September 9
St. Paul Pioneer Press
columnist Charley Walters
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The Twins probably are out of the playoff race, but Joe Mauer's quest for a record third batting championship for a catcher — he's tied with Ernie Lombardi at two — should keep fans interested through the rest of the season. The Twins have 24 games remaining, the Seattle Mariners 23. Entering Tuesday night's games, Mauer was hitting .369, Mariners outfielder Ichiro Suzuki .362. Let's say Mauer and Ichiro each get 100 at-bats the rest of the season. If Ichiro gets 35 hits, the Mariners' star would finish at .3599 (230 hits in 639 at-bats). Mauer, who missed the first 22 games of the season with a sore back, would need 33 hits to finish at .3614 (193 hits in 534 at-bats). For Mauer, 32 ..."
July 19
St. Paul Pioneer Press
columnist Charley Walters
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In high school at Eden Prairie, Mike Erickson was the whole package. A celebrated athlete. Popular. Smart. Erickson quarterbacked Eden Prairie to the 2000 state large-school football championship at the Metrodome over Cretin-Derham Hall, quarterbacked by a guy named Joe Mauer. Erickson went on to accept a hockey tender from the Gophers. A year later, the Minnesota Wild drafted the flashy 6-foot-3, 210-pound left wing in the third round. The future was bright. But then there was a setback: Erickson suffered a shattered ankle against Minnesota-Duluth. Then he experienced the reality of big-time college sports. His playing time at Minnesota was curtailed, and Erickson transferred to Western ..."
June 28
St. Paul Pioneer Press
columnist Charley Walters
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Before I graduated with a journalism degree from the University of Minnesota 33 years ago, I pitched professionally for seven years in the organizations of the Twins, Washington Senators and Texas Rangers. More than a month of that insignificant baseball career was spent in the major leagues with the Twins, pitching for Billy Martin in 1969. So sometimes these days, I perch in the press box at the Metrodome and wonder, when Joe Mauer comes to bat, "How would I pitch to this guy?" I also sometimes ponder the same, before Twins games, when standing immediately behind the batting cage and watching Mauer practice his strokes. That swing. It is a beautiful sight to behold. I once asked Sam ..."
May 27
St. Paul Pioneer Press
columnist Charley Walters
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Joe Mauer's coach since he was 10 years old says it's no aberration that the Twins catcher suddenly is hitting with home run power. "I can't believe that everybody's saying they don't know where it is coming from," Joe's father, Jake, said Tuesday. "He's always had power." Jake has noticed, though, one slight variation in his son's swing. "I think now he's using the lower half of his body more and attacking the ball," Jake said. "He always hit pretty well with just his hands. I'll give you a good example: Two games ago, he hit the ball in the upper deck. And the next time up, he flipped a 3-2 curveball on the outside part of the plate to left field. There it was — he was using his lower ..."