Mauer Visits Excelsior, Says Wedding Date 'Not Yet' Set

The annual Twins Caravan brought All-Star catcher Joe Mauer and third baseman Danny Valencia to Maynards in Excelsior Thursday afternoon.

"My son begged and begged for me to let him miss school so he could see Joe," Ken Broxton of Chanhassan said as his third-grader waited anxiously for the players to arrive. "Eventually he convinced me, and eventually I convinced his mother. He's really excited. Joe is is favorite player."

Radio station 1500 AM was broadcasting live from a large heated tent set up near the shores of Lake Minnetonka, and about 50 audience members had a chance to take photos, ask questions of the players and enter contests for game tickets and memorabilia.

Mauer and Valencia talked about a wide range of topics during their hour-long stop, including the team’s outlook for 2012, the departure of players such as Joe Nathan and Michael Cuddyer and how they’ve kept busy during the off season.

Valencia's strong showing in a Twin Cities radio station's contest to pick the best looking man in Minnesota was also joked about. Valencia is currently battling Vikings wide receiver Percy Harvin in the contest's semi-final and could be headed for a face off against either WCCO newsman Frank Vascellaaro or Fox 9 meteorologist Keith Marler for the title "Hottest Guy in Minnesota."

"I've got something up my sleeve," Valencia said when asked if he had a Twitter campaign planned to give his vote total a bump.

But what the female fans in attendance really wanted to talk about was Mauer’s recently-announced engagement to Maddie Bisanz, a girl he graduated Cretin-Durham High School with in 2001 but only began dating in 2010.

Asked if a date had been set for the nuptuals, Mauer shyly smiled and said only “not yet.”

As for his health, Mauer said he feels good heading into spring training, which starts in a few weeks. The former MVP and batting champ was slowed last year due to a variety of health issues and played in only half of Minnesota's games.

"You know, I'm still two months until opening day," Mauer said. "(Compared) to this point last year, I feel 100 times better."

Mauer was even asked his thoughts on President Obama’s proposed tax policy that would essentially double his tax rate. Mauer will collect an average of more than $23 million a season through 2019 and said he wouldn't necessarlily oppose paying more to Uncle Sam.

“I didn’t see it (the State of the Union Speech),” Mauer said. “But, yeah, I’d be willing. I want to get things turned around.”

Mauer, Valencia and new radio play-by-play voice Cory Provus departed Excelsior about 1 p.m and were soon on their way to Rochester in a chartered luxury bus. The players signed some autographs for a handful of kids in attendence but did not sign for the general audience.

The live broadcast, contests and hot stove baseball talk continued until 3 p.m.

Both Mauer and Valencia, as well as most of their teammates and Twins alumni, will all be in Minneapolis this weekend for Twins Fest at the Metrodome.

Were you in Excelsior for the Twins Caravan stop? Will you be at Twins Fest this weekend? What are your thoughts on the team heading into the 2012 season? Tell us in the comments section.