Damn Yankees

One of the reasons I was looking forward to moving back to Minnesota was that I would be able to watch the Twins on TV a lot more. So, of course, in the first three games I watch they get swept by the Yankees at home. That runs their season record against the Evil Empire to an awesome 0-7. Of course, this is nothing new. The Twins won their division in 2002 and 2003 despite going a combined 0-13 against the Yanks.

So why is it that a relatively good team has so much trouble taking even one game from the Yankees? Sometimes I think it's because the Twins try too hard against New York. They're a team that's built on pitching to contact, playing loose and smooth in the field and stringing together base-hits. But against the Yankees it seems like the pitchers try too hard to nibble at the edges and end up walking way more batters than they usually do. The fielders are too eager to try and turn the bang-bang double play or make a Herculean throw and end up making more errors than they usually do. The hitters are too eager to hit the game-turning homerun and end up striking out more than they usually do.

Then, of course, the Yankees are the Yankees and their history gives their current players more star power than comparable players on other teams. For some reason Derek Jeter's strike zone is much narrower than Joe Mauer's strike zone and Mariano Rivera's strike zone is much wider than Joe Nathan's strike zone. There's no use whining about it. The MLB umpires grew up on the same legends of Gehrig, Mantle and the Babe as every other baseball fan, and the Yankee uniform has an effect on them, subconscious or not. It is what it is.

What makes the Yankees most infuriating to the rest of the nation, though, is their bottomless pocket book. While the Twins have to spend years drafting and developing a top-flight starting pitcher like CC Sabathia or AJ Burnett, the Yankees can go buy both in the same off-season. It's terribly exciting for their fans, but maddening for everybody else.

At the National Meningitis Association conference this year my friend John, who's from New York and a Yankees fan, made a comment about how good Mauer is going to look in pinstripes. That's what it's like to be a Yankees fan. You can look at other teams' best players and, instead of being envious, just say, "Well, he's going to play for us someday." And often you'll be proven right. Look at A-Rod, Sabathia, Mark Teixeira, etc.

Mauer's contract with the Twins runs out after next season and there's every reason to believe the Yanks will make a serious run at him. He'll only be 27 and he's a catcher who can handle a pitching staff, throw out runners, lead the league in batting average and, recently at least, hit for power. There's only been a handful of those kind of catchers in MLB history (in fact, Johnny Bench is the only one who readily comes to mind). Oh yeah, and Mauer also is humble, good-looking, great in the clubhouse and the community and handles the media with ease. And he's never had even the hint of a performance-enhancing drug scandal. He's a PR guy's dream, a manager's dream and a teenage girl's dream, all in one sideburned package.

The Yankees will probably offer him an obscene contract that the Twins can't even come close to matching, even with the new stadium they're opening in 2010. The Twins will likely (hopefully) try to pre-empt them with a long-term extension this winter, but it will still be up to Mauer and his agent as to whether to sign it. It will be a huge payday either way, but it will likely be more huge (huger?) if he waits for free agency. His buddy, MVP first baseman Justin Morneau, has said he will stop talking to Mauer if Mauer leaves the Twins. The jury is still out on whether Morneau was kidding or not.

It is hard to imagine the state-wide outcry that would ensue if Mauer left. He is the Golden Boy here, a St. Paul native who tore through the football, basketball and baseball ranks in high school and then spurned a full scholarship to play quarterback at Florida State for the chance to sign with the hometown Twins. His high school exploits are spoken of like Paul Bunyan tall tales: "Did you know that Joe Mauer once threw an 80-yard touchdown pass... to himself?" "Did you know that Joe Mauer once dunked from the 3-point line?" "Did you know that Joe Mauer only struck out once in four seasons at Cretin-Derham Hall?"

The last one's actually true, but the line seems to blur sometimes when Minnesotans talk about Mauer. He is a source of great pride and has a chance to be the greatest sports legend in state history. But before he can match Kirby Puckett, he has to do something that Puckett did. Midway through his career Puckett called a teary-eyed press conference to announce that he was spurning other contract offers to re-sign with the Twins, the team that had given him a chance and developed him into the player he had become. In turning down more money to play for his hometown Chicago White Sox, Puckett cemented his place in the hearts of Minnesotans. When the time comes to sign his next contract, Mauer can either do the same, or he can break those hearts.

To the regular person it seems absurd. Mauer's already going to get tens of millions of dollars every year. Why would he leave that kind of love in Minnesota for a few million more each year in New York? Still, it would be just like the Yankees to find yet another way to infuriate and demoralize Twins fans.