Sid Hartman: Morneau compares favorably to Puckett

This is the 27th year Rick Stelmaszek has been a member of the Twins coaching staff, a team record for longevity.

So when Stelly speaks of first baseman Justin Morneau in the same breath as Kirby Puckett as a hitter, you listen.

Stelmaszek describes Morneau as "probably a taller Puckett." Stelmaszek, the Twins bullpen coach since 1981, was here from Day 1 of Puckett's Hall of Fame career. Stelmaszek also has watched Morneau from the 2006 American League MVP's first days with the team.

"He's got a high ceiling. He's still young, he's still learning and he's a very competitive person," Stelmaszek said of Morneau, who is hitting .294 with 16 home runs and 44 RBI, one RBI behind team leader Torii Hunter.

"He's using the whole field. He can juice the ball out of any part of the ballpark."

No doubt Kent Hrbek was a better fielder at first base than Morneau, although Morneau has shown a lot of improvement defensively year after year. However, as a hitter, Stelmaszek said Morneau can do some things better than Hrbek.

"To be honest with you, Herbie was more of a pull-type guy. Morney, when he's hitting the ball, he can drive it to left field over the fence," Stelmaszek said.

"Puck was a slasher, he hit for average, he had the speed. Morney's more of a power-type guy and a line-drive type hitter."

Puckett was a career .318 hitter and Hrbek was .282. Morneau's career average is .279, though he hit .321 last year.

Stelly said he has seen a lot of good hitters in his 27 years here, but of Puckett and Morneau, "They'd rank up there," he said. "That's just the way they are."

As for this year's team, which has won nine of 12 to climb back above .500 after some tough times in May, Stelmaszek said: "The makeup of the ballclub, they're fighters, they don't give in. The pitching has been very good and we played good defense, and winning is contagious, and losing is contagious. But they get on a roll there and they pull for one another and do the little things: you know, the hit-and-run, stealing bases and clutch hitting with two outs. So that's been our strength so far."

Another free agent

While Hunter's pending free agency gets a lot of attention, little has been said of the fact that Twins second baseman Luis Castillo also will be a free agent after the season. Castillo, who is earning $5.75 million this year, is hitting .335 and has gone 139 consecutive games without making an error.

Looking at a contract similar to the one that Hunter might seek, Toronto center fielder Vernon Wells signed a seven-year contract last offseason calling for $126 million. Wells' average season salary is $18 million. Hunter's statistics have been similar to Wells' over the past five seasons. Between 2002 and '06, Wells hit .288 with 139 home runs and 487 RBI in 764 games. Hunter, playing only 685 games because of his 2005 ankle injury, hit .271 with 123 homers and 431 RBI. And both are Gold Glove winners, with Wells having won three in a row compared with Hunter's six.

Mee leaves

Tom Mee was a longtime public relations director for the old St. Paul Saints of the American Association, and when the Washington Senators moved to Minnesota in 1961, he took a similar job with the Twins.

For the past 17 years after retiring from his position, Mee has been the official scorer for Twins home games. It has Mee's decision to decide if a play should go as a hit or an error. I have been fortunate to learn a lot about baseball sitting next to Mee in the pressbox all these years.

Mee's last day as official scorer was Wednesday. He and his wife, Noreen, have moved to a home on Lake Vermilion, where he will fish and relax.

During his 17 years scoring, only once has Mee been overruled on a scoring decision. That was in the first series this season, when Baltimore played here and Mee ruled an error on hard-hit ball to Orioles shortstop Miguel Tejada.

Phyllis Merhige, major league vice president of club relations, viewed films of the play, overruled Mee and called the play a hit.

Mee will return as official scorer in September. In the meantime, there will be a number of replacements, with former St. Paul Pioneer Press sportswriter Gregg Wong doing most of the scoring.

Jottings

Timberwolves owner Glen Taylor will be getting married on Saturday in Mankato to Becky Mulvihill. The wedding, with family and very close friends only present, will be held at a very small church near Taylor's home.

Now that Tubby Smith has completed his Gophers staff with the hiring of Joe Esposito as director of basketball operations, it wouldn't be surprising if the lawyers who represent Jimmy Williams file a lawsuit against the University of Minnesota. Williams left his job at Oklahoma State in order to take a job with the Gophers under Smith, but athletic director Joel Maturi wouldn't grant Smith permission to hire Williams because Williams was a part of Bill Musselman's Gophers coaching staff in the 1970s that landed the university in trouble with the NCAA.

The Wolves don't have any intention of re-signing free-agent guard Bracey Wright, the former second-round pick from Indiana. ... Rob Moor, CEO of the Wolves, reports that 85 percent of the season ticket holders have renewed and that some 600 new season tickets have been sold for the upcoming season. ... Kevin McHale, Randy Wittman and all of the Wolves' top basketball officials this week are in Orlando, where top prospects are working out in the NBA's predraft camp.

The Vikings open the 2007 season against Atlanta at the Metrodome, and with Michael Vick under investigation for dog fighting, the Vikings might be lucky enough not to face the great Falcons quarterback.

When Twins manager Ron Gardenhire signed his three-year extension last October, keeping him under contract through 2009, his coaches all signed deals through 2008. In the major leagues, a lot of teams give coaches only a one-year contract.

Plans are in place for a skyway to connect Target Center to the new Twins stadium, meaning the ballpark will be connected with the rest of the downtown skyways.

The Wild have until 3 p.m. today to sign 2004 first-round draft choice A.J. Thelen, the No. 12 pick overall. Unless the team can make a trade with a club for a player in a similar situation, it will most likely relinquish the rights of the former Michigan State defenseman from Savage. The Wild would receive the No. 42 pick in this year's draft if it does not sign Thelen.

Shannon Stewart was injured most of 2006 with the Twins, but he has been one of the few outfielders to stay healthy this season for Oakland. He is hitting .276 with 16 RBI and a team-high 29 runs in 50 games for the Athletics and will be in the lineup this weekend against his old team.

Sid Hartman can be heard weekdays on WCCO AM-830 at 6:40, 7:40 and 8:40 a.m. and on Podcast twice a week at www.startribune.com/sidcast. shartman@startribune.com