Joe Mauer

Let's get the obvious and painful truths out of the way.

The Twins have been five-and-a-half games back and hovering at .500 for what seems like all season. They haven't gotten into striking distance of division-leading Detroit and probably don't deserve to be playing in October.

But one fact that many Twins analysts, fans and especially the Tigers need to fear is that they're still in it.

One of the worst interviews the state of Minnesota has ever seen is also one of their most valuable assets.

Priceless to his organization, Joe Mauer has a tough decision looming just around the corner.

Should he stay in Minnesota with a contract that will doubtless be smaller than anything offered by the Yankees or Red Sox, or should he move on to greener pastures?

Long after were all gone, people of the year 4718 will uncover some long lost DVDs. Scientists will analyze these videos for years upon years trying to figure out who it is. Some will say he was the prophet. Other may say he's God's second child. No one can figure out who this man was.

They will ask Peter Gammons (who reported on Jesus Christ's stickball league all them years ago) who this man was and if he has any relation to Christ. Peter will look up at the monitor and as if he was the old lady in the movie Titanic, he'll start having vivid flashbacks.

Success on the baseball diamond has its own timetable.

Witness Minnesota Twins manager Ron Gardenhire's occasional on-again, off-again experiment batting Joe Mauer in the two-hole.

The recent move has kick-started the Twins' offense, enabling them to halt a six-game slide that had many of the players questioning their choice of profession.

The Twins produced a 20-1 victory Thursday against the Chicago White Sox. Mauer, hitting second in the batting order for the first time this season, contributed a pair of doubles and a grand slam for six RBI.

I am a woman who has been accused of being more passionate about baseball than I am about my past boyfriends.  That may be true (where are you, Mr. Right?) but it does not mean I am unable to spot a smokin' hot baseball player when I see one.  

The story for Joe Mauer keeps getting better.

The two-time American League batting champ spent this last offseason recuperating from surgery to remove a kidney obstruction.

Mauer then missed all of spring training—and the first 22 games of the 2009 season—with an inflamed joint in his back that kept him on the disabled list.

No one could predict whether these injuries might add up to a lost season for Mauer.

Not to worry.

It's been all systems-go for Mauer thus far in 2009.

In the brave new world of the steroids era, nobody is above suspicion in organized baseball.

Not when five of the top 12 all-time fence busters (Barry Bonds, Sammy Sosa, Mark McGwire, Rafael Palmiero, and Alex Rodriguez) are suspected of amassing their home-run totals under questionable circumstances.

Not when the pitcher who's ranked ninth in career wins, Roger Clemens, may forever have to pay the admission price to Cooperstown when he wants in.

With one swing, the hope everywhere in Minnesota arose.

On Friday, Joe Mauer dug in the batter's box for the first time this season. He then proceeded to hit a home run in only his third pitch seen in the big leagues this year.

Mauer, who started the season on the disabled list, was activated prior to Friday's game and hit his first circuit clout of the season in a 7-5 win against the Royals.

The moment seemed so incredible, and many were in awe. The crowd gave him the biggest ovation I have heard since Torii Hunter's return to Minnesota in the 2008 opener.

Jerry Lewis had Dean Martin, Barney Rubble had Fred Flintstone, and Ed Norton had Ralph Kramden. Each good enough to stand by themselves but with their sidekick, they are that much more enjoyable. Now Justin Morneau has his Joe Mauer back in the lineup.

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If one team actually played the game perfectly (which would mean the other team couldn’t, quite), baseball would be dull. Tonight, in the first of a weekend series against the Royals, the Twins produce a dull second inning and eight other exciting ones as they hoist themselves over .500.

Kevin Slowey starts for the Twins. In his last outing against the Indians, he was masterful and he has assembled a pretty 3-0 record, though the journey there has required some nail biting.