Mauer never really had any traction, and he, too, was only average in September.

.365 .414 .490 in the final month.

I mean really, what does Mauer need to do to get attention from anyone? Bite the heads off of live bats? [The flappy kind] He's the best catcher in the majors right now (Soto is close but needs another primo year or two to have a real argument).

what does Mauer need to do to get attention from anyone?

Dating Jessica Simpson worked for Tony Romo, all Mauer has to do is have a relationship with a sexy Hollywood celebrity from Minnesota,
and he'll be famous, you betcha.

Of course, the last Hollywood celebrity from Minnesota was Judy Garland.

Of course, the last Hollywood celebrity from Minnesota was Judy Garland.

If this was Classic Primer, I'd be posting as Jessica Biel or Winona Ryder right now.

Now, dating Jessica Lange would probably raise Mauer's profile, but for some real Minnesota synergy that would make him a national figure, he should date Josh Hartnett.

Too bad Mary Jo Pehl is married...

What's the argument for Pedroia over Mauer? The extra games (seems unfair to penalize a catcher who plays 146 games)? The Sox making the playoffs (getting a mediocre Twins team to game 163 should outweigh that, I think)?

I'm puzzled by Joe Mauer's non-stardom. Sure, Minnesota's not New York, but Torii Hunter got famous. It's like Mauer still has to prove himself after that disappointing 2005. Weird.

what does Mauer need to do to get attention from anyone?

Dating Jessica Simpson worked for Tony Romo

Now, dating Jessica Lange would probably raise Mauer's profile, but for some real Minnesota synergy that would make him a national figure, he should date Josh Hartnett.

Jeff_from_Maine: Re: Cabrera. Don't reporters have a responsibility to, you know, report, instead of protecting the players and maintaining ridiculous unspoken "rules?"

Bob Ryan: It has nothing to do with "rules." It has to do with not wanting to get sued if you're wrong. I'm just telling you there's a reason why he's been bouncing around.

Somewhere Mike Piazza is holding a press conference.

for some real Minnesota synergy that would make him a national figure, he should date Josh Hartnett.

I was thinking Ethan Coen.

Of course, the last Hollywood celebrity from Minnesota was Judy Garland.

What, you've got something against Al Franken?

Mauer's not a star because he hit 9 HRs and 85 RBIs. That just doesn't capture the attention of the average fan or writer. It's similar to why Boggs was never taken seriously as an MVP when he was putting up .450 OBPs.

If this was 1953 or 1976 Mauer would receive oodles of praise for helping a no name staff generate such solid results. In a time where writers huff and puff about "the little things" it's pretty ironic when it comes to the Twins the media focusses on Morneau.

Well, more than ironic. It's dumb.

And why doesn't anyone fuss over Mauer's defense?

And why doesn't anyone fuss over Mauer's defense?

Because when it comes to catcher defense, the first thing that the media looks at is SB%, and while Mauer is 3rd in the league, 37% just doesn't blow your socks off the way some of the primo years of guys like Pudge does.

Clutchness and intangibles.

That's another thing -- Mauer's a .350 hitter with RISP since 2006, and .364 with two outs and RISP. He's hitting .361 and .362 in those situations this year. He's walked 34 more times than he's struck out.

I guess when people complain about the lack of complete hitters, it's because they ignore the ones that are there.

I'm sure Darren is right. When was the last time when someone with so few HRs and RBIs won the MVP? Looks like Boggs cracked the top 5 in the voting once. I wonder if Mauer will do so this year.

Also, the writers do pretty terribly when it comes to position adjustments. You'd think enough of them followed a team with a no-hit catcher (since that's, well, most of them, I think) that their eye would pop at Mauer's numbers. Instead, they see 9 HRs and 85 RBIs. Oh well.

When was the last time when someone with so few HRs and RBIs won the MVP?

Pitchers aside:

Ichiro 2001 8/69
Larkin 1995 15/66
Pendleton 1991 22/86
Henderson 1990 28/61
McGee 1985 10/82

The Larkin one was particularly odd. He didn't lead the league in anything. Didn't crack 100 runs even (in fairness, only 144 games played by anybody that year). Did steal 51 bases and win the gold glove. Would have been a very insightful recognition of all-around excellence adjusting for position except that it wasn't his best year and Piazza, Bonds and Maddux had better cases. Naturally Dante Bichette finished 2nd in the voting. :-)

McGee and Larkin were both cases of "this team was really good and MUCH better than we thought, we need to assign credit to a single individual." In fairness, in 85, the only clearly more valuable player was Gooden (24-4, 1.53 ERA, 277 IP).

But no, barring something like a move to 3B or making a run at 400, I can't see Mauer ever winning an MVP. As a C with his limited power, hard to see him getting in enough games to drive in 100 (see Herr 1985 or Carew 1977 though that was his run at 400 too) or score 100. MVP voters don't adjust well for position and, good as he is, Mauer is not comparing to the MVP seasons of Pudge, Piazza, Bench, etc. Oops, Piazza never won one, so there ya go.

(Technically Mauer could comp to Rodriguez but that would require the voters to also adjust for era and park factors and, c'mon, they're only human!)

Of course, the last Hollywood celebrity from Minnesota was Judy Garland.

Who was actually born in a trunk in the Princess Theater, in Pocatello, Idaho.

Jeff_from_Maine: Re: Cabrera. Don't reporters have a responsibility to, you know, report, instead of protecting the players and maintaining ridiculous unspoken "rules?"

Bob Ryan: It has nothing to do with "rules." It has to do with not wanting to get sued if you're wrong. I'm just telling you there's a reason why he's been bouncing around.

So apparently it has something to do with that silly "rule" of actually needing "facts" before you say something. A rule that Ryan apparently has no problem violating, as long as he does it via innuendo.

Sizemore was the best player (non-pitcher) in the AL. He should win the MVP.

(Technically Mauer could comp to Rodriguez but that would require the voters to also adjust for era and park factors and, c'mon, they're only human!)

Not sure that would be very helpful though, considering that Pudge in no way actually deserved the MVP.

Interesting stuff Walt, thanks. Worth noting with Ichiro that besides all the excitement of Ichiro!, the Mariners also won 116 games that year-- and if he wasn't that team's best player, he was at least their biggest star.

As for Sizemore, there's a good case to be made for him, but without redoing the whole best player/most valuable debate, I'll just note that his numbers don't seem to put him head and shoulders above the rest to the degree necessary for someone from a mediocre team to win it (certainly for the writers, and also for me, if I had a vote). I don't doubt that he may still have been the best player overall, but his crappy September made his offensive stats just very, very good, and not, it seems to me, exceptional.

I used to really respect Bob Ryan (mostly for his basketball stuff), until once when he was guest hosting Pardon The Interruption a few years ago, he referred to Kim Jong Il as "Kim Jong the second". I know he's only a sports reporter but that is still inexcusable for a newsman.