September 25, 2012; Minneapolis, MN, USA; Minnesota Twins catcher Joe Mauer (7) during the game against the New York Yankees at Target Field. The Twins defeated the Yankees 5-4. Mandatory Credit: Brace Hemmelgarn-US PRESSWIRE

Someone needs to teach the Boston Red Sox the “no” means no.  Or maybe they think “Minnesota Nice” translates to “Will Concede Eventually”.

Sigh.

Some people never learn, as evidenced by the fact that, according to Peter Gammons of mlb.com, the Red Sox have reached out to the Minnesota Twins monthly since September to inquire about catcher Joe Mauer:

Red Sox inquired on Mauer in Sept., Oct., Nov…”not being traded” response. Period

— Peter Gammons (@pgammo) November 28, 2012

Incidentally, it appears the Sox didn’t read my article from a month ago telling them to move on.  Well, I guess it’s their time and money.  Since monthly inquiry has been their M.O., it seems a likely guess that they’ll try for a face-to-face discussion at next week’s Baseball Winter Meetings.  I’m guessing they Twins will have to tell the Red Sox to inquire again after Mauer gets back from his honeymoon; maybe the Hometown Hero and his Hometown Bride will be ready to waive that Hometown No-Trade Clause.

If I were the Red Sox, I wouldn’t bet on it.

Doumit caught it! Image: David Butler II-US PRESSWIRE

Samuel Deduno set the tone by going 6 solid innings, logging a noteworthy 11 groundball outs in the process. Take away the 4 walks he issued and he pitched a near-perfect game. A mere 2 hits by the Red Sox was enough to provoke the Boston faithful. As the starting pitching for the Twins becomes more consistent, it gives us the opportunity to appreciate the heroes out of the bullpen. Tonight it was Casey Fien and Glen Perkins once again pitching well to close out the final 3 innings of this series-opening victory.

The sign of a good offensive team, especially one that will produce consistently and not be prone to extended cold steaks, is a lineup that gets contributions from everybody, sometimes in the form of unexpected heroes. Tonight it was Brian Dozier, whose 3 hits included a home run over the Green Monster in left field. Grant this 2012 version Twins the distinctiveness they deserve as compared to the teams of the last few seasons, because unlike those teams, these guys can flat out hit.

Dominant and timely offense, dominant pitching with lots of groundball outs, and a no-doubt victory all combined to frustrate the heck out of the volatile personalities that comprise the Boston Red Sox and their fan base. That made tonight’s victory that much sweeter.

The Mayor's Cup. Source

The Twins have a title to defend this spring. They missed the 2011 Grapefruit League title by a single game in the standings to Kansas City, but they won the most important competition of the Spring: the Lee County Mayor’s Cup Championship.

The Boston Red Sox and the Minnesota Twins happen to have Spring Training stadiums in the same city, Fort Myers, Florida. And while that town is probably big enough to hold them both, it cannot do so without a fierce rivalry, albeit one that people only tend to think about for part of a month each year. Whichever team manages to win more of their head-to-head matchups emerges as victor and wins bragging rights all over the Lee County metroplex for a year. They also get a chance to solve one of the biggest mysteries in the sports world: why is it called the “Lee County Mayor’s Cup” when a mayor is the leader of a city and the cup is awarded by the county?

The cup has a storied history that stretches back almost two decades, but very few people seem to care about that history. The only source I could find on the win totals was a column by Lavelle Neal of the Star Tribune noting that the Twins had a 10-8 edge going into the final Boston-Minnesota showdown last season. The Twins went on to win that game in a thriller - they scored six off Bobby Jenks in the 9th for a 9-8 victory – so the total now stands at Twins 11, Red Sox 8.

Prior to the 3-2 series victory in 2011, the Sox had dominated the previous four contests: 5-2 in 2010, 3-2 in 2009, 3-2 in 2008, and 2-1 with one tie in 2007. In 2006 the Twins had secured a solid 4-1 grip on the Cup. Unfortunately, the Twins website does not show Spring Training results prior to 2006, and the internet seems to have a gaping hole in its memory where old Mayor’s Cup results should be, so we’ll have to use our imaginations about how the Twins won their first nine Cups.

The battle for this year’s cup starts in earnest on March 4th when the Twins send a split squad over to JetBlue Park, the brand new Sox stadium that looks like a cross between Fenway and a futuristic airport terminal. The Sox come over to Hammond Stadium the next day for a rare evening Spring Training game. After that, there’s a break of over a week before the next meeting, March 16th, when the Twins send another split squad to JetBlue. They have a full squad at Jet Blue on the 19th and another split squad effort at home against the Red Sox on March 30th. If the Cup isn’t decided after that, it should be resolved after the April 1st meeting at the Red Sox’ park. The two teams recently added another game to the schedule, a “B Game” on March 1st, but that game probably will not count toward the Cup total, since B games are not official (to be honest, I don’t think they even really bother to keep score).

Thus, there are six meetings between Boston and Minnesota. Just like a World Series, if the Twins can take four of them, they’ll emerge as champions. Of course, given the awful season the Twins had last year after winning the Cup, maybe they shouldn’t try too hard.