Baseball Hall of Famer Joe Mauer is the man of the weekend as the Minnesota Twins will celebrate his Hall of Fame induction tomorrow at Target Field.
Twins spokesman Matt Hodson says there will be some special, local guests alongside Mauer.
"We're going to have Joe obviously out there, but then we're also really excited to bring two of the St. Paul four to join Joe," explained Hodson. "We're going to have Jack Morris and Paul Molitor out there with Joe to celebrate, this really amazing thing of having four St. Paul Hall of Famers."
That other member of the so-called St. Paul four is Dave Winfield who won't be at the game.
The first 10,000 fans at Saturday's game will get a replica Joe Mauer Hall of Fame plaque. If you don't get there in time to get one, you can go see Joe's actual Cooperstown plaque that will be on display at the ballpark.
"Up in Truly On Deck from the second inning to the seventh inning, we have Joe's actual Hall of Fame plaque that will be here at the ballpark," says Hodson. "Very rare thing for the plaques to leave Cooperstown. The baseball Hall of Fame is kind enough to lend it to us for the night."
Hodson said they consulted with Mauer and his family about how to celebrate his Hall of Fame induction and that celebrating with the fans was important to them.
"You know, we ran the run of show by him and there's a few things we're keeping in surprise, for fans, for Joe," Hodson said. "It should be a lot of fun, but we consulted with him and said, 'how would you like this day to go' and for him. The big thing was just to be able to say thank you and to have a chance to celebrate with the fans who he owes so much to."
Hodson says there's no doubt fans are excited for the opportunity to celebrate Mauer after how they showed up at the Hall of Fame weekend in Cooperstown.
"I know how much the fans mean to him, how much seeing the huge Minnesota support back in Cooperstown a couple of weeks ago meant to him," Hodson says.
The Twins are hosting the Chicago White Sox all weekend. Saturday's game begins with a 5:30 pregame leading up to a 6:10 first pitch on WCCO Radio and the Audacy app. WCCO's Steve Thomson will also be live at the ballpark for a special broadcast leading up to the pregame from 3:00 to 5:30.