Joe Mauer Elected to Twins Hall of Fame; is Cooperstown Next?

Photo: Brad Rempel - USA TODAY Sports

The Minnesota Twins announced on Friday afternoon that Joe Mauer, whose No. 7 is already retired, has been voted into the team’s Hall of Fame. The hometown kid will have his ceremony before the Twins play the Arizona Diamondbacks on August 5.

Mauer absolutely belongs up there with the other Twins greats who preceded him. He’s a career .306 hitter with an impressive .827 OPS. He won an MVP in 2009 and came in top-10 in three other seasons.

Joe Mauer by the numbers

It was Joe’s first 11 seasons, when he was the best catcher in baseball, that Twins’ fans 30 years and older will always remember him for. From 2004 to 2013, Mauer carried a .323 BA, .873 OPS, 135 OPS+ and he walked (616) more times than he struck out (564).

But concussion problems in 2013 forced a moved to first base and prompted a falloff at the plate. From 2014 to 2018, Mauer had a .278 BA, .746 OPS, 105 OPS+ and his strikeouts (470) far exceeded his walks (323).

Standard Batting
Year Age Tm Lg G PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB CS BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS OPS+ TB GDP HBP SH SF IBB Pos Awards
200421MINAL35122107183381617101114.308.369.570.93913861110302/HD
200522MINAL131554489611442629551316164.294.372.411.783107201910312*2D/H
200623MINAL140608521861813641384837954.347.429.507.9361442642410721*2D/HAS,MVP-6,SS
200724MINAL10947140662119273760715751.293.382.426.80811817311323102D/H
200825MINAL14663353698176314985118450.328.413.451.8641342422111118*2/HDAS,MVP-4,GG,SS
200926MINAL138606523941913012896417663.365.444.5871.0311713071320514*2D/HAS,MVP-1,GG,SS
201027MINAL13758451088167431975146553.327.402.469.8711402391930614*2D/HAS,MVP-8,GG,SS
201128MINAL823332963885150330003238.287.360.368.7291021099302723D/H9
201229MINAL147641545811743141085849088.319.416.446.86114024323213102D3/HAS,MVP-19
201330MINAL113508445621443501147016189.324.404.476.880142212700272D/3HAS,SS
201431MINAL12051845560126272455306096.277.361.371.73210716912102123D/H
201532MINAL1586665926915734210662167112.265.338.380.718982252211512*3D/H
201633MINAL134576494681292241149207993.261.363.389.75210419211102103D/H
201734MINAL14159752569160361771216683.305.384.417.801115219173033*3D/H
201835MINAL12754348664137271648015186.282.351.379.729100184921353DH/29
15 Yrs185879606930101821234283014392352199391034.306.388.439.827124304020825660145
162 Game Avg.162694604891853731280528290.306.388.439.8271242651821513
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 1/27/2023.
MLB Hall of Fame next?

Still, Joe Mauer’s career is Hall of Fame worthy. Not just for the Minnesota Twins, but for the MLB. He played 15 seasons, collected over 2,100 hits and will go down in baseball history as one of the best two-way catchers of all time.

The only HOF question for Mauer, and one that has been asked on social media the last couple days because he becomes eligible next offseason, is what ballot he will get voted in on.

Eric Strack | Minnesota Sports Fan

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