Article: Mauer’s Myths: The Hero Minnesota Didn’t Deserve

[jmlease1]

 

If Joe Mauer is/was so great why is it always necessary for someone to revisit and reaffirm that Joe Mauer is so great? Greatness does not have to be proven by dredging up stats from a 100 column spreadsheet. Greatness simply "is".  For someone with so much supposed greatness Mauer had very little impact on games day after day and was in no way a presence on the field when he should have been in his prime. There is no one in the Hall who has to have a list of miscellaneous stats to justify that he is in the "Hall".

Best average with risp. 48 rbi's. Go figure. My guess..a LHB hits a flare to left and a runner on second can't score. Take one "great" season out and Joe Mauer had a nice career as a Major League baseball player. As such he is upper tier of the middle of the pack who ever played the game for any length of time but not among the "greats" who played the game. He stands out on Twins' teams of the past decade or longer because there is no one else on those teams who has even come close to star status unless you count Torii Hunter or Morneau for a couple of years so Mauer had to be hyped while performing at a journeyman level.

 

There have been people (usually ill-informed or using very limited metrics to describe what counts as being "great") bashing him for the last 10 years.

 

To suggest Mauer had little impact on games during his prime is to ignore the actual games. Dude won an MVP and by every metric and considered opinion out there he deserved it! And boy howdy there are plenty of guys in the Hall who you need to pull out stats to explain why they are there (seriously: how else do you explain how players who died before you were born got there? yank out press clippings about the actress they dated?)

 

Your RBI comment suggests you're lost in the past. Joe Mauer throughout his career got hits with runners in scoring position. that means he didn't make outs and increased his team's chances of winning. How many high OBP guys batted in front of Joe throughout his Twins career?

 

Take out Mauer's MVP season and he's still a 5-time all-star who won 2 batting titles at catcher. not that we should ignore that season just because it doesn't fit with someone's narrative, but he easily could have been on his second MVP at that point, because was as good as anyone in 2006 too. he was a great, great player and we were cheated of seeing him compete for more batting titles by the concussion. 

 

I'm happy to keep "defending" Joe Mauer, because people have been treating him unfairly (mostly in MN) ever since he signed the big extension. I was lucky enough to watch a Hall of Famer's entire career played for my favorite team, which also happened to be his favorite team too. That's something worth celebrating, and the naysayers need to get out of the Bitter Barn and come play in hay (JMO).

[Kelly Vance]

Bad form to dis a guy when he is taking his victory lap. 

 

 

Thanks Joe, forgive the critics

[USAFChief]

Mod note: Let's keep the Mauer stories about Mauer, and not about other posters who don't share your particular opinion.

 

Thanks.

[highlander]

LET'S GO JOE!!! HOF absolutely. 1st ballot no. If Joe never played 1st base his talents as a catcher put him in the HOF. To me the most amazing thing Joe did as a catcher was how he handled a pitching staff. The year he rehabbed in the minors he young uns ERA dropped 2 a game. The other thing I loved about Joe is how he took a pitch. Watch it to the mitt, brush a little dirt with his spikes, turn and spit, then settle in for the next pitch. Never showed up Blue. He gained their respect. Going to miss you Joe.

[Dantes929]

Sadly, I think Mauer should have been lead off or 2nd for most of his career.   Ask Morneau, Cuddyer, Young, Kubel  and Thome if they appreciated Joe bating in from of them.    A lot of ground out RBI and sac flies can be credited to Joe who would advance guys on the rare occasions that the guys ahead of him got on.    We know he isn't a home run hitter so the low number of RBI with RISP is still indicative of guys not getting on base enough.    Casilla, Punto, Everett, Hocking, Dozier are just some of the guys that Mauer batted after.   Not exactly high OBP guys.    

As far as clutch the Twins had 3 of the closest pennant races in history and Mauer was fantastic in the last months of those seasons.   Look at his last two months of the wild card race last year.    Personally,  I hope he comes back next year because even if he is not one of the best 1b batters, he is still one of the Twins best batters.

[Dantes929]

I once watched a weekend series where the Twins scored 9 runs as a direct result of Joe getting on base or moving guys over and the net result statistically for him was 0 RBI and 1 run scored.   The 4 and 5 baters (Morneau and I don't remember) got 8 RBI from a bunch of sac flies, ground outs and singles.    That is why Mauer did pretty well with the runs created stat that the casual fan just doesn't recognize or appreciate much.     Mauer is at #205 with lots of HOFers behind him and a lot of players ahead of him that only were ahead because they played longer.    Piazza is the only catcher that was ahead of him for runs created/seasons played.    I think Mauer's longevity actually hurts his case a bit.   His average career stats have taken a big hit from the last 5 years.      

