Mr. Do-It-All

Minneapolis - Less than a week ago Joe Mauer put a bug in the ear of Major League Baseball saying it would be hard for him to pass up an invitation to the Home Run Derby.

And when Mauer talks these days, others listen.  So, this afternoon the Twins catcher, and A.L. Batting Leader, accepted an invitation to take part in the All-Star Game's Home Run Derby on Monday in St. Louis.

“I wasn’t trying to campaign or anything," Mauer said,"  "But I hit some homers this year and I got the opportunity so I’m going to go ahead and run with it.”

Mauer has shown the power this first half of the season that people have been waiting for, hitting a career-high 15 home runs so far.  That's after missing all of April with a bad back.

“I always told my buddies when I was younger, you know we always played it in the back yard and stuff like that. I always told them that if I had the opportunity to do it that I would jump at it and it happened this year,” Mauer said.

Mauer's friend and teammate, Justin Morneau, said he would not particiapte in the contest this year.  Morneau won the Home Run Derby last year at Yankee Stadium.

Cretin-Derham Hall's baseball coach Jim O’Neil will pitch to Mauer.

“He was pumped up. He really doesn’t show a whole lot of emotions or anything like that but I could tell that he was excited. I got even more excited after talking to him about it,” Mauer said about O'Neil.

“I’m not just entering it to be in it. We’ll see what happens.  There are a lot of great homerun hitters," Mauer said.  "This event is for the fans and hopefully those guys and myself will put on a pretty good show."
 

FOX 9 Sports will be in St. Louis for the All-Star Game festivities and will bring you complete coverage of the events at 5:00, 9:00, 10:00 and in the mornings.