From the Windup is Matt Snyder's extended look at some aspect of America's pastime each Thursday.While they have a pretty solid franchise in place and several other stars (including former MVP Justin Morneau), Joe Mauer is the Minnesota Twins. He was born in St. Paul, Minn. His senior year, he was selected by USA Today as the National Player of the Year in both baseball and football for Cretin-Derham Hall High School (St. Paul), in addition to being an All-State basketball player. Then, in the 2001 MLB draft, Mauer was picked first overall by his hometown Twins over more ballyhooed prospects Mark Prior and Mark Teixeira.
It didn't take long for Mauer to reach the majors. He hit .308 in 2004 as a 21-year-old rookie. Since then, he's made three All-Star appearances and won two Gold Gloves and three Silver Sluggers all while racking up a .327 career batting average and .408 on-base percentage. He can run, handle the pitching staff and has added power to his repertoire. In 2009, he won his first AL MVP. And he's still only 26.
Simply put, Minnesota's favorite son is well on his way to a Hall of Fame career. What a shame it would be if he played part of it away from the Twin Cities, a possibility with free agency on the horizon. He's only under contract through 2010 and if the Twins can't lock him up long term before he hits the open market, they'll likely be buried in the bidding process by the Yankees or another large-market team.
I remember growing up and playing baseball with my friends in yards all over the neighborhood, and while there were plenty of differences between the front yard down the street and 
After spending 2009 away from baseball, 
The use of steroids and performance-enhancing drugs is an issue in MLB that's not going away any time soon, no matter how badly MLB, the players, fans and some members of the media want it to. It's also a subject that many different people have differing views of. If you were to poll the MLB writers and bloggers here at FanHouse about their view of steroids in baseball, odds are you would get about 12 different answers.
It's nice that 
Far from election to the Hall of Fame in four chances and about to re-enter baseball after a long absence, 
It's a 
While many people have wondered this offseason about 
Whether or not the 
