The Perfect Catch: Joe Mauer

PERFECT By CHRISTINA CAPECCHI
Why Joe
Mauer
has all
the single
Catholic
ladies in
seventh
heaven
hen ABC offered to
make Joe Mauer the
star of its hit reality
show "The Bachelor;' it
was an easy decision.
Nah.
The 28-year-old Minnesota Twins star
catcher is as well known for his modesty as
his Gold Glove and league-leading batting
average. He relishes the privacy of his log
cabin, and he'd rather mow the lawn or play
cards than go clubbing or - heaven forbid­
star in a widely-viewed dating show.
But you can't blame ABC for asking.
Joe Mauer is not only one of the MLB's
most talented players, he's also one of its
most eligible bachelors. And the ladies
know this.
- JOE M AU ER- . FlICKR.(OM/PHOT05/KE I T H AlliSON ( li CEN SE-CC 2.0 ATT RIBUTION)
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T
Type "Joe Mauer" into a Google
search, and the search engine will
suggest "joe mauer girlfriend," "joe
mauer stats," "joe mauer contract;'
"joe mauer bio" - in that order.
More than his stats or his salary,
online searchers want to know his
marital status.
The answer is one they like: yes,
Joe is single. He's also Catholic.
Joseph Patrick Mauer grew up
in St. Paul, Minn. The youngest of
three boys, he was raised by his dad,
Jake Jr., and mom, Teresa, and his
signing bonus.
"As soon as I signed the contract,
everybody thought I'd change,"
Mauer told me. "But why should
you change just because you signed
your name on a dotted line?"
Mauer worked hard in the mi­
nors and kept his head down, de­
veloping a reputation for his quiet,
determined ways and his outsized
talent.
Mauer went 2-for-3 in his 2004
major league debut and was soon
setting records. He's a three-time
Old-school values
But the low-key Minnesota native
couldn't help but set ardent fans
abuzz last March when he renewed
his commitment to the Twins,
agreeing to an eight-year contract
extension worth $184 million. It is
the largest catcher contract in the
history of the MLB and it went into
effect this season.
WHY SHOULD YOU CHANGE
JUST BECAUSE YOU SIGNED YOUR
NAME ON A DOTTED LINE?"
live-in widowed grandpa, Jake Sr., American League batting champion
whom Mauer has called a "second and a three-time Gold Glove award
winner, and in 2009 he was named
father."
Grandpa proVided day care while American League MVP, a rare feat
Joe's parents worked, making the for a catcher.
The first time he appeared on a
boys peanut butter sandwiches and
cover of Sports Illustrated, in 2006,
pitching them beach balls.
Mauer was an altar boy who re­ the headline read "American IdoL"
"I think when God made his blue­
ceived 13 years of Catholic educa­
tion. Early on he learned the impor­ print for catchers, he stamped Joe
tance of faith and family, enjoying out;' Tampa Bay Devil Rays manag­
dose bonds with his big brothers er Joe Maddon told the magazine.
Mauer appears to let that high
and his adoring grandpa.
Instead, what everyone heard praise - and the expectations ir
about was the contract Joe signed can induce - roll right off his back.
with his hometown team, the Twins, "Ever since I gar drafted and all that,
as an I8-year-old newly-minted the pressure has been pretty high;'
high school graduate. The Twins he told me. "But if I go out there
made him the top pick of the 2001 and do my best, then you can'r re­
draft and gave him a $5.15 million ally ger on yourself for that."
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TOBIAS
Yet even that staggering pay day,
the kind that seems guaranteed
to inflate an ego, resulted from an
admirable value: an old-school
loyalty that, since the days of Cal
Ripken Jr., seems much harder to
come by. It's a virtue Mauer was
raised to respect, one he saw dem­
onstrated by his grandfather and
gently reinforced by the families at
his Catholic school and home parSPR IN G 20 11
ish. You stay true to St. Paul and to
your Catholic roots.
Mauer is thrilled to play locally,
allowing his grandparents to attend
virtually every home game. "To get
to start off here and hopefully play
here the rest of my career would be
pretty cooI;' he told me.
That understatement is typi­
cal of the even-tempered catcher
whose fans idolize
him. At Target Field,
the Twins' outdoor
ballpark, fans Sport
jerseys with custom­
ized backs. Above the
number 7 - which is
Biblically considered
the number of per­
fection - in place of
Mauer, are the words
"Baby JesuS:' a face­
tious nod to the kind
of messiah Mauer has
been to Minnesota.
Fans study and em­
brace every detail of
their star slugger, right
down to the distinct
two-inch
sideburns
that frame his temples.
On Aug. 10, 2006,
the Twins held Joe
Mauer Sideburn Day, giving away
fake, stick-on sideburns to the first
10,000 fans in line.
But one look at Mauer and it's
dear he's JUSt as good at checking
his ego as his swing. Faith and fam­
ily ground him, he told me. "Every
time I come back here;' he said, re­
ferring to the Twin Cities, "I just re­
member where I came from. I try to
keep the same values."
