By Phil Miller

I’ll never forget the best quote Joe Mauer ever gave me, partly because it set him so far apart from the self-absorbed and the swollen-headed that dominate sports headlines in the Age of Hype, but also because it was such a rare glimpse into his humor. We were discussing a laughably generic doll that was being handed out to fans at the Metrodome that weekend, a moppet in a Twins jersey that was supposed to be a likeness of the All-Star catcher but failed miserably.

Mauer said he had thrown the featureless toy to his family’s dog, but that the pet had simply sniffed at it and walked away.

“Figures,” he catcher mused. “I’m not even cool enough for the dog to play with.”

That’s right, Minnesota’s most eligible bachelor, the guy with the swank sideburns and the sweet batting stroke, the hometown hero with the $184 million contract — he doesn’t consider himself one of the cool kids.

Refreshing in its absurdity, isn’t it?

That’s Joe Mauer, though, a 25-year-old ballplayer who tries to be as nondescript off the field as he is unforgettable on it, a lifelong son of St. Paul who may be Minnesota’s most famous citizen — and one of its least-known.

Mauer dutifully fulfills his responsibilities to speak to the media, but does so with a distinctly bland manner, as though even he is bored with himself. He’s one of the most fascinating personalities in the Twins’ clubhouse, ironically because there appears to be so little complexity to him. He appears almost bewildered at times by the interest that reporters, and the public, take in him, and his tepid answers frequently reflect that bafflement.

I looked at my notes from the last time I spoke with Mauer after a game, and was struck by how earnestly he gave his answers, but how unrevealing they were. “I just looked for a good pitch,” he said after a three-hit night. “I tried to put a good swing on it.”

Read the rest of this post at FSNorth – It’s a great article!