FROM TO THE Hall St. Paul
Four Journeys to Cooperstown as Chronicled in the Pioneer Press
FORE WORD
You’re a high school senior baseball player. Your chances of making a college baseball roster are fewer than three in 50, roughly 5.6 percent. From college to the minor leagues, about 11 in 100 players (10.5 percent) get drafted.
From the minors to the major leagues? Fewer than one in five make it to the big leagues.
In the 121-year history of Major League Baseball, as of this writing, just 20,622 players have made it to the majors. Among those, only 273 have been elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, N.Y. And among those, just 60 have been elected in their first year of eligibility.
It’s 1,162 miles from St. Paul to Cooperstown. For Dave Winfield, Paul Molitor, Jack Morris and now Joe Mauer, it’s been a remarkable journey.
Molitor, Winfield and Mauer are among those 60 players elected on the first ballot. The trio, and Morris, who was elected by the Modern Baseball Era Committee, grew up within a four-mile radius in St. Paul.
That is extraordinary.
St. Paul is second only to Mobile, Ala., among midsized cities that have produced the most players in baseball’s shrine. Mobile produced Hank Aaron, Satchel Paige, Willie McCovey, Ozzie Smith and Billy Williams. Mobile has a climate conducive to baseball. St. Paul does not.
“I can’t really explain it,” Molitor told the Pioneer
Press. “It’s one of those cool things you can’t predict.” Said a Hall of Fame spokesman, “It’s not impossible, but it’s certainly rare.”
Molitor added, “St. Paul always has prided itself on its tremendous parks and recreation playgrounds and coaches. That gave us a chance to take baseball as far as we possibly could.”
Molitor took baseball to 3,319 hits, 10th on the game’s all-time list. Only four other players in history achieved more than 3,000 hits, batted more than .300 (.306) and stole more than 500 (504) bases.
“We take pride in representing the city the best way we can,” said Molitor, a Cretin grad, who went on to become the American League Manager of the Year with the Twins in 2017.
Molitor learned baseball at St. Paul’s Linwood fields, Winfield at the Oxford playgrounds, Morris at the Edgcumbe playground and Mauer at the Griggs playground.
“Everything in life runs in cycles,” Winfield told the Pioneer Press. “It’s a combination of things — a great parks and rec department, good coaches, a community that liked baseball. You go to another part of the country, they loved football; others basketball, others soccer. We loved baseball, so we had our time.
“That time may be past now.”
Winfield, a Central grad, had 3,110 career hits, 465 home runs and was a 12-time All-Star.
Morris, a Highland Park grad, won four World Series
games, including perhaps the best-pitched in history, 1-0 Game Seven in 10 innings in 1991 for the Twins over Atlanta.
Mauer, who graduated from Cretin-Derham Hall, was recently inducted into the Mancini’s St. Paul Sports Hall of Fame.
For the Twins, Mauer won the American League batting championship three times, was the league’s MVP in 2009 and retired with a .306 career batting average.
It took two elections for catcher Yogi Berra to make the Hall of Fame. It took Mauer one election.
“St. Paul — I’m proud to be from St. Paul. We take care of each other, we support each other,” Mauer said, then thanked his mother, Teresa.
“For getting us (including brothers Jake and Billy) to all those different rec centers all over town,” he said. “It all started at Griggs playground. We were allowed to go down there anytime — we just had to leave the park when the lights came on. We would do that countless summers.”
Said Winfield of the St. Paul Baseball Hall of Fame foursome’s remarkable Cooperstown feat, “We’re proud of it.”
Charley Walters
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
This book would not have been possible without the hard work of the many Pioneer Press reporters, photographers and editors whose work fills its pages. Their words and images immortalize moments in Minnesota sports that have meant so much to generations of fans.
We would also like to thank The Associated Press, as well as the staff of the Minnesota Historical Society, whose stewardship of the Pioneer Press’ photo negative collection ensures it will continue to delight and inform Minnesotans for generations to come.
Finally, we want to thank the Minnesota Twins.
Nick Woltman has been a reporter at the Pioneer Press for more than a decade, covering business, public safety, local government and more. He started his journalism career at the Bismarck Tribune in North Dakota’s capital city.
Molly Ballis has been a graphic designer at the Pioneer Press for more than 25 years, collaborating on designs that include special sections, magazines, advertisements, promotional materials and numerous other projects.
John Shipley has been a reporter, columnist and editor at the Pioneer Press since 2001. He has been the beat writer for the Twins and Wild and covered events such as the Winter Olympics, Super Bowl and men’s and women’s NCAA Final Fours.
Betsy Helfand has been a reporter at the Pioneer Press covering the Minnesota Twins since late 2018. Prior to that, she covered sports at the Las Vegas Review-Journal after graduating with a degree in journalism from the University of Minnesota.
