...but Joe Mauer is the best catcher in the past 40 years.
Now, I can't forget Yogi Berra, Piazza, or even Jorge Posada, so I'll correct myself: Joe Mauer is the best catcher in the past 40 years outside of New York.
That being said, there is no doubt in my mind that Joe Mauer is the best thing to happen to baseball in a while. He's a power hitter (even though his numbers have slipped a little this season due to injury, he's still batting over .300 with 6 homers and a ton of RBIs), he dominates the backstop like a true professional, and baseball isn't even the only sport he plays well; he was a football and basketball star in high school as well as a baseball star. He's the face of the Twins franchise (not an easy feat, considering how many good players they have, including Jim Thome, who's number 10 on the all-time home run leaders list), a hometown hero, and a great guy. He helped lead his team into the playoffs last year after a tiebreaker with the Tigers, and although they've slid in the division race some, it's likely you'll possibly see Minnesota in October with his help. As much as I love the Yankees, I would definitely like to see Mauer and his teammates hoist the trophy in the Fall Classic, and as long as people like Justin Morneau (still on the DL), Delmon Young, Denard Span and all the other good players on the Twins (there are actually a lot, just check out their roster and you'll be surprised that they're not leading their division as of today) keep doing what they're doing, they'll make it at least to the ALCS (if they don't face the Yanks in the first round like last year).
Anyway, I'm rambling. The point is that I think Joe Mauer, the reigning AL MVP who helped get his team to their first playoff appearance in a few years, is on track to be one of the best players in history. He just needs a World Series ring now.
Something that's surprised me this year is the dominance of some very unexpected teams, such as the Texas Rangers. For a team that has no World Series titles or appearances, they're leading the defending division winner Angels by almost 9 games (who are tied with the Athletics, who are also having a moderately good season) and haven't been out of first place the entire season. Of course, it's most likely due to Ian Kinsler finally delivering after a bout of injuries, Vladimir Guerrero coming from Los Angeles and hitting home runs left and right, and the new addition of master ace pitcher Cliff Lee, but even players such as Nelson Cruz have been delivering in ways no one imagined. Another team that is even more shocking is the San Diego Padres, who are in the same vein: no World Series rings, but they've been first in their division the entire season. With the addition of ex-Yankee Jerry Hairston Jr. joining his brother Scott (and both being excellent hitters), and Heath Bell, the only closer in the game I consider to be as good as New York's Mariano Rivera, they're another team that, pardon the pun, seems to have come right out of left field. Third on my list of "Teams I Never Expected To Be Good" are the Cincinnati Reds, who've been above, tied with, or just a game behind the St. Louis Cardinals all season. And again, for a team whose last World Series win, appearance, and presence in the playoffs was the year I was born (1990), they've come from nowhere to tangle with Albert Pujols and his unsurprisingly strong supporting crew. With first-time All-Star Joey Votto leading the team, and batters like Orlando Cabrera, Scott Rolen (who, despite recent injury, is having one of his best seasons) and Jonny Gomes, not to mention strong pitching thanks to Bronson Arroyo and Johnny Cueto, there's a chance the Reds could knock St. Louis out of the division title come the end of September.
And now, I want to talk about something that's been bothering me for almost 2 months: the almost perfect game in Detroit. By now, even the casual baseball fan knows about Armando Galarraga's botched perfect game, which would have been recorded in the books if not for a misjudged call by first base umpire Jim Joyce. The truly good part about this story is the class and grace both sides handled the potentially nasty situation with...however, for every good story, there's a downside. In this situation, it's two-fold: the first part is that this could have easily been prevented if MLB would expand the use of instant replay, and the second part is that Bud Selig, who had the power to overturn the call and award Galarraga the 21st perfect game in history, decided not to, citing the desire to "not set a precedent" in case a similar situation arises down the line. The first part should have a simple answer: expand the use of instant replay. There's no question, there should be no debate. It would only serve to help the umpires, the players, the coaches, and even the fans. There would be less confusion as to a player being safe or out, a home run going through, a balk by a pitcher, anything. However, it seems that the jury's still out on this one, which is endlessly frustrating. The second part, however, makes much less sense to me: The Commish doesn't want to set a precedent. For what, doing the right thing? He doesn't want a precedent set for correcting the mistakes brought on by not using instant replay so that a pitcher (who, let's face it, isn't very good anyway) can go down in the history books not for losing a perfecto bid but for instead achieving this difficult feat? Maybe it's not such a bad thing Selig's retiring after next season.
In my next post, I'll expand on the Braves' Cinderella run this season and how it will most likely end, why the Mariners should have been on top this season, and why no one should give a crap about Pedro Martinez.
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