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Posted September 6, 2006
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Hunter Advises Mauer on Distractions
Whether it’s other teams figuring out a better way to pitch to him, the
physical drain of a long season or people asking for his time away from
the field, Joe Mauer is hitting like a guy
who was on the August 7 cover of Sports Illustrated. Only the
superstitious will claim the famed magazine has jinxed the All-Star
catcher but Mauer was hitting .363 on August 7 and earlier this week his
average had fallen to .346 including many games with one or no hits.
Before the All-Star game he was hitting .378.
There’s talk that the way to pitch to Mauer, now struggling to maintain
his American League batting lead against Derek Jeter, is throw
fast balls inside and slower pitches outside. Maybe that strategy is
working at times because at 23 Mauer is still young, just in his second
full season and learning to handle a long season while playing catcher,
baseball’s most physically demanding position.
Manager Ron Gardenhire talks about more days off from catching
while the Twins chase a playoff position in the final weeks of the 162
game schedule. Can Mauer, who was hitting .392 on July 1, finish the
season in the .340’s? “He’s done it for five months,” Gardenhire
answered. “He’s got a great swing. He’s a good hitter. He’s going to be
fine.”
Torrii Hunter, who at 31 has several years of major league
experience, was asked about bats becoming heavy in late August and
September. “Not just for us,” Hunter said. “We’re talking
about the whole major leagues. Bats get heavy. People go to the
lighter bat.
“Lots
of teams get tired because they are out of it but we still have a chance of
winning the division or wild card. …You can’t get tired (when you’re in
contention). Your body is physically tired but mentally you are not
(tired). You’re pumping yourself up everyday. Your adrenaline is your
energy so that is what I try to build myself on.”
Hunter talked to Mauer about the distractions Mauer faces as a home town
hero and the possibility of becoming mentally tired. “People are
dragging him here, dragging him there,” Hunter said. “That takes a toll
on him. I talked to him not too long ago about saying no sometimes.
He’s so nice of a guy he doesn’t say no. Sometimes you have to, because
it will mess up your routine. And if you have a routine, your main goal
is to play on the field.
“You
can kind of see that mentally there is something wrong there, and
hopefully he doesn’t let it bother him. …Next thing you know you get out
of your game. You don’t come to early BP (batting practice). You don’t
stretch like you usually do. Your routine is messed up because you’re
doing something else. Hopefully these next couple of weeks he kind of
tones everything down and focuses on the playoffs.”
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Photo courtesy of
Minnesota Twins
Joe Mauer
Photo courtesy of
Minnesota Twins
Ron Gardenhire
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Joe Kapp Talks Cal Football
The
California team Minnesota plays in Berkeley on Saturday has a
quarterback controversy. After playing two quarterbacks against
Tennessee last Saturday there was speculation as to who will start
against the Gophers, but coach Jeff Tedford ended that talk
yesterday when he told the San Jose Mercury
News Nate Longshore will start.
Longshore,
a sophomore, was the starter in Cal’s 35-18 loss to Tennessee and before
the season began he was mentioned as one of three or four players who
might lead the Bears. Longshore had a statistically poor day against
the Volunteers throwing 20 times for only 85 yards and was relieved by
senior
Joseph Ayoob
who threw 22 times for 187 yards including a touchdown pass, and he
also ran for a touchdown.
Former Viking quarterback Joe Kapp was Cal’s head coach from
1982-1986. He lives near San Jose and follows the Bears. He said the
quarterback position is “well manned.” Kapp also said the 6-5,
230-pound Longshore’s performance against the Volunteers should be
judged with perspective because he had passes dropped by receivers and
the vaunted Cal running attack (includes Heisman candidate Marshawn
Lynch) faltered.
Kapp
guessed earlier in the week that Longshore will start against the
Gophers. Longshore missed almost all of last season after being injured
in the opening game. “The quarterback Longshore is very talented, big
(and) strong,” Kapp said. ‘Whenever he stays healthy he competes.”
Before the season started ESPN’s Lee Corso predicted Cal will win
the national championship, and despite the surprising one-sided loss to
Tennessee, Kapp said the Bears are a “very good football team.” Told of
the national championship prediction, Kapp expressed surprise but
acknowledged there has been a buzz about Cal football this summer.
“Expectations were very high not only from the press but from the fans,
the alumni (and) the team itself,” Kapp said. “You don’t accomplish good
things unless you do have great expectations.”
