Each week, commenter Jon Marthaler bakes up a delicious batch of links for you. Other times, you can find him here. Jon?
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This week, Joe Mauer was named to the All-Star team for the fifth time. Theoretically, this should have been an opportunity for celebration, for Twins fans - a confirmation that our favorite son is back among the game's elite, something that is borne out by the objective numbers. Yet within hours, team president Dave St. Peter was on Twitter, defending Mauer to the catcher's critics. It's the latest development in the confusing Minnesotan attitude towards Mauer, perhaps the most One Of Us athlete ever.
Mauer is fascinating, and yet almost everyone views him as normal and level-headed. He's boring, but despite this - maybe because of this - he's interesting. He's simultaneously the best-loved and most-hated athlete in town, yet he can't be described as polarizing on any level; everyone has a Mauer opinion, and yet off the field he's entirely un-newsworthy. He seems open and friendly while being inscrutable and private; he's a marketer's dream because he has no baggage, yet the only way he can be used to sell a product is by poking fun at that lack of baggage, unless the product in question is something wholesome, like milk.
He doesn't get angry on the field, and if he feels frustration, he doesn't show it. He celebrates, but not exuberantly; he smiles, but doesn't laugh. His swing is smooth, not powerful; he's clearly working hard, but doesn't ever appear to be straining every sinew. He is not emotional. Our only hint of feeling comes when he is running back to the dugout, head down, a slight trudge in his step - the gait of a man buffeted by a stiff breeze that only he can feel.
In some ways, he can be interpreted in any way the analyst chooses. I might say he's a good hitter and he finds a way to stay on the field and he seems like he's really nice - and his contract is entirely appropriate. You might say he's a good hitter but not good enough, doesn't catch often enough, and is too nice - and gets paid too much money. Neither of us has any extra information, and Mauer provides nothing else. Who he is, is entirely in the eye of the beholder. What a fascinating, boring, riveting, yawn-worthy presence.
On with the links:
*Canis Hoopus goes inside the numbers on potential future Timberwolf Nic Batum - and discovers he's a lot like Jared Dudley or Mike Dunleavy. Maybe it's a good thing that the Blazers want to match Minnesota's contract offer.
