Thread: Mauer not pleased about slide by Weeks

Here we go with more "Mauer is soft" BS

Thanks to jokin for posting the full quote. I am not a "Mauer defender" by ANY means, but if he was asked about this play and gave that type of response, that's entirely fair. It's absolutely true that Weeks was looking for contact when he probably didn't need to be. I think some baserunners in that situation make up in their head that they're going to collide and if they can knock the ball out, they'll be safe. That doesn't mean he was trying to hurt Mauer, but it didn't look great when he did that leg sweep thing after Mauer didn't full-on shoulder charge him.

Who cares. Everybody complains when Mauer and the team aren't forthcoming with information and now everybody complains when he says what he was doing and thinking on this play. Unbelievable. He stated he didn't like the slide but understands its part of the game. Would rather have his $23M on the DL like Posey or his career wrecked like Fosse? He didn't like the slide, he'll take a day or two off and the world wil move on.

Weeks clearly went out of his way to hit Mauer. Anyone seeing the replay and not stating that is either blind or lying.

Originally Posted by YourHouseIsMyHouse

I am not a big Mauer supporter, but he has good reason to complain about that. Joe is clearly on the inside of the base path where it is illegal for base runners to go within. Since Mauer was not in the basepath he shouldn't have been hit. There is no reason for contact on that play and Weeks had plenty of time to alter his path because he was dead in the water and thrown out by a mile.

It's "illegal" for a base runner to run where Mauer was standing?

Maybe in T-ball.

Mauer is a large, heavily padded individual. Maybe he needs to clock the next punk like Weeks who comes at him. That might send a message to deter further incidents.

Originally Posted by glunn

Mauer is a large, heavily padded individual. Maybe he needs to clock the next punk like Weeks who comes at him. That might send a message to deter further incidents.

That's what's frustrating with his equivocating language. Mauer is a very oversized and athletic baseball player who excelled in 3 sports, but his milquetoast interviews fail to inspire. If he could just release and assert his "inner AJ" once in a while, he'd send a strong message to friend and foe alike.

Originally Posted by jokin

That's what's frustrating with his equivocating language. Mauer is a very oversized and athletic baseball player who excelled in 3 sports, but his milquetoast interviews fail to inspire. If he could just release and assert his "inner AJ" once in a while, he'd send a strong message to friend and foe alike.

I honestly can not grasp how saying the contact where it occurred was unexpected is something to complain about. Truly baffling.

Originally Posted by CDog

I honestly can not grasp how saying the contact where it occurred was unexpected is something to complain about. Truly baffling.

My criticism is the same as jokin's -- Mauer is big enough and strong enough to put Weeks on the DL. Yet it's Mauer who takes the injury. Would Weeks have tried his cheap shot on A.J.?

Originally Posted by CDog

I honestly can not grasp how saying the contact where it occurred was unexpected is something to complain about. Truly baffling.

Here's the complete set of quotes from the Christensen/LEN3 story (without Christensen's editorializing, clearly he and the editor were looking to sensationalize it a little bit):

"Obviously, I was sort of prepared for a little collision, but he kind of darted in a little bit more than I thought," Mauer said. "But coming in hard -- that’s part of the game. ... I was trying to give him -- you know, obviously be in front of the plate -- but give him an area to slide, and he kind of went right toward my thigh."
"It's better now after a win," Mauer said following his team's 5-4, 15-inning victory over the Brewers. "I don’t know, I’m pretty stiff. It’s getting worse right now, but that’s as expected."
"I forgot about that [hamstring] after that [slide by Weeks]," Mauer said. "After that happened, I really didn’t feel the hamstring too bad."
Weeks did try to slide, so it wasn't a full-blown collision.
"He did [slide]; it was pretty late, but he was coming in hard," Mauer said. "I kind of expected that, but I didn’t expect him to be that far in."
"I mean, he definitely didn't have to," Mauer said. "But it happened and you have to keep going."

Ron Coomer was interviewed on the radio yesterday and, all-the-while trying to be protective of the situation, strongly suggested that Carlton Fisk be brought in for some consultation with Mauer. Fisk was also an oversized catcher (but 3 inches shorter and 10 lbs. lighter than Mauer), who adroitly played the position and was as tough an SOB as there ever was. One of his many legendary moments was in one game against the Yankees, the late Thurman Munson (one tough SOB himself), was on third base in the 9th inning of a tie ballgame. The Yankee batter missed the bunt on the suicide squeeze play and then the batter tried to block Fisk from tagging out Munson, who was barreling towards the plate. Fisk threw the batter to the ground with one swipe of his arm and then immediately took the full force of Munson's colliding body at full speed- holding on to the ball, resulting in Munson being called out.

