Star Tribune from Minneapolis, Minnesota • Page 47

SUNDAY, JULY 29 2001 SPORTS STAR TRIBUNE PAGE Cll BASEBALL Griffey frustrated by injury, Reds' recent trades Boston The Red Sox activated center fielder Carl Everett from the 15-day disabled list before their 3-1 loss to the Chicago White Sox on Saturday. Everett went 0-for-4 in his first game since June 21, when he sprained his left knee diving for a fly ball during a game against Tampa Bay. He missed 32 games over the past five weeks. Etc. Outfielder Magglio Ordonez and reliever Bob Howry agreed to multi-year contract extensions wilh the White Sox.

Ordonez agreed to a three-year deal, and Howry agreed to a two-year contract with a club option for a third year. Cleveland outfielder Juan Gonzalez is day-to-day after straining his left hamstring in the second game of a doubleheader against Detroit. Gonzalez, who hit a key homer in Cleveland's 6-4 victory in the opener, injured himself trying to beat out a grounder to third base. Hi inn inrur iinnr mourn unuuL muilj Florida Marlins. Some of his frustration spilled out Friday evening, when he was out of the lineup to rest his hamstring.

He suggested to a Cincinnati Enquirer columnist that he was considering retirement and would go home if the Reds made any more trades. He backpedaled Saturday, saying the remarks were misinterpreted or From News Services Ken Griffey Jr. is frustrated by his torn left hamstring. He's unhappy the Cincinnati Reds are trading players to cut payroll. He's not sure whether the injury will allow him to finish the season, and he's not entirely sure the leg ever will recover fully from two tears in the same hamstring.

"This year has been messed up for me from Day One," Griffey said Saturday, before a game against the MAUERS from CI Wildly different circumstances fail to come between brothers made in jest. He also reiterated what he and several other players have said publicly for the past few weeks they are disappointed the floundering Reds have traded three veterans to save money and stock up on prospects. "I want to win, and I don't want to see a bunch of good players on this team go somewhere else and win," he said. "If I didn't care, I wouldn't have deferred as much as I did and offer to defer more if they needed it." Kim -A. r--I They are teammates on the Twins' rookie league team in this rural southern outpost, but the circumstances surrounding them are in stark contrast.

Jake, drafted 667th after completing his college career at the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, signed for $5,000 and watches most games from the bench. Joe, entering pro ball straight out of Cretin-Derham Hall High School, was on a recent cover of Baseball America. Yet as he fights to prolong his career, Jake realizes part of his responsibility is to help ease the transition for Joe.

He wants to show him the ropes. Make him feel comfortable. That's what older brothers do, even ones with superstar kid brothers. "I always want to make sure everything is all right with him," Jake said. "Joe still has to go out and do things himself.

But I just want to help him out as much as I can and look out for him." The early years Teresa Mauer finds it somewhat appropriate that her sons are beginning their professional careers with the same team at the same time. Their relationship always has been symmetrically connected, along with the Mauers' middle son, Billy, 21 and a baseball player (what else?) at Concordia University in St. Paul. All three brothers are close, and athletics, particularly baseball, helped bridge the age gap. Inseparable as kids, they spent their summer days and nights at Griggs Playground in St.

Paul, Matters' Avg. AB RBI 2B 3B HR BB SO SB Through Thursday it Sri If. ft 1 JOE JAKE .375 .156 2 15 8 32 0 4 3, .5 0 3 0 1 0 0 0,0 15 1 '3 0 2 Rookie ball likely is only a temporary stop for Joe, a place to get his feet wet before he moves up the organizational ladder. He already has been invited to the Twins' fall instructional league and to spring training. Jake, meanwhile, is fighting for his professional life.

An infielder, he had a .156 batting average through Thursday, after his first 15 professional games. Joe, a catcher who can also play first base or right field, went 2-for-4 with a walk in his professional debut and was 3-for-8 through Thursday. A two-time Division III All-America second baseman at St. Thomas, Jake said the biggest adjustment from college is not being in the lineup every day. At 6-2 and 166 pounds, he also realizes he must get stronger if he hopes to continue his career.

Joe is 6-4, 205 pounds. Jake probably won't be invited to the fall league. He said he isn't sure where he will be sent next season, although rookie ball seems remote because he turns 23 in December. Wherever he lands, Jake said he will be happy because he is living his dream. "This is what I want to be doing, that's for sure," he said.

The situation, on the surface, seems like a parent's worst nightmare. One son is the bonus baby, a millionaire star prospect who is bombarded with interview requests, autograph seekers and others wanting a piece of his time. The other son is at the other end of the spectrum, on the fringe, struggling pro stats to hnd his nicne. "As a Darent. we support both of them the same," Teresa said.

"We keep pulling for Jake. It's kind of strange because usually the older kid has success first. But I know Jake will be fine." Joe's status doesn't seem to faze Jake in the least. He simply goes about his business in relative obscurity unless, of course, someone stops him to ask about Joe. That happens a lot, but it doesn't bother him.

