By Peter Cox, MPR News
St. Paul native Joe Mauer will be inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame this weekend, along with three other former Major League Baseball players, including a manager.
Mauer, a catcher, who played in 15 seasons with the Minnesota Twins and grew up playing baseball in St. Paul, was drafted with the first overall pick in 2001 out of Cretin Derham Hall High School.
Mauer was the first catcher in MLB history to win three batting titles. He was in the top five in the AL in batting in three other seasons.
He went to the all-star game six times and won the AL MVP in 2009, in a season where Mauer, one of the best contact hitting catchers in history, belted 28 home runs and 96 RBI while batting .365.
Mauer said reflecting back on his career, he’s proud of what he accomplished, but said he could not have done it without the community around him.
“I’ve been really fortunate to be around a lot of great people and the Minnesota Twins organization and just the Twin Cities area,” he said. “It really does allow me to reflect on everything and you get emotional because like I said, it just doesn’t happen and you can’t do it all by yourself. A lot of people have helped me along the way, and I hope I can articulate that.”
He’s the fourth St. Paul native to be inducted into the Hall of Fame, after Dave Winfield, Paul Molitor and Jack Morris.
“St. Paul is a very proud city and a proud town and especially their baseball history,” he said. “As a kid growing up there in St. Paul, watching three guys play at the highest level, winning championships and doing some special things in the game made me dream and make me say that this could come to reality. To be mentioned with those guys and to be in that group — it’s pretty special.”
Mauer’s career, especially in his later years with the Twins, was marred by injuries, including a concussion in 2013 and issues with his leg due to a career catching. After his concussion, the career .305 hitter had just one season batting over .300 in his final five seasons and became more strikeout prone than he’d been early in his career.
Injuries aside, Mauer was selected as a first ballot hall of famer.
“Really just so grateful for the opportunity and honored by a lot of you guys on this call, you know, for thinking my career was worthy enough for this honor,” he said, during a press call with many of the baseball writers who voted in the Hall of Fame ballot. “So, just a lot of gratitude and a lot of excitement leading up to the big day.”
Mauer will be inducted into the Hall of Fame with former Detroit Tigers, Florida Marlins and Pittsburgh Pirates manager Jim Leyland; Colorado Rockies first baseman Todd Helton, a five-time all-star and three-time gold glove winner; and third baseman Adrian Beltre, a four-time all-star who spent 21 years in the league winning five gold gloves.
The ceremony will be at 12:30 p.m. Sunday and will be streamed live on mlb.com.
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