Minnesota Twins backstop and hometown hero Joe Mauer nailed his 11th home run of the season Monday afternoon during a two out, pinch-hit appearance in the ninth inning against Boston Red Sox closer Jonathan Papelbon. On his day off. The Sox went on to win the opener of the four-game series 6-5, but Twins fans couldn't help but walk away from the loss with a curious smile on their faces.It's not like the entire world of baseball wasn't aware that Man Muscles was awesome before this season began. He is, of course, a two-time All-Star, double-time American League batting champ, and all-around nice guy. After completely missing Spring Training and the entire month of April after recovering from offseason kidney surgery and dealing with recurring back pain, Joe is rocking a .444 batting average with 31 runs batted in (breaking Harmon Killebrew's club record of 29 RBI in May of 1961) in just 81 at bats spanning 22 games this year.
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6 comments:
There are no explanations for such freaks of nature.
Steroids!
He also likes to do things like, babysit, play with puppies, help little old ladies cross the street, feed the hungry, etc.
There is no explanation for the power surge. He is doing absolutely nothing differently than last year other than growing stronger as he matures into adulthood.
Plus, he totaly knows Paul Molitor.
I have to agree that his increase of power is likely attributable to simple physical maturation. Considering he was STILL GROWING when he joined the big league lineup, my guess is that he's really only now truly settling into the kind of physique he'll have as an adult player.
Some guys just take a little longer - although 23-25 is really normal for kind of a "filling out" period. (I have 10 brothers - all of whom run a little late on the growth schedule) If this is true of Mauer, there is no reason there SHOULD be anything different in his approach to justify better results.
I think it's GREAT!!
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