Catching lots of attention

Miracle’s Mauer already receiving acclaim before ascending to majors

By GLENN MILLER
Fort Myers News Press

The compliments about Fort Myers Miracle catcher Joe Mauer flow like water gushing through a broken dam. There’s no stopping them, they tumble and pour forth like a flood of words, rolling downhill, picking up speed and steam.

“I’m just amazed,” ESPN’s Peter Gammons said.

The Miracle have never had a player hyped as much as Mauer, the No. 1 overall pick in the 2001 draft. Gammons was at the Lee County Sports Complex recently, sitting with several scouts in the press dining room before a spring training game.

“They all agreed he was the best catching prospect they’ve seen in 20 years,” Gammons said.

That’s since before Mauer was born. He turns 20 April 19.

One word — special — pops up frequently about Mauer.

Mauer has heard it before, since his days in high school in St. Paul, Minn., where he was the USA Today national football and baseball player of the year. He had agreed to play quarterback at Florida State but was swayed to play baseball when his hometown team selected him first and offered $5.1 million, the second-largest bonus ever in the amateur draft.

The best catching prospect in 20 years?

“I don’t know,” Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said. “I haven’t seen all the great catching prospects in the last 20 years. I will say this. We are very happy we drafted Joe Mauer.”

Mauer spent most of spring training with the Twins, absorbing the big-league way of doing things. He knew he didn’t have a chance to make the team.

The Twins don’t feel compelled to rush Mauer because they have an all-star catcher in A.J. Pierznyski. The organization wants to take its time with Mauer, letting him prosper at each level of the minors, including the Florida State League.

So far, they’re pleased.

“He’s shown what we were hoping to get from the selection,” Twins general manager Terry Ryan said.

Somehow, according to Twins officials, Mauer is able to keep his feet on the ground and his head screwed on right despite all the praise and honors that have flowed his way.

“That’s how I was raised, really,” Mauer said. “I was talking to one of the pitchers, and he was asking me the same question. It doesn’t feel like anything has changed really from a couple of years ago.”

Two years ago, Mauer was a senior at Cretin-Derham High in St. Paul. He may have been the most hyped prep athlete in the country, the only one ever named both national football and baseball player of the year. In his spare time, he was an all-state basketball player.

He comes from a large family. His older brother, Jake, has also been assigned to the Miracle. Twins minor-league director Jim Rantz remembers seeing 21 members of the extended Mauer family in spring training.

“You’d yell, ‘Jake!’ and three guys would turn around,” Rantz said.

It’s Joe, however, who keeps turning heads.

Twins bench coach Steve Liddle is a former minor-league catcher who has been around the pro game since before Mauer was born.

“He’s beyond his years, maturity-wise,” Liddle said. “You can see why a big-time program like Florida State was interested in him being their team leader, their quarterback. He just has a presence about him. He’s just very certain about what it is he needs to do. He doesn’t waver. He doesn’t seem to have the ups and downs emotionally that a lot of guys his age have.”

Jeff Carter managed Mauer last year with the Quad City River Bandits of the Class A Midwest League. He also remembers a focused, level-headed kid.

“I think his parents did a great job with him,” Carter said. “They’re good people. He doesn’t carry himself like ‘I’m Joe Mauer. I’m the man. I’m special.’ He just tries to fit in with all the other guys.”

He doesn’t play like the other guys. Mauer hit .400 in 20 at-bats in big-league spring training. He hit .302 for Carter last year and was named the best catching prospect in the minors.

“He carries himself like he belongs,” Carter said. “He has that quiet confidence about him. He doesn’t make a lot of noise on the bench in the clubhouse or anything but you know he’s there when the game starts. The opposing side knows he’s in the box.”

Twins pitcher Joe Mays noticed how Mauer handled himself in spring training.

“A lot of times you didn’t even know he was here,” Mays said. “That’s how quiet he is.”

Miracle manager Jose Marzan will have his turn with Mauer this year. Will he be handled different than other players?

“To me, you have 25 guys in uniform and they’re all the same,” Marzan said. “Obviously, this guy is going to get all the hoopla. He’s the only one signing autographs after practice. But we treat them the same.”

But he’s the only one who was a No. 1 overall pick and the only one who spent most of spring training with the big team. That’s where he was tutored in the fine points of catching and calling games by Liddle and veterans such as backup catcher Tom Prince.

“I was talking to Tom Prince about my vision,” Mauer said. “I came out of high school and it was like this.”

Mauer held his hands two or three inches apart in front of his chest. He then moved his hands wider, indicating he’s seeing more and understanding more about the nuances of catching in professional baseball that may not be noticed by fans.

He also has the skills that are obvious from the stands.

“He has a rifle for an arm,” Liddle said. “There’s no doubt about it. He’s very accurate. He has the ability to shut down the running game. For a big guy he has the ability to block balls in the dirt. That’s also why he’s a good thrower.

“He’s able to get his footwork in synchronization with his upper body.”

As a former football player, Mauer isn’t intimidated by onrushing base runners barreling into him at home.

“He’s not afraid,” Liddle said.

Marzan has noticed Mauer’s eye-hand coordination.

“When he’s taking batting practice he’s hitting the ball on the button all the time,” Marzan said. “That’s the thing with him that’s different. He’s got that natural ability, that eye-hand coordination, the ability to put the barrel of the bat on the ball no matter where the pitch is pitched.”

Mauer sometimes speaks in interviews as if he has been tutored in media skills by the Crash Davis character in “Bull Durham.”

Has he set goals with the Miracle?

“To go out there and give it my best every day and see what happens,” Mauer said.

Pierzynski has little doubt about what will happen with Mauer. Will the kid make it to the majors?

“Of course he will,” Pierzynski said. “They gave him $5 million. He’s not going to not be in the big leagues.”

The Twins have not set a timetable for Mauer or said if he’ll spend the entire season here. Liddle, though, has a prediction for Miracle fans hoping to see Mauer.

“Get a quick look at him,” said Liddle, a former Miracle manager. “You better come early.”

That’s early as in before Mauer is promoted.