Mauer

[Mudcutter]

look at TEX's stats from the Yanks-- more HR's (like 6) more RBI's like 19, and hitting nearly 90 points lower then Mauer and played in 23 games more. NOT EVEN CLOSE.

IF Mauer can keep the same pace-- he is a lock for AL MVP-- otherwise the award is a complete JOKE.

IN 2nd should be Jeter, not TEX.

[fishyguy]

There was a article online last week that was comparing Texiera and Mauer in the MVP race and they came to the conclusion that it was not close in favor of Mauer. The stat that was probably the most interesting to me was Texiera's RBI's come from knocking in 15% of runners on base in front of him. Mauer has knocked in 22%.

[ANYFISH2]

Also, isn't the award for the player that is most important to his team. Heck Tex isn't even close to the main cog of the Yankees.

[blue_healer_guy]

He should win it, but don't think the east siders will let another slip away. Morny/Jeter.

[Mudcutter]

What people don't understand about this is that Mauer is a CATCHER!!! My goodness-- the avg fan should see the wear and tear involved. 1B-- come on,, a few throws at you,, not like a catcher on his knees in the dirt with a batter in front of you and the ball coming 90+mph-- all game.-- your catching hand gets beat up by tht pitchers, none the less the rest of your body--- and still hit .375?? with 25 hr's and 78 RBi's -- come on!!!== the FACT that no one has done it before should get some respect.

[Gary Crichton]

How cool was that to have Mauer steal 2nd and catch the throw from their catcher. And how nice it was to give the ball back to the fielder. His comment went something like. (here you go sir I dont need the ball right now. You can have it back.)

[mnwild]

Well said Mud, couldn't of said it better. He is a catcher that gets wear and tear and look what his numbers are. Can you imagine what his numbers would be if he wasn't out that month??

I wanna see what all the Mauer hatters are saying now because I know when he was out that month there was alot said, very negative about him. If it wasn't for him where would the Twinks be???

[Mudcutter]

what about all the so called experts and CUBS fans who put down the TWins for taking MAuer first in 04' draft instead of Mark Prior. Mark Prior??? Where in the hell is Mark Prior??

Very likely the best catcher of all time vs a pitcher who will not win 90 games.

Mauer career batting avg of .326 is crazy,, not one catcher is higher-- and JOe should raise that in the next 3-4 years.

Micky Cochrane of the A's has the highest I could find at .320-

Bench, FIsk-- not even close if Mauer keeps it up.

Pudge is the 2nd best-- way better than Fisk, and slightly better than Bench.

[CodyDawg]

Piazza put up some pretty nice numbers. I am a big Mauer backer, but saying he is very likely the best of all time at this point is a stretch. There were some good catchers out there who did it for a lot longer than Mauer has so far. If he can keep it up another 5 years, then heck yeah, bring on that type of talk. But right now, i think it is a might early.

Check out campenella in 58 or piazza's best season (he hit .363 if I remember correctly).

[SledNeck]

Piazza was garbage behind the plate, thats the BIG difference.

Mauer up to this point in his career is the best catcher ever.

[Mudcutter]

SLed hit it on the head. Catcher is huge in the game. Piazza never was even good. PUDGE is much better overall than Piazza.

DO some research on the topic.

Without Mauer invloved--

#1 Micky Cochrane

#2 Gabby Hartnett

#3 PUDGE

#4 Bench

#5 Fisk

[zamboni]

Piazza holds the record for HRs hit by a catcher, was a 12 time All Star, was NL ROY, hit 35 HRs as a rookie catcher-which is a record by a catcher, won 10 consecutive Silver Slugger Awards, hit 30 or more HRs in 8 consecutive seasons. Hit .308 and 427 HRs in his career.

Yep, he was horrible. All this from a guy that was drafted as a favor by Tommy Lasorda, in the 62nd round.

Mauer is a better catcher however, and overall Mauer is the best catcher the game has ever known, but don't say Piazza was bad- he wasn't.

[Windy City Walleye Hunter]

Zamboni,

I think Mr Mauer better get a few more years under his belt before we annoint him the chosen one. He has a ways to go before passing Mr Bench, Pudge Fisk, or Pudge Rodriguez. Good start but that is what the Cubbies thought of Mr Prior, greatest pitcher of all times, and you see where that went. You might want to rethink that statement, at least for a decade or so.

[harvey lee]

There is not a team today thet would not take him if they could.

If he continues his play for another 5 years, he will end up one of the best of all time. Staying healthy is a big piece of the puzzle.

[zamboni]

Nope, thought about it, and still think that. His defense, ability to call a great game and his bat in my opinion make him elite, and he has only gotten better as he has gotten older, I don't see him declining to the point that he will be God awful. Believe it or not, but his injuries have gone down and his health gotten better as he has gotten used to the rigors of a MLB schedule.

[Windy City Walleye Hunter]

Zamboni,

I hate to take you to task but him calling a great game is like me saying AJ calls a great game. Fact of the matter is no catcher in the game today calls their game. You see every one of them look into the dugout for every pitch. There are no catchers today that call games like the old timers did. When you saw Pudge Fisk or Thurman Munson in a game very little did you see them looking into the dugout to see what Billy Martin wanted to call. They actually did call their games. Times have changed and today's catchers do what their managers tell them to do.

