Pujols and Mauer lead baseball’s best
By: Larry Fitzgerald
Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder
Originally posted 05/28/2009
They call it the mid-summer classic, when the baseball season comes to a halt. The boys of summer play 162 games over the summer months; Major League Baseball has been called a marathon, not a sprint, because the season is long. During the All-Star break, the 30 teams get three to four days to regroup, get away from the game, and spend some time with family.
But not all the players do — the best players, 33 for each league, will meet in St. Louis for the All-Star game. It’s the National League stars vs. American League stars.
Albert Pujols of the St. Louis Cardinals is having the type of season you just have to shake your head over. He has led the Cardinals to first place in the NL Central 49-42. He leads Major League Baseball in 15 offensive categories.
Pujols is hitting .332 with 32 home runs and 87 RBI; his slugging percentage is .723. He has a chance to win the Triple Crown.
Twins star Joe Mauer is hitting .373, leading the American League in hitting with a career-best 15 home runs and 50 RBI. If anybody is going to hit .400 again, Mauer with that sweet balanced swing is the guy who can do it.
I caught up with the two-time American League batting champion and asked him about being selected to his third All-Star game. ”You two guys [Pujols and Mauer] will be the talk of St. Louis at the All-Star game,” I said.
“I think he’s going to be the talk of St. Louis,” said Mauer. “He plays there. He’s the best player in the game. It will be a fun couple of days, and I’m looking forward to it.”
I asked him to talk about the decision to get into the Home Run Derby.
‘’Well, a guy like me, I don’t know how many times I’m going to get asked,” Mauer said. “It’s something I’ve always wanted to do as a kid, and I jumped at it.”
It’s good to know that most players do things the right way without cheating. Players like Alex Rodriguez of the New York Yankees and Los Angeles Dodgers star Manny Ramirez, both with over 500 career home runs, are the latest, biggest names to tarnish the game of baseball. Rodriguez admitted to taking steroids earlier this year, and Ramirez was suspended for 50 games for having tested positive for a banned substance.
Fitz Notes & Quotes
The Twins, 45-44 at the break and in third place, are four games back of Detroit in the AL Central. They are 17-12 against teams in the Division head to head.
The Twins drew 308,705 fans for the nine-game pre-All-Star break series vs. Detroit, New York and Chicago, and finished 4-5. The Twins beat Chicago 13-7 on Sunday and had 15 hits, but the amazing thing that we may never see again is that Mauer struck out four times.
The Twins are well represented in St. Louis with Mauer and Justin Morneau (.311, 21 home runs and 70 RBI). Closer Joe Nathan is also an All-Star again with a 1.31 ERA and 23 saves; opponents are hitting just .153 against him, and he was named the winner of the MLB Delivery Man of the Month.
Larry Fitzgerald can be heard weekday mornings on KMOJ Radio 89.9 FM at 8:20 am, and on WDGY-AM 740 Monday & Saturday mornings at 7:50 am and Fridays at 3:50 pm; he also commentates on sports 7-8 pm on Almanac (TPT channel 2). Larry welcomes reader responses to lfitzgerald@spokesman-recorder.com , or visit www.Larry-Fitzgerald.com .