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Mauer's faith helps him put
things in perspective - be they ca­
reer highs or lows, like the knee
injury that halted his first season in
only the second game. "I believe ev­
erything happens for a reason;' he
told me, adding that injuries make
him "stronger in the long run ."
Spending time in the clubhouse
chapel gives the catcher time to
commune with the One who calls
all the shots. "I don't pray to go four
for four;' he said. "I just pray to en­
sure the health of my teammates."
Female adulation
Mauer said he fits in well with his
teammates, though his single status
Ever notice that Lent coincides
with basebal l's spring training?
And that Easter and the ma­
jor leagues' opening day appear
together when the world is fresh
and new?
Coincidence?
Down in Flor ida and out in
Arizona's sun, ballplayers use
February-March prep time to get
in shape, shake off winter's rust,
practice so their reactions become
second nature, hone their game to
be ready for opening day and the
season ahead .
It's not unlike Lent for Christians .
In those dark Lenten days of
February and March we get our
spiritual lives in shape, halt abusive
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does stand out when the team is on
the road. "Some guys have famili es
and kids running around;' he told
me. ''I'm just kind of single and by
myself."
That's not for lack of effort on
his fan s' part. Mauer signs countless
autographs for boys and girls who
dream of the major leagues. Theirs
is an innocent adulation. Autograph
and picture requests that come
from young women spring from
a different type of aHcction. And
they don't stop springing. Mauer
has even fielded marriage proposals,
which, he has said, is pretty weird.
He's been reticent about his
dating life, although in 2006 he
and hurtful behav­
iors, practice prayer
in new and more regular
ways, all so when Easter arrives we
can raise up with the Risen Christ
strong in our faith, better prepared
to follow Him as we continue life's
journey.
Few things in life have kept their
rituals the way both baseball and
Mass have.
Liturgical rites today aren 't all
that different than those practiced
for centuries around the world.
Scripture readings, creed, blessing
and breaking of bread and wine
that become Christ 's body and
blood - Catholics have done these
for two millennia.
TOBIAS
acknowledged that he was dating
Chelsea Cooley, Miss USA 2005, as
their schedules allowed . They were
introduced by the sister of the wife
of Mauer's Double A teammate Jon
Pridie. The two are n o longer dat­
ing, and since then, Mauer has kept
mum about significant others.
He shuns the nightlife in lieu of
the wooded cabin he built an hour
outside Minneapolis. "My favorite
thing;' he told Sports Illustrated, "is
just to sit on the deck and watch the
deer and wildlife go by. I try to keep
it a little hidden secret up there, just
to get away and relax."
It's hard to say how Mauer's love
life will unfold, though one thing is
Baseball's nine innings, three
outs per side, three strikes, four
balls , 90-foot base paths - they're
all the same more than a century
and a half after the game became
America's pastime. Oh, the rules
get tinkered with every once in a
while in baseball, much as changes
in the Mass come along every so
often . But not the core.
And look at the clothing!
Albs, cinctures and chasubles for
priests, uniforms with team names
on the front and numbers on the
back for ball players, and when
throw-back players wear their uni­
form pants knicker-style revealing
stockings with stirrups in team col­
ors, the boys on the diamond today
could pass for The Boys of Summer
from the 1950s or the 19th-century
Boston Red Stockings.
A ballgame and Mass both
begin with song, follow inning by
SPR I NG 2011
certain: Don't expect a girlfriend to
move in with him. Mauer has spoken
publicly about his strict no-Iive-in­
girlfriends rule, which he had to en­
force with best bud and former room­
mate Justin Morneau, the Twins first
baseman who is now married.
When it comes to joining those
ranks, Mauer appears to be in no
rush. He may be as patient and picky
a dater as he is a hitter, one who rare­
ly swings at the first pitch and doesn't
panic when he's got two strikes.
It's proved a fine philosophy for
baseball, and it's probably not worth
questioning here either. Despite his
trademark humility, it sure seems like
Mauer knows what he's dOing. Ii
inning and the Order of Mass, have
fans stand up at dramatic moments
and faithful rise to hear the Gospel
proclaimed .
A person really stretching the
point - and tempting heresy ­
could say that walking up to re ­
ceive Holy Communion isn't all that
unlike the 7th inning stretch - but
you didn't read that here!
One final point of congruence :
In baseball and in religion, the goal
is to get home. Baseball players
dig for home to win the game; th e
people of God strive for home, too
- but a heavenly one.
Play ball!
BO B ZYS KOWSK I IS ASSOCIATE PUBLI SHER O F
THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT. TH E OF FICIAL N EW SPA­
PER O F THE A RC HDIOCESE O F ST. PAUL A ND
M INNEAPO LI S. CHECK OUT ITS AWARD- WI N­
NING W EBSITE AT WWW .THECATH O Ll CS PI RIT.
COM .
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