The Loop

Minnesota Twins' Joe Mauer discovers an albatross can be a good thing

February 24, 2017

Google “Joe Mauer” and “albatross” and the results are not favorable to the Minnesota Twins veteran.

“Has Joe Mauer become an albatross for the Minnesota Twins?” an ESPN headline asks.

“Joe Mauer: The Twins’ financial albatross,” another headline reads.

The albatross has been, well, an albatross for Mauer, at least until Thursday, when on the par-5 ninth hole at the Colony Golf and Country Club in Bonita Springs, Fla., he holed his second shot from 236 yards for…an albatross.

He was playing with teammate Glen Perkins, who Tweeted about it:

Golf Digest’s ranking of the Top 100 Pro Athletes in 2015 had Mauer tied for 72nd, with a handicap index of 11.

As for the albatross label, Mauer, a six-time American League All-Star and the the league’s most valuable player in 2009, has two years left on an eight-year $184 million contract and hasn’t hit higher than .277 in his last three seasons.

We’re sure he would concur that an albatross looks better on a golf scorecard than in a baseball headline.