Baseball Brings Hope To The Weary

Posted on 04/05/2010 by gellman

I have said every year that I have two religious holidays that I celebrate. First is the opening Sunday of the NFL season, and the second is obviously Opening Day for MLB. This year the Twins are playing in LA, so I have the privilege of watching the first four games on TV here. I will also be venturing towards the land of Mickey on Wednesday to see the game, which means that all is well in the world of Gellman. Funny enough, though my wife is VERY pregnant, she was the one who wanted to go more than anyone.

Other than that, Im glad there are a slew of games today, and I have the opportunity to watch each and every one on demand, thanks to my purchase of 1 month of MLB TV. See, this is the part of the season when I am so interested in baseball that I would sit and watch any game that is on. The feeling quickly wears off about 50 games in, where I switch modes to paying attention to only the Twins. I have the feeling that this particular season will try my patience with the Twinkies, especially after the Target Field new car smell wears off. This is the first season in a long time where pitching is the hole rather than hitting, and everyone knows that pitching is always more important. There are also teams like Detroit who made as many moves as the Twins, slating them atop many lists as a contender for the AL Central Crown. However, with good improvements made to the infield due to the signing of Orlando Hudson and JJ Hardy, as well as Jim Thome to fill the ever fluctuating DH slot on occasion, I still think the Twins have a good shot at a run into the post season.

I still think its kind of odd that despite my lack of interest in baseball cards and most things baseball that come extra, I still pay very close attention to what is going on for most of the season. I follow the stats more than anything, and I get awfully heated when the all star rosters and season ending awards come around. I hate undue recognition in Baseball, mainly because of the outdated stats used to determine success. With last year’s awards being the first in a long time to pick the right players, I felt somewhat vindicated in my hulabaloo. This year, I hope the trend continues as dumb ass sports writers move away from stats like Wins for Pitchers and RBIs for Batters. Baseball has long shown that the good players excel at getting on base and hitting for both average and power over knocking in runs, and that Wins are about as meaningless of a stat as Holds or something similar. I can see that maybe people like Joe Morgan, Woody Paige and Mike Celezic are finally becoming part of a growing minority now that Sabremetrics are finally making their way to the top of player measurements.

Lastly, because Baseball is here, we know that nice weather isnt far behind. Baseball is a constant in our lives and I expect it to be for as long as I am around. It’s a long, long, long season and its tough to not get caught up in early hype and small sample size success. At this point I don’t care, as its obvious that the Yankees are slated for 162 losses if they continue on their current pace. Hopefully this statement turns out to be true as the season moves on, but right now, everyone is in first place, and everyone has the shot at being world champs. I cant help but wonder who will rise to the challenge this year, and Im praying to the baseball gods that my Twins will be the ones to raise the trophy when all is said and done.

Mauer Signs and I Am Very Happy

Posted on 03/22/2010 by gellman

I have seriously been watching the Twins’ MLB webpage and MLB Trade Rumors like a hawk these past few weeks, and I am very glad to see that Mauer has finally jumped on board for a good part of the rest of his career. His contract may be the fourth biggest of all time, but I believe it was a move that Minnesota could not have done without. Im not just talking about the Twins, but Minnesota in general.

See, in Minnesota, Mauer is like Jesus. If he were to have signed elsewhere come next spring, there may have been a riot. On my end of things, if he came back in pinstripes or in a Sox jersey, I probably would have cried. In that, I dont think I would be alone. He is the hometown boy, and could turn out to be the best catcher in MLB history, so why not throw money at him like we were the Yankees?

A lot of people are questioning the money spent on him as a limitation from signing other players in the future. To that I ask about whether or not we are watching the same team. I mean, I dont think I have ever seen the Twins sign a guy that wasnt on the downside of the downslope of their career, and many of the pieces of their team nucleus are signed long term. Although it will be tougher to afford to resign guys like Morneau in 2013, I would think that the new stadium should help to make the Twins into a larger market team.

Regardless of how the deal looks, I believe Mauer is worth every penny, and funny enough, so do all the people who have driven up his card prices. I own close to 40 different Mauer autographs, including some incredibly rare ones, and I couldnt be happier that his 2002 Chrome auto is selling at close to 300 raw

. I bought mine for about a hundred bucks, and its pretty crazy to think that it has almost tripled in true value. Even his weird, common autos are selling through the roof

, and that is nuts! If he has a good year this year, again, who knows where the peak will be. Considering I also have a signed game model bat authenticated by MLB, I may be sitting on a gold mine – that is – if I were ever going to dump his stuff.

Realistically, Mauer probably wont play at the level of A-Rod or Pujols, despite his contract reflecting that level of talent. However, I do think this is good for small-market baseball, and definitely good for Minnesota. Hell, if Mauer did end up as a fucking Yankee, I may have had to put my eternal hatred of them on hold for awhile. That would be bad.

Mauer Wins 2009 MVP and I Am At Peace

Posted on 11/23/2009 by gellman

Rant avoided. Thank god.

The votes are in and Joe Mauer is the 2009 AL MVP. I cannot express how happy that makes me, as Mauer is my favorite player and definitely gives new meaning to small market success. Morneau may have won in 2006, but he didn’t really deserve it over some of the other players, whereas Mauer’s season was definitely MVP worthy and then some.

I remember when Kirby Puckett had his run in Minnesota, and I loved every game he played. I got to experience game 6 of the 1991 world series, and at that point, Puckett was like a god. Mauer has reached that level of fandom for me, even though he has yet to win a ring. Now that this battle against the Yankees is over, hopefully the Twins will pull their heads out of their asses and prevent battle number 2.

Regardless of what is to come after 2010, congrats to the most valuable AL player this year.

Here is further commentary of mine on Mauer’s remarkable season over at the UD Blog.