Twins legend and hometown hero Joe Mauer is headed to Cooperstown, as the former catcher and first baseman was named to the MLB Hall of Fame.
Mauer, who spent his entire career with his hometown Twins, was named in his first year of eligibility, making him the most recent Twin to be honored since Tony Oliva and Jim Kaat in 2022.
Going into the Hall of Fame with Mauer are Adrian Beltre and first baseman Todd Helton.
Mauer was named on 76.1% of the ballots for the Hall of Fame. He needed 75% to be elected meaning he snuck in as a first ballot inductee by a mere four votes.
“On behalf of the Pohlad family and the entire Minnesota Twins organization it is our absolute pleasure to congratulate Joe Mauer on his deserved first-ballot election to the National Baseball Hall of Fame,” Twins President and CEO Dave St. Peter said. “Few people have embodied the values and spirit of the Minnesota Twins like Joe Mauer; from the moment his name was called on draft day in 2001, Joe has been a true hometown hero and a cornerstone of our organization. His humility, leadership, kindness and care for others, paired with his unparalleled excellence on the diamond, have made him a role model for generations of youth across our region. Today is a special day – for the Mauer family, for the Twins and for all of Twins Territory.”
Former Twin player and current radio broadcaster Dan Gladden says Mauer is very deserving of being a first-ballot inductee.
"I think the numbers are what they are, and I think that's a big, big part of going into the Hall of Fame," explains Gladden. "But also the personality of that individual and how well he was respected around the league by his peers. And I think Joe Mauer fits every, every bit of that."
Gladden says getting in now would be special.
"It speaks volumes (about) the individual, the athlete in this case Joe Mauer, as to what his footprint he put on not only Minnesota Twins baseball but Major League Baseball," Gladden says.
Over the summer, Mauer was elected to the Minnesota Twins Hall of Fame and was honored before a game in August. Mauer has also had his iconic number 7 retired by the team.
The Twins will also honor Mauer’s induction with an in-ballpark celebration prior to Minnesota’s Saturday, August 3 game vs. the Chicago White Sox at Target Field with more details announced at a later date.
Mauer joins other Twin first ballot hall of fame members Kirby Puckett and Rod Carew in Cooperstown. Harmon Killebrew, Bert Blyleven, Kaat and Oliva are in the Hall of Fame as Minnesota Twins as well as two St. Paul natives like Mauer, Dave Winfield and Paul Molitor. Both Winfield and Molitor, despite time with the Minnesota Twins, wear a different cap in Cooperstown.
Mauer, a six-time All-Star, three-time Gold Glove winner and the 2009 AL MVP, is the only catcher to win three batting titles. He batted .306 with 143 homers and 906 RBIs with Minnesota from 2004-18.
The number one overall pick in the 2001 draft, Mauer was also the number one ranked high school football player in the country and had committed to Florida State. But Mauer decided to pursue baseball with his hometown club and that decision puts him in rarified air as a baseball hall of fame inductee.
The Hall of Fame class will be inducted on July 21 in Cooperstown, N.Y.