Castellano was approached by a local dentist about the PPM -- the Pure Power Mouthguard. Castellano researched the product and figured the easy going, open-minded Cuddyer might be willing to try it.

Cuddyer submitted to a fitting. When wearing the PPM, he experienced a great increase in range of motion when he rotated his torso. "That would help with hitting and with throwing," he said. "It's fascinating to me. David Ortiz says Manny loves it, that it's all he talks about. So I figured I'll give it a shot. It can't hurt. And if it does hurt, I'll stop wearing it."

Morneau, asked if he's going to try it, quickly said, "No."

Why not? "It doesn't interest me," he said. "I really haven't heard the whole spiel on what it's supposed to do."

What if Cuddyer gets hot? "We'll see," Morneau said.

Twins infielder Nick Punto was asked if he'll try it.

"I'll look and see how Cuddyer likes it, but I'm not going to try it yet," he said. "Cuddyer will be our guinea pig.

"If, for some reason, he starts hitting the ball well, I'm sure we'll all jump on board. That's the way we are."

Carolina Panthers receiver Steve Smith and Red Sox players Dustin Pedroia and Jonathan Papelbon are among the other athletes who supposedly use the PPM.

More information about the mouthguard is available at PPMmouthguard.com.

"There are so many gimmicks out there, but the other day I watched Michael getting fitted, and they put the sensors on his face and looked at the large muscles of his neck, and his facial muscles, and he had increased range of motion," Castellano said. "Not an inch. Eight to 10 inches.

"Even if it's all smoke and mirrors, it still worked."

His teammates will be interested in just how well it works. Wearing a lucky T-shirt can help you only so much.

Jim Souhan can be heard Sundays from 10 a.m.-noon on AM-1500 KSTP. •

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