Minnesota Twins' Joe Mauer will participate in HR Derby

Minnesota Twins catcher Joe Mauer has officially accepted an invitation to participate in the Home Run Derby on Monday as part of baseball's All-Star Game festivities in St.

[Truth]

Read how Fletcher's gang did in the paper shredding derby. Grab the current issue of City Pages.

[Da Crusher_RIP]

Have fun Joe!

[Yeah i like girls]

Mauer translated into Chinese means, "2 hopper to second." Might have a pretty swing, but the crowd will be bored to death with 10 straight shots to second for a double play.

[Stanley]

Joe had hit two homeruns off Phil Coke this year. And yesterday he bunted off Coke?
Yikes.

[Dick In Dixie]

Why? He is our best player and all this will do is tire him out when he should be trying to get a little rest. Hopefully he only plays a few innings in the All-Star game then. I want him to stay healthy for the remainder of the season.

[Josh1234]

Have fun Joe, hopefully they get your name right when you win.

[bill-o]

why? that doesn't even make sense. I can't believe he would do this.

and i agree with dick in dixie.

and good point, Josh...couldn't believe they got morneau's name wrong...and no one corrected it. what the H....that was terrible, terrible!

[Average Joe]

Yeah i like girls wrote:

Mauer translated into Chinese means, "2 hopper to second." Might have a pretty swing, but the crowd will be bored to death with 10 straight shots to second for a double play.

Yeah, that's why he's leading the American League in hitting.

Please.

[Cletus Boyer]

Dick In Dixie wrote:

Why? He is our best player and all this will do is tire him out when he should be trying to get a little rest. Hopefully he only plays a few innings in the All-Star game then. I want him to stay healthy for the remainder of the season.

Hes tired?
He's playing baseball.
He's not roofing a house or pouring cement 5 days a week, for gods sake.

[Resume Building]

The New York Yankees and other BIG market teams
will be watching!

Bye Bye lowly Twins and forever manager Gardy!

[WhatThe]

Yeah i like girls wrote:

Mauer translated into Chinese means, "2 hopper to second." Might have a pretty swing, but the crowd will be bored to death with 10 straight shots to second for a double play.

Yet leads the majors in hitting.....

[hunter]

i think joe mauer will do good in the hr derbey but he doesnt havve a good chance against alber pujolis

[ND Irish Fan Sonny]

Wow, Mauer is ar really good hiter, but I dont think anyone could have seen Mauer in the HRD.

[The Mean Dartin Roast]

Mauer is participating reluctantly and is doing it for Major League Baseball. My guess is that he got a call from Bud Selig, begging him to participate. Morneau and a few others (including Mauer, originally) declined and the American League was having a tough time filling the derby roster. Joe Mauer, as Peter Gammons commented on ESPN a few weeks ago, is the "face of baseball" that will launch the game beyond the steroids era.

[St Paul Joe]

I think Charley Walters will be hard for 3 consecutive months over this.
Honestly, Mauer is the best athlete on the field at all times. It wouldn't surprise me to see him win this thing. As for being tired, he still gets Wednesday and Thursday off. Did we mention that 10.5 million a year contract?

[brachiosaurus]

The Mean Dartin Roast, you might be reading a bit too much into this, though your logic makes sense. Mauer is still a just a kid at heart, I think. He just wants to have some fun and share it with his family and friends. It might mean a lot to his old high school baseball coach to participate in a professional baseball activity in some way. However, you could be right. Sports is all about money these days, and Mauer is being moved into center stage. The Sports Illustrated thing is a good example. Let's hope that Mauer stays humble and that his greatest ambition is to reach the play-offs and remain a Twin. It's certainly true that the big spenders will be watching.

The sad news for Twins fans is that Twins ownership will not pursue the additional help that the Twins might need to reach the World Series. This unwillingness to acquire established, quality players might be what costs the Twins people like Mauer and Morneau who want to play in a World Series before their careers end. Perhaps Santana and Hunter left Minnesota as much because the Twins didn't seem to be moving in the World Series direction as it was for the money.

[jsf]

mauer might not get the longest homeruns but he has the prettiest swing next to griffey jr.

[Dick In Dixie]

Cletus Boyer wrote:

<quoted text>
Hes tired?
He's playing baseball.
He's not roofing a house or pouring cement 5 days a week, for gods sake.

You go out and catch 5-6 games a week for 6-7 months and see how up and at 'em you are! I would agree with you if he wasn't a catcher.

[The Mean Dartin Roast]

jsf wrote:

mauer might not get the longest homeruns but he has the prettiest swing next to griffey jr.

I agree that Griffey Jr. has a nice swing, however Mauer's is much more controlled. Adrian Gonzolez of the Padres has the games best stroke right now, when it comes to mechanics. Mauer has the best eye for the strike zone. My grandfather says he's like Ted Williams in this aspect.

[Go Pack Go]

Go break a leg Mauer!