Jake never runs from the opportunity to talk about his brother. "Everyone in our family is so proud of what Joe has done," he said. "He's been successful at everything he's tried. We're just real happy with how well he's done and the person that he's been throughout all of it. He's remained the same old Joe." And Jake, his family says, remains the same big brother.

He works hard, doesn't complain, always smiles. He is comfortable with himself and his place in Joe's life. "It's a lot easier on my wife and I sending Joe down there knowing that he will be with Jake," their father, Jake, said. "Joe would have been OK by himself. But it just makes it easier having Jake there to talk to and bounce things off of." Roommates again Not surprisingly, Jake was the first person to greet Joe at the airport last week.

The 100-watt smiles on both of their faces spoke louder than any words they said to one another. On the car ride home, the two talked nonstop about everything. Baseball, Elizabethton, personal stuff. "I will never forget that car ride as long as I live," said Elizabethton General Manager Mike Mains, who was driving. "You could tell by the way they talked that they really care about each other." They spend most of their time at the ballpark together.

They hit in the same group during batting practice. They often sit together on the bench during games. Jake gives Joe advice, tells him how things are done. Sometimes, it's little things, such as when is the proper time to talk to an opponent Joe learned that lesson on his second day with the team. When he mentioned he knew a player on the -1 mm At.

Star Tribune photos by Carlos Gonzalez like to sleep late." The two will live together again in Florida during the offseason. Before joining the Elizabethton team, Joe traveled to Florida to establish his residency and lease a two-bedroom apartment in Fort Myers. The apartment is 3 miles from the Twins training facility, 8 miles from the beach. Joe and Jake are planning on staying there through the offseason, working out at the Twins facility and, it seems, playing a lot of golf. On the plane flight from Florida, Joe sat next to a woman who noticed his Twins bag.

He told her he was playing for the Twins rookie league team and will be returning to Fort Myers after the season. The woman, an executive at a golf club in Fort Myers, offered Joe a part-time job at the driving range, which would include some free golf. Joe accepted. He said he is excited about being able to play golf year-round. He is equally enthusiastic about the job, which seems strange considering he will have received $3.5 million of his bonus by early January.

"That's just Joe," Teresa said. "He is so pumped about working at the range and playing golf." Joe, however, didn't take the job until asking for one last thing, which, to him, is the best part of the deal He got Jake a job, too. Chip Scoggins is at ascoggins9startrtbune.com. lit liiiL-t Joe, left, and Jake Mauer stick close to each other, at stretching time, during batting practice and off the field. where it never was hard to find a pickup baseball or basketball game.

It didn't matter the sport, Joe always was the youngest kid in the game. "Jake and Billy never went easy on Joe," Teresa said. "It was never like: 'OK, here's our little brother. Take it easy on There was no concession. All of their friends were that way, too.

Joe learned he had to keep up if he wanted to play with them." If Jake, Bill or their friends needed another player for a game, they didn't hesitate to choose Joe. "He would more than hold his own," Jake said. "In pickup games, Joe was the first kid picked probably 95 percent of the time." Sports helped forge their bond over the years. Jake included Joe in sports, and Joe, in turn, worshipped his older brother. Like any impressionable sibling, he copied Jake's every move.

He wore the same clothes, adopted the same mannerisms. Jake once received a Twins jersey as a birthday present. A week later, Joe wore the jersey to school. He liked the Twins. He loved his brother.

"Joe idolized Jake," Teresa said. "He wanted to be just like him." The two even share personality traits. Neither will ever be accused of being a chatterbox, although Jake is slightly more talkative. Both are unassuming, cordial, not easily excited. Especially Joe.

He slept until 10:30 a.m. the day of the major league draft. They are two genuinely nice guys with altar boy looks and dime-size egos. Their biggest slip-ups as children were a few missed curfews, their parents say. "We used to joke all the time that we wished they would get in trouble just once," Teresa said, laughing.

"But we're happy with the way they turned out." 7 I Gathered at the home of Jane Hardin, where Joe and Jake Mauer live, a group Including (from left) Joe, Jake, Kaulana Kuhaulua, Hardin and Richard Smart smile at highlights of Joe's first game for Elizabethton. excitement of the game. They are sharing a bedroom in the home of Jane Hardin, known affectionately around town as Miss Jane. Hardin operates the concession stand at the Elizabethton stadium and, by her estimation, has housed dozens of Twins prospects over the years. The brothers have not shared a room since Joe was 10.

They sleep on twin beds, usually until late morning. Neither has ever been a fan of neatness, although Jake keeps his clutter a little more organized. "It's going great," Joe said of the living arrangements. "Jake and I both visiting team, Jake quietly pulled him aside and gave him the ground rules. "They don't want you to talk to guys on the other team until after the game," Jake said.

Joe nodded. He made dinner arrangements with the player after the game. "It's good to have Jake here because you really don't know what's going on," Joe said. "My head is kind of spinning right now." The brothers love to talk at night after games, sometimes until the wee hours of the morning. Joe says it helps him relax and unwind after the Different paths Coincidence or not, Jake and Joe will spend the summer together in Elizabethton, their first experience as teammates in an organized setting.

Realistically, though, it also could be their last time playing together. i.