When he was drafted #1 overall in 2001, a lot of people considered Joe Mauer to be an elite talent, but certainly behind Mark Prior. Fast forward to 2009 and Joe Mauer has two batting titles, should have a pair of MVP awards, and is one of the best players of the generation.

With Mauer’s return to the lineup, and subsequent power binge, it got me thinking: just where will Mauer’s place in history be?

What makes Mauer so special is that he plays the toughest position in the sport, and has a bat that will play anywhere. What’s more, he is one of the best defensive catchers in baseball and by far the best defender who plays regularly. So far in 2009 in just over a week of playing time, Mauer has already been worth over 1 WAR and has hit 6 homeruns, which is over half of his 2008 total of 9. Could his kidney and back problems have hindered his power for his entire big league career, and now Mauer will turn into a home run hitter? It’s possible, but more likely it is a case of a hot week and a half.

With 2010 being the last year of Mauer’s current deal, he could potentially break the bank, as many teams are queuing up to sign Mauer to a $100 million plus deal. Rather than forecast which team will end up signing him (please Twins, get a deal done now), I will attempt to take a look at Mauer’s place in history.

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I was trolling around baseball-reference.com looking up stats of pitchers with the intent of doing a “greatest seasons ever” post. Well, it was a lot of looking at the same numbers over and over again. In doing this, I came across something that struck me as strange. I was looking at Tom Seaver’s career and genuflecting in it’s wonderment and glory. I was looking at his best season, 1971,  and was shocked he came in second in the for the 1971 NL Cy Young Award. How could this be? I am guessing that whoever did win must have really deserved it. I mean let’s just look at what that person had to beat. Tom Seaver’s 1971 stats are as follows:

20-10. 1.76 ERA. 21 complete games. 286.1 innings. 289Ks. 0.946 WHIP. 18 HR allowed and a 193 ERA+ in 35 Game Starts Read the rest of this entry »

Things I wish I knew before I made a few bets this weekend:

Since 2004, The Amazing Metropolitans have won 14 of 15 at Chase Field in Phoenix. During that time they have a BA of .285, 26 HR, 112 RS, and an ERA of 2.01. The combined score for those 15 games: 112-36. Again, this is not their home stadium.

Last night was no different. Ryan Church had a homerun and three RBI; David Wright ripped a two run shot to move the game completely out of reach; and Jose Reyes may have calmed down the questioning of his performance for a night by hitting two triples and finishing a homerun short of the cycle.

Tonight, the great Brandon Webb faces off against Mike Pelfry in what should be a victory which would set up Sunday’s rubber game of Santana vs. Haren which would make that an even better matchup than it already is. But what do I know? Prediction: I’m lousy at making bets. I always hedge them just to minimize the suffering, but there’s no out clause here.

The reason I’m worrying is that a Mets fan and I made a gentlemen’s bet and the loser of the bet has to use the phrase “Back when I was sucking dick…” before every comment made on The Big Lead that day. He and I post about 30 comments a day, so we’re talking about a lot of dicks being sucked.

Things I wish I knew before I made a few bets this weekend:

Since 2004, The Amazing Metropolitans have won 14 of 15 at Chase Field in Phoenix. During that time they have a BA of .285, 26 HR, 112 RS, and an ERA of 2.01. The combined score for those 15 games: 112-36. Again, this is not their home stadium.

Last night was no different. Ryan Church had a homerun and three RBI; David Wright ripped a two run shot to move the game completely out of reach; and Jose Reyes may have calmed down the questioning of his performance for a night by hitting two triples and finishing a homerun short of the cycle.

Tonight, the great Brandon Webb faces off against Mike Pelfry in what should be a victory which would set up Sunday’s rubber game of Santana vs. Haren which would make that an even better matchup than it already is. But what do I know? Prediction: I’m lousy at making bets. I always hedge them just to minimize the suffering, but there’s no out clause here.

The reason I’m worrying is that a Mets fan and I made a gentlemen’s bet and the loser of the bet has to use the phrase “Back when I was sucking dick…” before every comment made on The Big Lead that day. He and I post about 30 comments a day, so we’re talking about a lot of dicks being sucked.