[D. Hocking]

This was kind of cool:

 

Johnny Bench
@JohnnyBench_5

#joemauer was celebrated by everyone for his character, class and ability. How cool to catch that last game. Wish it had been more! @Twins @MLB

 

 

[Nine of twelve]

 

Mauer’s first ten seasons in the majors was one of the greatest runs by any catcher in baseball history. From 2004 through 2013 he hit .323/.405/.468 for a OPS+ of 138 and accumulated 42.9 fWAR, three batting titles, three Gold Gloves, five all star appearances, five silver sluggers,and an MVP trophy. (A good chunk of that was written by Sickels, I added some info).

 

Mauer was a FANTASTIC player from 2004-2013.  The offense he was able to put up while playing quality defense at the most physically demanding position (catcher) was incredible.

This. And catcher is not just the most physically demanding position it's also the most mentally demanding position. The fact that he hit the way he did while being outstanding as a catcher is why he was the best baseball player in the world over those ten seasons. And that includes Albert Pujols.

[Ebby Calvin Laloosh]

Maybe the prettiest swing I've seen in my lifetime. A work of art. I watch baseball for things like his swing, Santana's change-up, and Mike Trout's Mike Troutness...Thanks Joe!

[70charger]

 

This was kind of cool:

 

Super cool. I'm a big Johnny Bench fan (the Reds are, sadly, my NL team). I think Mauer belongs in that same catching pantheon.

[yarnivek1972]

Compare Joe Mauer to Sandy Koufax. Both were injured during their prime. Koufax quit after 12 years. His 3 years with Brooklyn, which were mediocre, were before his 9 best years. with LA, which were outstanding. Mauer kept playing after his injuries. Mauer player 5 years of mediorce baseball (10.4 WAR) after his best years.. I contend that Mauer's 10 best years as a catcher were so superior to any other catchers' 10 years (3 batting titles by a catcher- never been done before), that they compare to Koufax's 9 best years as a pitcher in relation to other pitchers. Did Koufax, as dominant as he was, ever do anything that no other pitcher has done before or since? No. I admit Koufax was dominant at his position for 9 years, but so was Joe Mauer for 10 years, in relation to all other catchers in the history of MLB. If Koufax deserves to be in the HOF (and he certainly does), then so does Joe Mauer (and he certainly does).

Koufax won 3 Cy Youngs in 4 years. Keep in mind that was AL and NL combined then. No one else won more than one when it was combined. Koufax won 5 consecutive ERA titles (3 of which were MLB ERA titles) and had six consecutive seasons where his FIP was MLB best. Pretty sure those are unique to him.

[TheLeviathan]

 

This. And catcher is not just the most physically demanding position it's also the most mentally demanding position. The fact that he hit the way he did while being outstanding as a catcher is why he was the best baseball player in the world over those ten seasons. And that includes Albert Pujols.

 

I'm not going to disparage Mauer, I think he's a HOFer.

 

But he was nowhere near the player Pujols or Miguel Cabrera were.  Pujols hit 400 HRs in that decade.  He out-paced Mauer by almost 16 WAR over that time.  I think we can appreciate Mauer without too much hyperbole.

[cardsfan]

I'm not going to disparage Mauer, I think he's a HOFer.

 

But he was nowhere near the player Pujols or Miguel Cabrera were.  Pujols hit 400 HRs in that decade.  He out-paced Mauer by almost 16 WAR over that time.  I think we can appreciate Mauer without too much hyperbole.

[cardsfan]

I don't think you trade 10 years of Berra's,Campanella's and Bench's offense for Mauer's.

[ashbury]

I don't think you trade 10 years of Berra's,Campanella's and Bench's offense for Mauer's.

What the heck were you looking for when you ran across this old article?

[prouster]

If Joe Mauer is/was so great why is it always necessary for someone to revisit and reaffirm that Joe Mauer is so great?

Because of posts like yours.

[cardsfan]

What the heck were you looking for when you ran across this old article?

I think those catcher's 10 years along with Piazza and perhaps Simmons 10 years because of their power-hitting would be ahead of Mauer.

[Riverbrian]

I don’t care much for HOF debates but as far as the Twins. He was big part of every summer I’ve had for the entire length of his career. Minnesota Born and bred and the Twins were the only team he played for. Add in some batting titles and it doesn’t get much more special.

 

He is one of us and will always be.

 

#7 should be retired and a statue should also be placed in the plaza.

 

The statue should capture him taking a strike.

[USAFChief]

I don’t care much for HOF debates but as far as the Twins. He was big part of every summer I’ve had for the entire length of his career. Minnesota Born and bred and the Twins were the only team he played for. Add in some batting titles and it doesn’t get much more special.

 

He is one of us and will always be.

 

#7 should be retired and a statue should also be placed in the plaza.

 

The statue should capture him taking a strike.

[IndianaTwin]

What the heck were you looking for when you ran across this old article?

I wonder the same, but thanks, CardsFan for doing so. Otherwise I would have missed the incredible video tribute linked back in Comment No. 8. Awesome work, Twins video people.