© 2024 BY ST. PAUL PIONEER
No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior written permission of the copyright owner or the publisher.
Published by Pediment Publishing, a division of The Pediment Group, Inc. www.pediment.com. Printed in Canada.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Winfield puts Central on map ............................................................10
May 27, 1969
‘Consistent’ Winfield star of ‘U’ pitching roster ..................................13
May 21, 1971
Baseball or basketball, Winfield stars ................................................14
Jan. 31, 1972
Winnie’s a big hit ................................................................................18
May 12, 1974
Winfield combines confidence and enormous physical talent ..........21
April 12, 1978
Yankee dollars make St. Paul’s Dave Winfield baseball’s richest ......24
Jan. 11, 1981
Winfield’s feud with Steinbrenner heats up ......................................29
Jan. 15, 1989
Winfield’s 400th home run safe at home ..........................................30
Aug. 15, 1991
Winfield shows Jays the way ............................................................33
Oct. 26, 1992
Winfield cheerfully hits home ............................................................34
Dec. 19, 1992
Easy as 1, 2...3,000 ............................................................................39
Sept. 17, 1993
Winfield to retire today ......................................................................43
Feb. 8, 1996
Long hall ............................................................................................44
Aug. 5, 2001
Gophers’ Molitor setting torrid pace ..................................................48
April 17, 1975
Molitor top athlete ..............................................................................51
Jan. 23, 1977
Brewers draft U’s Molitor in first round ............................................53
June 18, 1977
‘Super’ Paul Molitor turns Brewers on ..............................................55
June 3, 1978
The Cretin Kid leads the way ............................................................57
Oct. 13, 1982
St. Paul’s Molitor wears out body with enthusiasm ..........................60
June 3, 1988
Molitor abandons Brewers for Jays ..................................................63
Dec. 8, 1992
Shoeless Paul Molitor adds to story of St. Paul ................................64
Oct. 25, 1993
Molitor steals home ..........................................................................67
March 31, 1996
Molitor joins the 3,000-hit club ........................................................72
Sept. 17, 1996
Last call! ............................................................................................77
Sept. 22, 1998
Molitor’s moment ..............................................................................80
Jan. 7, 2004
Twins introduce Molitor as new manager ........................................83
Nov. 5, 2014
Twins fire Paul Molitor with two years left on deal ............................84
Oct. 2, 2018
Molitor visits camp, says he’s not ‘done done’ ..................................87
March 18, 2019
JACK MORRIS
St. Paulite signed by the Tigers ........................................................90
June 18, 1977
Sparky: Morris is Tigers’ best now ....................................................93
July 20, 1979
Morris gives Tigers a two-game lead ................................................94
Oct. 14, 1984
St. Paul’s best await another chance at win ......................................97
July 17, 1985
Veteran pitcher Jack Morris is coming home ....................................99
Feb. 6, 1991
Twins get leg up on Braves in Game 1 ............................................103
Oct. 20, 1991
Good night, St. Jack! ........................................................................107
Oct. 28, 1991
Performance of Morris’ life earns MVP for St. Paul native ................111
Oct. 28, 1991
Morris will leave Twins for Toronto ..................................................112
Dec. 19, 1991
Morris ends dream ............................................................................115
April 19, 1995
Morris: an immortal ace ....................................................................117
Dec. 11, 2017
Emotional Morris takes his place in Hall ..........................................118
July 30, 2018
JOE MAUER
......................................
All eyes on Joe ................................................................................123
May 6, 2001
Mauer a popular pick ......................................................................127
June 6, 2001
Catching on fast ..............................................................................129
July 7, 2002
Ready or not ....................................................................................132
Feb. 22, 2004
Time for Mauer power ......................................................................134
April 6, 2004
Despite nerves, Mauer wins AL batting title ....................................139
Oct. 2, 2006
Worth waiting for ..............................................................................140
Nov. 24, 2009
See ya next year ..............................................................................145
Sept. 24, 2013
Catching a break ..............................................................................147
Jan. 26, 2014
Joe 2K: Mauer gets 2,000th hit in shutout win ..............................150
April 13, 2018
Way to go, Joe ..................................................................................153
Oct. 1, 2018
Joe Mauer, welcome to Cooperstown ..............................................157
Jan. 24, 2024
athlete from an early
A standout
age, Dave Winfield was the first St. Paulite inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame. (Pioneer Press file photo)
Dave Winf ield
Hewas drafted out of St. Paul Central as a teenager in the 40th round by the Baltimore Orioles, but decided on college instead, becoming a dynamic two-sport athlete at the University of Minnesota, playing both baseball and basketball.
The next time he was draft eligible, the San Diego Padres made him the fourth overall pick.