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Joe Kapp
“The quarterback
Longshore is very talented, big (and) strong.”
Joe Kapp |
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Brooks Bollinger: Mr. Surprise
Brooks Bollinger, the Vikings new quarterback,
makes an impression based on his career accomplishments, not on what he
says about himself. As a high school player from Grand Forks, North
Dakota, the struggling University of Minnesota football program didn’t
pursue him. Wisconsin not only gave him a scholarship, the Badgers made
him a four year starter. Not a player with extraordinary physical
abilities, Bollinger passed, ran and directed the offense so well the
Badgers won 30 games, the most ever for a Badger quarterback.
While
he had a great college career from a team standpoint, his personal
performance didn’t create a lot of NFL
expectations. Drafted sixth by the New York Jets in 2003,
Bollinger played in just one game (in 2004) during
his first two seasons in the NFL. Last season he started nine games for
the Jets.
It
comes as a surprise to some people that Bollinger is still in the NFL,
joining the Vikings in a trade with the Jets and hoping “to do whatever
the organization needs me to do to win football games.” That assignment
is to prepare the best he can, probably become the No. 2 quarterback and
grab his helmet if starter Brad Johnson can’t play.
In
the immediate days after joining the Vikings, Bollinger (not
surprisingly) made a maximum effort to learn the Vikings offense. He is
a character guy, the type that would audition well for the all-American
boy role with Wheaties. Soft spoken and humble, Bollinger didn’t talk
much about all the games he helped Wisconsin win and then said, “I think
I accounted for some of the losses, too.”
Viking coach Brad Childress recruited Bollinger when he was an
assistant at Wisconsin. “I am familiar with him,” Childress said. “I
know how he is wired. He is a coach’s son. I talked to guys on the
(Jets’) last staff. He’s notorious as a grinder.”
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Brooks Bollinger
"I know how he is
wired."
Brad Childress talking
about Brooks Bollinger |
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Extra Innings
Twins
broadcaster Bert Blyleven was suspended
earlier this week for using an obscenity on TV Sunday, according to the
Star Tribune. Blyleven caught this viewer’s attention on Saturday’s FSN
pre-game show. While Jim Souhan was providing insights
about the Twins, Blyleven, who wasn’t supposed to be in the picture,
interrupted a few times including making a peace or victory sign above
Souhan’s head.
Randy Moss ranks No. 1 in pro football jersey
sales to men, according to the NFL. Among women, though, he ranks No.
9. Donovan McNabb is No. 1 with women while Ben
Roethlisberger is second among both men and women. McNabb is No. 10
among men while Brett Favre, No. 2 with women, isn’t even on the
top 10 men’s list.
Viking coach Brad Childress talking about the Redskins’
FedExField, the NFL’s largest stadium and perhaps the loudest: “Your job
is to make them sit on their hands.”
Twins
manager Ron Gardenhire on fickle followers: “We call people Mr.
Goin’ Good. When everything is going good they sure like to ride that
wagon. But if it gets a little bumpy a lot of them like to jump off.
We just ask you to stay on it and we will be okay.”
Gardenhire talking about the Detroit Tigers who visit the Metrodome
for a four game series starting tomorrow: “They are not going to fade
away. That’s a great team. They have been there all year. It’s going
to all depend on how their pitching staff goes along here in September
as to how they finish. Just like everybody else.”
Torri Hunter, who had 23 home runs, 71 RBI and a .269 average earlier
in the week, thinks he can finish the season with 30 home runs, 90 RBI,
and a.280 average. While those are his goals, he said “for me it’s all
about getting to the playoffs and even winning the World Series.”
Former Twins batting champion Tony Oliva hopes to visit his
native Cuba next winter. He still has sisters and brothers living
there, plus close to 100 other relatives.
Redskins’ coach Joe Gibbs quoted in the
August 28 Washington Times on the team’s
terrible performance in pre-season: "We've been in messes before and we
understand how to get out of them," Gibbs said yesterday at Redskin
Park. "We're in a tough time right now and when you go through tough
times, it's always interesting to see how you get out of it."
John Gordon, Twins play-by-player announcer, said on a recent WCCO
broadcast that Jim Kaat will retire from broadcasting New York
Yankee games after this season. Kaat, a former Twins broadcaster and the
team’s all-time pitching leader in career wins, plans to travel the
country with his wife and visit family, Gordon said.
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Randy Moss
Randy Moss ranks No. 1 in jersey sales
among men
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