Joe Mauer, less than two weeks from reporting for spring training, walked about 20 steps from the weight room to his car at the Lee County Sports Complex.
In a span of just a few seconds this morning, about a dozen fans flocked to the Minnesota Twins catcher's car, hoping for an autograph.
"I'm sorry," said Mauer, the three-time American League batting champion and league's reigning Most Valuable Player. "I'm kind of in a hurry. I have to be somewhere."
Mauer, however, paused and signed a half-dozen baseballs and a Sports Illustrated magazine with him on the cover before departing.
"It's already kind of crazy," said Mauer, who spent part of his offseason in Fort Myers and attended the Super Bowl.
And it's only going to get crazier, we presume.
