Joe Mauer, constant in our lives, was an out-and-out thief at first base Wednesday night

Usually, Joe Mauer is the man who delivers your newspaper every morning by 6 a.m. He is the rain slicker hung at your door in case of inclement weather. He is a reassuring presence. He is an inconspicuous constant of the universe.
But on Wednesday night against the White Sox, Mauer was not inconspicuous. Playing first base, he was very much conspicious. He was a thief, merciless in the night. 
First, in the fourth inning, he lunged to his right, flipped to Phil Hughes covering first, and nabbed Adam Eaton for the first out of the inning.

Then, in the seventh, he erupted into the air and erased Melky Cabrera's hit from existence.

After 12 years and nearly 1,500 games, he can still surprise us, like finding a wadded-up $20 bill in the pocket of your raincoat. That, too -- knowledge that the unassuming stoics in our lives contain multitudes -- is reassuring, a reminder of all of life's possibilities. 
Though the Twins lost, 3-0, Mauer himself went 2-for-4 with a double, and he's batting .393/.486/.536 on the year. And so the Earth's orbit around the sun continues.