Article:Sunday Smoker - May 24, 2009

Joe Mauer
Besides making one of the best, smartest, most athletic plays I have ever seen by a catcher, Mauer looks like he is hitting his prime right on schedule. Since returning from the disabled list, in 21 games and 77 ABs, he's hitting .429 with 9 home runs (he hit 9 all of last year) and 28 RBI, and toting a 1.360 OPS. Impressive. Not as impressive as this, though. Brett Gardner's face, meet Joe Mauer's glove... source=http://www.youtube.com/v/TRBAKzBon9s width=250 height=250 ==LeBron James== It's Friday night, and my mom is in town. We're flipping between SportsCenter and a movie on the tv. I see the Cavs are down 2 with :01 on the clock on the BottomLine, so I decide to switch to TNT, just in case anything crazy happened. In fact, it did, and my mom literally goes, "Did that just happen? Was that live?" Yes, yes it was. At first I was unimpressed, I wasn't even sure it counted, but then, after seeing it hundreds of times, I'm impressed. The shot itself was very tough, but the context of it was what made it so great. ==Helio Castroneves== So he wins the Indy 500 for the third time, which is quite an accimplishment on its own. But off the track, he had all remaining charges in his conspiracy and tax evasion case dropped (maximum sentence was 35 years). Quite a good week for the Brazililan who, on his best day, could be the happiest person on Earth. It's impossible not to smile when you see him happy. ==San Diego Padres== They are here because they've won 9 in a row (but they're still 8 games back of the Dodgers), and somehow held on to one of the best pitchers in baseball. They're being led by Adrian Gonzalez, who's second in the National League in homers with 16 (but only 30 RBI, meaning the rest of the lineup kinda stinks) and Jake Peavy with 79 strikeouts to lead the NL (but only a 4-5 record, which also means the rest of the team isn't quite up to par). Peavy blocked a trade to the White Sox last week, wanting to play for a contender preferrably in the NL. They probably still won't hang onto him, but for one week, the Padres will go down in history as being on the Smoker.