of Mauer’s since they were 15 and playing together on USA national teams. “And his acting is pretty good.
“Everything he does is pretty good. I think if he wasn’t playing baseball, he’d be in the NFL as a stud quarterback. And if he was playing basketball, he’d probably be in the NBA.”
Uh-huh. You know the type. Guy who everything he touches, turns to gold. Guy who gets the best job, prettiest girl, coolest car, highest salary, biggest house.
Guy who absolutely makes you sick.
Except … Mauer is not that last guy.
“He’s just the nicest guy in the world,” Hardy continues. “It’s just amazing. If he wasn’t the nicest guy, it make me sick.
“But since he’s such a genuinely nice guy, you’ve got to root for the guy in everything he does.”
Somewhere upstairs in the administrative offices on this spring day, Twins executives are crunching numbers on what will be the most historic contract in club history. It certainly will be the Twins’ first $100 million contract. Industry speculation is that it will reach $200 million.
Oh, there is a chance the two sides will reach a stalemate, and Mauer will leave via free agency after the season.
There also is a chance that the state of Minnesota will secede from the union and sign with Canada, too.
The process of going public
In a high-tech warehouse studio in San Diego last month, on what looked like a giant wrestling mat, beneath red lights and wearing a lycra-type outfit with electrodes attached, Mauer looks utterly futuristic as Sony puts him through the paces for the “motion capture” part of .
“Tough to look cool in this outfit,” Mauer deadpans and, truth be told, given the beanie-style cap atop his head (more electrodes), Flounder from does fleetingly come to mind.
On the fast track toward becoming the face of baseball, however, the moments when Mauer does not look cool are exceptionally rare. He’s just 26 (turns 27 in April), and last year he led the AL in batting average (.365), on-base percentage (.444) and slugging percentage (.587). Only 12 players have ever led the AL in each of those three categories in a season, none since George Brett in 1980.
Of the 12, 10 are in the Hall of Fame: Brett, Ted Williams, Napoleon Lajoie, Tris Speaker, Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Ty Cobb, Jimmie Foxx, Frank Robinson and Carl Yastrzemski.
Mauer signed with the marketing firm IMG in November to handle his endorsements. So far, he’s lent his name to Sony, Rawlings and Anytime Fitness.
As quiet and unassuming a superstar as you could imagine, Mauer would just as soon deflect attention to his teammates as take it himself. With each batting title, MVP award and Gold Glove, however, that becomes more and more unrealistic.
Enter IMG, one of the most powerful and reputable firms in the land.
“It’s a little different,” Mauer says after finishing the motion capture part of his day in San Diego. “Because there are so many more demands on your time. … Right when I signed, though, I told them that the most important thing for me in the offseason was to get ready for next season.”
He’s comfortable that he’s been able to do that. As he says, you can’t say yes to everything.
“You’ve got to remember you’re only human,” he says.
His introduction to the world of marketing was whirlwind at times this winter, and eye-opening.
“People flying you out for a day, wanting you to come in and do a lunch,” Mauer says. “They bring you in in the morning and fly you out later that day.
“I flew up to Chicago for a day with Gatorade, spoke to their sales reps. The people at Gatorade wanted me to tell them about my experiences. It was a neat thing, getting to see the products [early] that will be coming out in 2010.”
He really does say things like “neat.” Regularly. And, when the animated Mauer whiffs on three pitches against the animated Jake Peavy during an inning of with Mauer himself at the controls, he really does exclaim, “Dang it!” And the thing is, this is Mauer letting his hair down. Yes, it’s still cut short and tight.
“The first couple of years, I was quiet and shy,” he says. “I tried to say the right things all the time.
“Now, I’m more loose.”
The looseness ends, however, where the subject of his sensitive contract negotiations begin. He long ago retreated into information blackout mode, basically answering every inquiry with the standard line of, “It will happen when it needs to happen.”
Surely, one clue into his thinking can be found in the retention of his agent, Ron Shapiro, who represent each of whom had the chance to leave as a free agent but remained long-term where he started (Puckett with the Twins, of course, and Ripken with the Orioles).
“Those are two great players,” Mauer says. “It goes back to what makes you happy.”
Home has always made him happy. Even his grandparents attend every Twins’ home game. Both his grandparents and his parents spend the entire spring in Fort Myers. In Minnesota, it’s no secret around town that he can be spotted regularly at Mancini’s Char House in St. Paul. He amiably signs autographs and poses for pictures, after he’s finished eating.
“I’ll chat with people, and I think maybe they find out I’m not that cool,” he says.
Where the contract is concerned, here is another clue into his thinking (and really, at this point, especially with Shapiro in Fort Myers over the weekend, it’s all in the reading of the clues): While he is as comfortable in Minnesota as a duck on one of the 10,000 lakes, he also but not for the Broadway lights and nightclub nights.