But the play didn't end there...

Munson attempted to hold Fisk down on the ground below him so the runner behind him could continue advancing. From a prone position, after getting somersaulted and then later being punched in the eye by Munson, Fisk threw Munson completely off him and literally into the air. Meanwhile, after Fisk again became upright, the batter attacked Fisk with a sucker punch, Fisk responded by throwing him to the ground with one hand, holding him down by the throat, meanwhile using his right hand to repeatedly pummel Munson. After the game (Sox won 3-2), when Fisk was asked for his response, he strangely enough didn't talk about "unexpected" contact or how sore, black-eyed, bloodied and beaten up he was, he merely said "that's Red Sox/Yankees baseball".

Fisk played the entire game the next day, hitting his 20th HR in the first inning, and also the next day after that (3/9 overall).

I would also recommend that the Twins retain Jimmy Dugan for a specific consultation on emotional control and what to say, and not say, to the media.

Can somebody help me out here - is this a quad injury or a thigh bruise? Honestly, I hadn't seen any of the Twins/Pirates games because of work/other stuff, and just assumed he was playing by now. Now he's "not sure when" he can play again, and that quote was THURSDAY. Unbelievable. (From RotoWorld)


Mauer was making solid progress earlier this week in his recovery from a right quad injury, but he's stalled lately. The Twins were hoping he'd be able to catch in the bullpen Thursday, but he wasn't feeling up for it. "It's not much better than yesterday," Mauer said Thursday. "I thought I'd be able to do a little bit more. It's real frustrating." Mauer seems unlikely to be ready to play Friday, with his status for the entire weekend series in Cincinnati up in the air.

Originally Posted by StormJH1

Can somebody help me out here - is this a quad injury or a thigh bruise?

A "thigh bruise" is a type of a "quad injury". Given the competency of the Twins' medical staff to treat injuries well and the transparency of the management to communicate about injuries, I suspect that we do not know the seriousness of this.

Originally Posted by StormJH1

Can somebody help me out here - is this a quad injury or a thigh bruise? Honestly, I hadn't seen any of the Twins/Pirates games because of work/other stuff, and just assumed he was playing by now. Now he's "not sure when" he can play again, and that quote was THURSDAY. Unbelievable.

Mauer was making solid progress earlier this week in his recovery from a right quad injury, but he's stalled lately. The Twins were hoping he'd be able to catch in the bullpen Thursday, but he wasn't feeling up for it. "It's not much better than yesterday," Mauer said Thursday. "I thought I'd be able to do a little bit more. It's real frustrating." Mauer seems unlikely to be ready to play Friday, with his status for the entire weekend series in Cincinnati up in the air.

Enough of this nonsense. Put him on the DL.

Originally Posted by StormJH1

Mauer was making solid progress earlier this week in his recovery from a right quad injury, but he's stalled lately. The Twins were hoping he'd be able to catch in the bullpen Thursday, but he wasn't feeling up for it. "It's not much better than yesterday," Mauer said Thursday. "I thought I'd be able to do a little bit more. It's real frustrating." Mauer seems unlikely to be ready to play Friday, with his status for the entire weekend series in Cincinnati up in the air.

There's only one way to sum this up:

new4_good-793274.jpg

Agree w/ Nick.

Is there a stat anywhere that shows non-DL games missed due to injury? The Twins have to be lapping the field.

Originally Posted by rocketpig

There's only one way to sum this up:

new4_good-793274.jpg

"Did you go to Hollywood Upstairs Medical College, too?"

Originally Posted by rocketpig

There's only one way to sum this up:

new4_good-793274.jpg

The bilateral leg weakness bone's connected to the something. The something's connected to the red thing. The red thing's connected to my wrist watch... Uh oh.

Mauer ratio of the day:

The pigskin route:
Injuries sustained at Florida State > Snaps taken at Florida State

My guess... 9 to 7

Hadn't read this thread until now because I get tired of Mauer threads (most people love him or hate him -- I'm just pretty much disinterested) but I'm glad I did because jokin's recount of the Fisk-Munson story is one of the best things I've read for a while.

Gave me a real smile.

@USAFChief

Illegal -as in- against the rules. Base runners are called out for running within the white line. Even if Mauer drops that ball, Weeks should be ruled out. Taking a four day break after this is another thing though.