Patrick Reusse: Mauer has the ability, but A.J. has the durability

There was a segment of the population -- including the federal judiciary -- that disagreed with Bud Grant on the propriety of special Indian fishing rights. Beyond that, we have pretty much taken what our guy Bud has had to say as gospel, including this oft-repeated observation on athletes:

"Durability is as important as ability."

Anyone taking Bud's word on this has no choice but to accept that Anthony John Pierzynski is equal in value to Joe Mauer, the young catcher the Twins preferred over A.J.

Mauer has superior ability as a hitter and a catcher, but it's a blowout in Pierzynski's favor when it comes to durability.

A.J. was here this week with the White Sox for what turned out to be three losses. He incited the home team in the opener by stepping toward Justin Morneau's foot while being retired at first base.

Once the locals read details of this incident, they arrived on Tuesday night with even more enthusiasm for booing Pierzynski than in his prior returns to the Metrodome.

So there was A.J., in his usual place in the middle of things, but where was the phenom targeted as his replacement four years ago? Mauer was in the dugout, which has been his in-game residence since early May.

The injury was called a strain to the left quadriceps. The Twins have not changed the description to "tear," yet Mauer's absence is destined to run beyond a month.

Manager Ron Gardenhire was hopeful that he would have Mauer back for the start of six-game homestand last Friday against Toronto. A week later, there was Joe bundled in the perpetually cold dugout in Oakland, as the Twins started a six-game West Coast journey.

What gives?

"I want Joe to tell me he can play," Gardenhire said this week. "I want the trainers to tell me he can play. I want the doctors to tell me he can play ... so we all are sure.

"I can't tell him to play. I don't know what he's feeling."

Soreness, Joe has said. He's still feeling soreness.

The Twins decided to replace Pierzynski with Mauer on Nov. 14, 2003, when A.J. was traded to San Francisco. The true replacement for Pierzynski in 2004 turned out to be Henry Blanco, since Mauer injured his left knee in the first series of the season. He underwent arthroscopic surgery and would start only 29 games at catcher.

Pierzynski was in San Francisco, feuding with most everyone, yet starting 118 games behind the plate and driving in a career-high 77 runs. The Giants then made the amazing blunder of dumping a 28-year-old, lefthanded-hitting, ironman catcher because they didn't approve of his personality.

A.J. went to the White Sox in 2005, the season when Mauer actually became the Twins' No. 1 catcher.

Since then, Pierzynski has started 290 games as the White Sox catcher and Mauer has started 252 as the Twins catcher. That gap will continue to widen until Mauer comes to his manager -- presumably this month -- and says, "I'm ready to play."

It's now convenient for fans to forget the Twins were able to dump the feeble-hitting Tom Prince in the summer of '03 because they had a catcher who would be available to play every day.

Pierzynski started as the catcher in 32 of 33 games and 47 of 51 as the Twins rallied for a second consecutive AL Central title.

Shannon Stewart, acquired at the All-Star break, was widely hailed as the catalyst of that comeback. Fair enough, but the real MVP of the '03 Twins was the catcher who didn't need a backup.

A.J. also batted .303 with 11 home runs and 74 RBI, and his reward was to be traded to San Francisco for Joe Nathan, Boof Bonser and Francisco Liriano.

Nathan's greatness as a closer has made this an outstanding trade, although it's way premature for the popular claim among fans that it's the best deal in team history. Bonser still is establishing himself as a big-league starter, and Liriano -- if he continues to use his year off from elbow surgery to fatten up -- could supplant Bill Dailey (1963) as the Twins' most infamous one-summer wonder.

Say what we want about A.J.'s occasional wackiness, it doesn't alter this fact: On the Bud Grant scale, Pierzynski's durability neutralizes Mauer's ability and makes them equals among American League catchers.

Patrick Reusse can be heard weekdays on AM-1500 KSTP at 6:45 and 7:45 a.m. and 4:40 p.m. • preusse@startribune.com