One by one, the most important people in Joe Mauer's life were mentioned by the newest memeber of the Minnesota Twins Hall of Fame.
Most were there on the Target Field diamond as Mauer accepted the traditional powder-blue jacket from Rod Carew.
Even one of the more notorious figures in Mauer's life showed up.
But not even Paul Feiner, the only pitcher to strike out Mauer during his stellar prep career at Cretin-Derham Hall, could dampen the spirit and emotion that surged through the crowd as they honored the St. Paul kid who became the face of the franchise.
"Wow!" said Mauer as he took the podium, which serves as an emotional outburst for the calm and cool St. Paul guy.
Much of his speech centered on the day he received the call from fellow Twins Hall of Famer Rod Carew.
It came as he was with his twin daughters, 10-year-old Maren and Emily, and he told the crowd of 34,044 how he explained to the girls how his inclusion among the greatest in Twins history is more about the people who helped him throughout his life.
"I told Maren and Emily that it takes more than being good at a sport to make it into a Hall of Fame," he said.
The most reverent words came for Joe's late father, who died in January at the age of 66.
"He would always say things like 'we're burning daylight,' to remind us to make the most of our time and not waste other peoples' time that was being spent on us," he said, one of many of his fathers' ideals that he shared.
"I'm honored now to share that wisdom and lessons he shared with me with my own children, and I hope those words of wisdom help guide them through their lives the way that it did for me," Mauer said, his voice quivering with emotion. "I tip my cap to you, dad, for always being there, and for being one of the main reasons I'm standing here today."
Mauer also thanked the fans, many who knew his name from a young age, through high school, and into professional baseball.
"I never once took for granted what a gift it was to wear the Twins uniform, to be able to play here at home, in the state I love, in front of all of you."
Following his speech, Maren and Emily were joined by their 5-year-old brother Chip to throw out three ceremonial first pitches.
At the receiving end behind the plate, their dad Joe.