Jayson Stark - Mauer Playing First

[Gernzy]

Jayson Stark of EPSN wrote a great article about Mauer moving to first place. It has a lot of good stats about other catchers moving to first, which barely any have done like Mauer is doing.

 

Give it a look!

 

http://espn.go.com/blog/spring-training/post/_/id/1718/joe-mauer-playing-first-no-catch

[Badsmerf]

Didn't we come to this conclusion when we heard the news? Mauer on the field is better than Mauer off the field.

[Brock Beauchamp]

I love this paragraph as a rebuttal for those who attempt to diminish Mauer's accomplishments because he doesn't jump up and down, scream, and hit a bunch of taters:

 

How many other catchers in history have won three batting titles? That would be none. How many other catchers in history can match or beat his .405 career on-base percentage (with at least 5,000 plate appearances)? Just one (Mickey Cochrane). How many other catchers can match or beat his .873 OPS? Only two (Cochrane and Mike Piazza). So as a catcher, Joe Mauer is one of the most productive who ever lived.

 

Put that into perspective for a moment.

[Marta Shearing]

One knock against Mauer is that he was only a full time catcher for six years (2005-2010). Plain and simple, he just didn't do it long enough to be included in the all-time greats. For his entire career (2004-2013) his games caught per season average is probably below 100. I'm not talking games played. I'm talking games caught. He just hasn't been durable enough to be considered in the all-time greats.