Joe Mauer Meets the Japanese Press

FORT MYERS, Fla. - Minnesota Twins catcher Joe Mauer has always been popular to hometown fans, but the MVP is developing an international following.

At Twins Spring Training on Monday in Ft. Myers, Fla., Mauer drew the attention of the Japanese press. Tammy, a reporter from the Tokyo Broadcast Sports Network, came from halfway around the world to interview Mauer.

"Japanese people love Ichiro," Tammy said. "But I'm not (as interesting) in Ichiro."

The Japanese press even quizzed Mauer on how he would pitch to Japanese superstars like Ichiro and Hideki Matsui. Mauer considers the attention an honor.

"I went over to Japan in 2006 and had a great time over there," Mauer said. "The people over there love the game of baseball and they appreciate little things like taking an extra base, base hits. They're excited and it's pretty neat to be known over there too."

Hall of Famer Paul Molitor was also interviewed, but the line of questioned turned to the topic of Joe Mauer.

"To be honest with you, the Japanese infatuation with Joe is that he's in competition with Ichiro for batting titles," Molitor said. "Last year, with Joe and (Ichiro) kind of battling it out, it brought Joe to the forefront of how they look at American players."

7'1 pitcher Loek Van Mil also drew the attention of Japanese reporters, who found his height so impressive they measure every inch.