Sleeper … Francisco Liriano: Liriano might not be drafted in early mixed league drafts at this point, but the reports from winter ball were promising, if not downright impressive, old-school Liriano-style. Reports had his velocity at 95-96 and his slider was at its 2006 form, according to the GM. If he can regain his control and command, he is going to represent a huge bang for the buck in deeper leagues. We are too stubborn to give up on this talent, even if many Fantasy owners have. Bust … Jim Thome: We are taking the easy way out here, but we did it to remind the uninformed that the Twins signed Thome to be a left-handed hitter off the bench, not their DH. The Twins figure to give Michael Cuddyer, Denard Span and Jason Kubel full-time at-bats, while Delmon Young remains too promising to not be granted one more chance. Breakout … Scott Baker: While Baker and Kevin Slowey could give up more homers in their new home in the summer months, they figure to start and finish hot. Also, those homers might be of the solo variety. These two guys might be hittable, but they don’t hurt themselves with walks. Baker and Slowey should be on the board after the top 25 starting pitchers on Draft Day, but we could se Top Twins Prospects (2010 destination) 1. Aaron Hicks, OF, Class A 2. Ben Revere, OF, Double-A 3. Wilson Ramos, C, Double-A 4. Danny Valencia, 3B, Triple-A 5. Tyler Robertson, SP, Double-A Twins outlook | 2010 Draft Prep Guide
“I really don’t do a lot on the road,” he said. “It’s pretty much the hotel and the ballpark. Every once in awhile I’ll join some of the guys and go out to eat.
“But I’ll catch up on my sleep. It’s a time to be by yourself, and I kind of like that.”
Quiet, introspective and exceedingly well-spoken, Mauer views the speculation surrounding his future with an amused detachment. people in Boston tell him, people in New York tell him,
“The only funny thing about it is that my first couple of years I’d go to different cities and hear, ‘Aw, you suck! You suck!’” Mauer says. “Last year, it was like, ‘I can’t wait to see you in this [uniform]. I can’t wait to see you in that [uniform].’
“It’s pretty funny how it works.”
Meantime, while fans speculate, the Twins negotiate and IMG salivates, the nationalizing of Mauer begins.
“My buddies have told me that they’re getting sick of seeing my mug,” Mauer says, chuckling. “The first couple of years, I really struggled with that because I’m really private. I like to have a private life. And when I was younger, I wanted to make sure I always did the right thing.
“I still believe that.”
Besides, if he ever forgets, there’s an expert close by who surely will remind him. The All-American boy next door? Mauer’s mother still receives his fan mail and helps him sort through it.
“She’s been a lifesaver for me, trying to help me out and answer people,” Mauer says. “You see the mail that comes in, she’s got a tough task. But she enjoys reading the letters, especially from the kids.”
Unchanged star still regular Joe
There is no way the Twins, who picked Mauer first overall in the 2001 draft, can let this guy leave.
As manager Ron Gardenhire quipped this winter, the only decision is “whether to give him Minneapolis or St. Paul.”
< with Eagan, Excelsior, Lake Minnetonka and the Mary Tyler Moore statue on Nicollet Mall thrown in.
Still … the dizzying amount of money awaiting him, the complications the negotiations could present, the stress of the unknown … he moves through his days here this spring thoroughly unaffected.
“Joe’s so quiet, you don’t know anything,” Gardenhire says. “Joe’s just Joe. He’s preparing for the season. He takes care of himself. It’s not even an issue. That’s for others.”
In the clubhouse, the Twins players give him his space and assume a deal will get done. They see no change in their humble superstar.
“Joe cares as much now about when your dad’s coming down to camp as he did the first time I met him,” starting pitcher Kevin Slowey says. “He introduces himself to every single person in camp. It’s not just a veteran like Jim Thome. It’s the guy who is in his first camp.
“That’s why everyone likes Joe. In baseball, guys come and go. But I think everybody here will remember Joe for who he is.
“You talk baseball with Joe, and then that drifts to family and friends, and health, and then how you’ve been doing.”
The pitcher pauses, pondering the question of where these negotiations may take Mauer.
“I’d love to throw to Joe for the rest of my career, wherever that is,” Slowey continues. “Just the way he carries himself, we know he’ll do whatever is right.”
At home, in a place he loves, working a dream job with the world at his fingertips, Mauer is in that sweet spot in life where everything is possible, anything is attainable. He is on the cusp of becoming the face of baseball and on the eve of a historical contract.
Yet the catcher with the matinee-idol looks and the Ted Williams swing likes nothing better than the simple life of spraying baseballs to all fields, calling a good game and then hanging out with his old high school buddies.
Though, truth be told … well, you know. They long ago became accustomed to the fact that Joe’s the best in everything. But they sure do stay on the lookout.
“One of my high school buddies, right when we signed Brett Favre said, “Now you’re the second-best quarterback in Minnesota,” he says.
Mauer chuckles as he recalls the zinger.
“That was pretty good.”
