ESPN

• Vote: Is Joe Mauer part of baseball's best one-two punch at the plate?

We're going to start the day talking about a Minnesota sports star. Wait! Give us a chance; it's not about that guy. We all need a break from he who shall not be named.

But Joe Mauer, who is not from Mississippi, and as far as we know, hasn't been videotaped throwing footballs to high schoolers since he was himself a prized gridiron recruit bound for Florida State, is quietly having a heck of a season. Quietly, because he plays for the Twins, who are still mathematically in the AL Central race but are also several games under .500 and thus earning less attention than either Ricky Rubio or that quarterback fellow.

Mauer hit two home runs yesterday, pushing his season line to the following: .383 batting average, 1.011 OPS, 25 HR, 77 RBIs. That's especially noteworthy because only three guys -- Rod Carew, George Brett and Tony Gwynn -- have hit better than .380 for a season since Ted Williams last hit .400, and none of them hit as many as 25 home runs doing it.

Sounds like an MVP, right? Well, the catch is the team with the best record in baseball also has a guy, Mark Teixeira, putting together a heck of a season (.283 BA, 30 HR, 86 RBIs). So as we head toward September, what's the call, SportsNation?

• Mauer was SportsNation's pick for batting champ at the All-Star break.
• But voters split when it came to .400 for Mauer or 62 home runs for Pujols.
• Wednesday chat: Steve Phillips answers your questions at 1 p.m. ET.

“

The Twins are still in the hunt. Mauer's numbers are ridiculous... Especially considering the time he missed. Teix's numbers are extremely inflated... Just look at his splits from home and away stats.

” -- JETsrunway

“

Why would they pitch to Mauer when Morneau and Kubel are out of the lineup?

” -- MavUnit13