Joe Mauer: "Please Look At Me"

"Look, I love playing here in Minnesota. It's my hometown, and I've made a ton of friends wearing this uniform. But man sometimes it can be a little discouraging, you know, playing in a small market. I stole home the other day... Me! A catcher!... And it didn't even make ESPN 2."

We sat down with Joe Mauer (who was not Jose Molina, as the Concierge at the Minneapolis Hilton had originally led us to believe) and after pocketing a handful of complimentary breathmints and shrugging, "Still workin' out the contract extension," he sat and discussed some of the things that really grind his gears.

As of July 10th, the Twins All-Star catcher is leading the league with a .389 batting average and has already set a new career high in homeruns with 15, before the All-Star break. He is already a 2-time batting champion, and a Gold Glove winner. The Metrodome routinely draws few fans, but Joe makes sure to sign all 3 of their baseballs.

"I don't want to rock the boat. It just seems like sometimes, you know, guys in New York and LA get a little more exposure. MLB Network played about 4 minutes of Melky Cabrera pickin' his nose in the outfield the other day, and that was the day I hit 2 grand slams!" There was a slight pause, but thankfully the awkward silence was interrupted with a knock at the door, and fellow All-Star and teammate Justin Morneau peeked his head in.

"I had heard there was reporters or something?"