Sid Hartman: All-metro battery is something special

This area has contributed a number of great baseball players to the major leagues, including Paul Molitor, Dave Winfield, Jack Morris, Kent Hrbek and others.

But I believe this is the first time there has been a locally produced starting battery, and one as successful as pitcher Glen Perkins and catcher Joe Mauer.

Both graduated from high school in 2001, Perkins at Stillwater and Mauer at Cretin-Derham Hall. They were teammates and roommates at the 2001 Lions all-star high school game that was held in Jordan.

"We played against him, growing up. I never pitched against him as far as I remember, coming up," Perkins recalled. "I knew who he was and never got the chance to pitch against those guys.

"I finally met him in 2001 and stayed in touch through the offseason and that, and playing with one of his good buddies. Tony Leseman in college kind of kept me in touch with him. So, it's fun to talk about that sometimes, we reminisce a little bit. I've known him for going on seven, eight years now."

Mauer was the No. 1 overall draft pick by the Twins in 2001, while Perkins went on to a standout Gophers career before being drafted 22nd overall by the Twins in 2004.

"To have that is pretty special, and there's not a whole lot of guys from Minnesota in the big leagues," Perkins said. "So, to have two or, even three with [Park Center alum Pat] Neshek, on the same team is pretty neat."

"I guess I didn't really think about that when we were playing together and playing against each other, but that's how it was going to work," he said. "So, we're having fun with it."

Perkins pitched to Mauer for the first time in 2006 spring training. Perkins, now 7-2 with a 3.84 ERA with the Twins this year, has started 14 games and Mauer has caught all but two.

Mauer recalled being Perkins' roommate in Jordan, and both were seniors in high school with no idea what their future would be in baseball.

"I don't think I caught him. I played first base and DHed a little in that all-star series," Mauer said.

As for catching Perkins with the Twins, Mauer said: "It is pretty neat. Ever since he got here, you know we are the same age and played against each other growing up and roommates in the high school game. It is pretty neat.

About Perkins' performance on Friday, when he gave up no runs on three hits against the powerful Rangers, Mauer said: "He was great, the whole staff was great. To hold these guys to zero runs, and four All-Stars to start off their lineup, is a great feat."

It's hard to believe the Green Bay Packers' allegation that the Vikings tampered with Brett Favre will go very far with the NFL because Darrell Bevell, the Vikings offensive coordinator, is very close friends with Favre, and the two talk to each other all of the time. Bevell was on the Green Bay staff for six years, including three as the quarterbacks coach (2003-05) before he joined the Vikings.

Twins attendance is down this season -- after drawing an announced 35,085 fans for Saturday's 14-2 victory, they are averaging 25,570 fans through 52 home dates, compared to 29,209 a year ago. But according to team President Dave St. Peter, their average local cable television rating of 6.92 per game ranks third in the major leagues. The Twins' average rating on Fox Sports Net ranked only behind the Red Sox (9.75) and Cardinals (8.04). The Twins are about 190,000 fans behind last year's pace, but St. Peter is confident the team will draw 2.2 to 2.3 million. They drew 2,296,347 last year, an average of 28,350.

The Gophers football team has picked up its ninth commitment for the 2009 recruiting class in running back Eric Stephens, a 5-8, 177-pounder from Mansfield, Texas. Stephens made an unofficial visit to campus last week. Stephens scored 23 touchdowns last season for Mansfield Timberview High School while rushing for 1,906 yards in 202 carries.

Greg Genske, the agent for Francisco Liriano, is complaining that the Twins are holding up the lefthander in the minor leagues. He is also the agent for Twins righthander Livan Hernandez, whose spot in the rotation might be the one Liriano ultimately replaces.

Indianapolis Colts coach Tony Dungy, the former Gophers quarterback, is in town to promote his new book for kids and also to attend the reunion for Gophers basketball players who played between 1969 and '75. Dungy played 16 games for the basketball team in 1974 under Bill Musselman, averaging 2.6 points per game. That group also includes Dave Winfield, who played basketball and baseball for the Gophers, and Flip Saunders, the former Timberwolves and Pistons coach. Also having a reunion this week is the 1968 Gophers track team that won the Big Ten title.

Joel Maturi hasn't raised men's basketball tickets price since becoming Gophers athletic director in 2002. In fact, he cut prices on exhibition games. And there will not be an increase this year despite the popularity of Tubby Smith. Tickets will cost more than last season, but that's because there are more home games than last season. ... Long Beach State, led by former Gophers coach Dan Monson, has a nonconference game scheduled at defending Big Ten champion Wisconsin on Nov. 16. It's one of four nonconference games for the 49ers against a team that appeared in this year's NCAA tournament.

Former Blaine High School basketball standout Patrick O'Bryant signed a two-year, $3 million contract with the Boston Celtics on Thursday. O'Bryant, the No. 9 overall pick by Golden State after leading Bradley to the Sweet 16 in 2006, played in only 40 games for the Warriors over the past two seasons combined. The 7-footer said he was excited to play with Kevin Garnett, telling the Boston Globe: "I watched [Garnett] for 10 or 11 years in Minnesota. This is going to be a great opportunity to learn from one of the best."