That being said, I will give you that Mauer is one of the top catchers in todays game as far as defense and hitting and temperment goes but he is at least 5-10 years away from even getting into the same league as his predecessors. Not saying he won't get there but he aint there yet.

[Windy City Walleye Hunter]

Just looked up some quick stats of Mauer vs Fisk and I am not sure Fisk is the greatest of all time but here goes:

Years: Fisk 24 Mauer 5 Only 19 more years to go!

Games: Fisk 2500 Mauer 671 Only 1839 more games, triple what he has now!

At Bats: Fisk 8756 Mauer 2484 Needs more that triple what he has

Homers: Fisk 376 Mauer 70 300 more to go then we talk

RBI: Fisk 1330 Mauer 381, a little less than a thousand more

Hall of Fame: Fisk Mauer: TBD

All Star Appearances: Fisk 11 Mauer 2

Rookie of the Year: Fisk Yes Mauer No

Not saying that he won't get there but stats would not tend to be in his favor. Good player, absolutely. Best catcher in the game today, probably. Best catcher the game has ever known....Meet Mr. Fisk!

[SledNeck]

Mauer 3 time all-star YOUR STATS= FAIL!

[zepman]

Two batting titles and probably the third on the way!

[zamboni]

Fisk is more remembered hitting his iconic HR as a Red Sox player than anything he ever did as a White Sox player.

[Windy City Walleye Hunter]

Typo, sorry, stats are still overwhelming and any Twink eater that can't see that is wearing blinders. I never brought up the fact that he played for my Pale Hose Zam, can't figure out why you brought that into it, maybe to muddy the waters since the facts have Fisk the clear winner when it comes to him vs Mauer as the greatest catcher of all time! Sorry boyz, truth hurts.

[Windy City Walleye Hunter]

And Sled you can write to mlb.com because they are the ones who have him listed as 2 AS appearances. What do you think of the rest of the stats???????? Thought so!

[Walleye Guy]

Windy nice of you to pick the stats that reflect Fisk'd 24 year career vs Mauer's 5+ year career.

Fisk had a .269 career batting average compared to Mauer's .325. Fisk also had 5 seasons where he played 62 games or less. Hardly full seasons. Fisk had one gold glove, Mauer already has one.

In a 162 game season Fisk averaged .269 27 doubles, 24 HR's 86 RBI's slugging .457 259 Total bases Fielding % .988

In a 162 game season Mauer averages .325, 36 doubles, 17 HR's 92 RBI's slugging .483 289 total bases Fielding % .996

On average Mauer's stats are better than Fisk's. The thing Fisk had going for him is a really long career. Mauer won't play 24 years. He will quit long before that because he will have made about $200 M by the time he is 35.

Face it.. While Fisk was a great catcher. Mauer will end up being better. Bench, Mauer, Piazza and then maybe Fisk.

[SledNeck]

Yep, Mauer is way better up till this point. 5 more years of the same and he'll be a first ballothall of famer.

I remember Fisk as a Red Sux player also.

[zepman]

Tiger vs Jack...

[Windy City Walleye Hunter]

You guys are MAKING MY POINT!

Walleye guy says, "While Fisk was a great catcher. Mauer will end up being better."

Note the tense, if Fisk was a great catcher and is retired it stands to reason that he still is a great catcher since he does not play. You go on to say Mauer will end up being better. Future tense that is totally unpredictable, just ask the families of Thurmun Munson or Roberto Clemente or even Gayle Sayers.

My point is that I belive that while Mauer "may" someday prove to be better as his career enters into its mid state and end state that as of today he would not be the "greatest catcher the game has ever seen". I think I got you guys on this one, sorry!

[Walleye Guy]

The tense in my sentence was meant to reflect what will be remembered when Mauer is done playing the game. If you compare Mauer to Fisk after they both played 5 years Mauer wins hands down. If Mauer continues at this pace for even 10 more years his stats and place in baseball will be far above Fisk despite Fisk being a Hall of Famer.

Tiger vs. Jack?? I don't even see how that applies to this. Tiger and Jack are the two best golfers to ever play. Very few would dispute that. While Mauer will go down as one of the top two catchers ever (Bench would be the other) he isn't one of the top guys to ever play baseball. Top 100 or maybe top 50 yes. Best or second best? I doubt it.

[zamboni]

"greatest catcher the game has ever seen".

Ok, he will be. I stand corrected.

[Walleye Guy]

Fisk isn't the best catcher in the Hall of Fame or of all time. Johnny Bench was a much better catcher both behind and at the plate. His stats in 17 years are equivalent or better than Fisk's in 24 years:

BA Fisk .269 Bench .267

HR Fisk 376 Bench 389

RBI Fisk 1330 Bench 1376

All-Star Fisk 11 Bench 14

MVP Fisk 0 Bench 2

WS MVP Fisk 0 Bench 1

Gold Gloves Fisk 1 Bench 9

Fielding % Fisk .988 Bench .990

Post Season Appearances Fisk 2 Bench 6

Fisk was certainly good. However he wasn't even the best of his era.

[Windy City Walleye Hunter]

Again you guys are making my POINT! Please stop now, you are just beating a dead horse. Right now Fisk would be a better lifetime catcher than Mauer since his career is already in Cooperstown. End of arguement. The future is just that for Mauer the future but as of today I would not say that Joe Mauer IS the greatest catcher of all time.