The Atlanta Hawks also snapped him up in the NBA draft, as did the Utah Stars of the American Basketball Association... and the Minnesota Vikings of the National Football League.
An argument could be made that Dave Winfield is the greatest athlete to ever hail from the state of Minnesota.
He took a rare path to stardom, skipping the minor leagues entirely and debuting in the major leagues at age 21. While he more than held his own early in his career, it took until his fifth season for him to become a perennial All-Star, earning 12 straight nods to the Midsummer Classic.
Among his career accolades, he was a six-time Silver Slugger and seven-time Gold Glove Award winner in the outfield. He won a World Series ring in 1992 and is one of 12 players to eclipse both 400 home runs and 3,000 hits.
As of summer 2024, Winfield’s 465 career home runs put him 36th on the all-time list, thanks to 15 seasons in which he hit at least 20 home runs, a remarkable run of consistency.
He’s 23rd on the all-time hits list.
Though he never won a Most Valuable Player award, he came close numerous times, finishing top five in voting three times and in the top 10 seven different times.
Winfield’s career was mostly split between the team that drafted him, the San Diego Padres (eight years), and the New York Yankees (nine years). He wears a Padres cap on his Hall of Fame plaque.
He also played for the California Angels, Toronto Blue Jays (where he won a World Series ring) Cleveland Indians and two seasons with the hometown Minnesota Twins.
Winfield was elected to the Hall of Fame in 2001, on the first ballot, receiving 84.5 percent of the vote.
Winfield AT A GLANCE
Inducted into Hall of Fame: 2001
High school: St. Paul Central
College: University of Minnesota
MLB teams: San Diego Padres, New York Yankees, California Angels, Toronto Blue Jays, Minnesota Twins, Cleveland Indians
Position: Right field
Bats: Right
Throws: Right
CAREER STATS 1973-1995
Hits: 3,110
Home runs: 465
Batting average: .283
Runs: 1,669
Runs batted in: 1,833
On-base percentage: .353
Slugging percentage: .475
Wins above replacement: 64.2
Source: Baseball-Reference.com
July 8, 1965
Seventeen-year-old Dave Winfield’s American Legion baseball team, representing the Attucks Brooks Post, won the Fourth District championship in 1969. The team was honored at a dinner that September at the Northwood Country Club, where Legion officials presented the Pete Louricas Trophy to Winfield, second from left, and his co-captain, Rudy Martinez. (Don Church / Pioneer Press)
Winf ield puts Central on map
BY MIKE AUGUSTIN Pioneer Press Staff Writer
May 27, 1969
You can’t blame Jim Fritsche if he’s a little partial toward Dave Winfield these days.
Monday night at Midway Stadium, Fritsche and Winfield collaborated for their second District 15 championship of the current school year as the peppery Winfield pitched Central to a 2-0 victory over Washington.
The baseball trophy can take its place alongside the basketball hardware in Central’s trophy case, both with Frtische guiding the Minutemen as head coach and Winfield serving as the star performer.
Winfield was at his hard-throwing best Monday night. Thirteen Prexies who went down on strikes from a variety of double-pump deliveries, crossovers and just plain old
hummers can attest to that.
Dennis Patsy doubled down the right field line for Washington’s only hit.
Meanwhile, Central got to Bill Lange for a single run in the third inning and an insurance marker in the sixth. Ron Anderson and Joe Tschida drove in the runs, the former being set up with some nifty base running by Bill Krejce.
Lange was suffering from a pulled shoulder muscle and the city’s Outstanding Student Athlete Award-winner finally had to leave the game after a swinging strike in the seventh. He had moved from the pitching mound to first base two innings earlier.
Central will meet the District 16 winner, either Cambridge or Coon Rapids, in the first round of Region Four Tuesday at Midway. n
Even at 13 years old, Winfield’s baseball talent was obvious to anyone watching him play for the Oxford Recreation Center team in the St. Paul Parks and Recreation league, as this report from the Pioneer Press makes clear.
As a senior at St. Paul’s Central High School, Winfield pitched a no-hitter against Coon Rapids at Midway Stadium on June 3, 1969, to send the Minutemen to the Region Four championship game. (Buzz Magnuson / Pioneer Press)
Minnesota Twins manager Paul Molitor blows a bubble in the dugout during the third inning of a spring training game against the Boston Red Sox at JetBlue Park in Fort Myers, Fla., in March 2016. (John Autey / Pioneer Press)
Paul Molitor
Hecame from a large family, one of eight kids. His parents worked hard to send him to Cretin High School, where he was a three-sport star and helped lead his teams to state championships in baseball, basketball and soccer.
Molitor was drafted in the 28th round of the Major League draft out of high school, but instead went down the road to play at the University of Minnesota, where he hit .350 during his career and led the Gophers to a Big Ten championship and a College World Series appearance.
He was named a First Team All-American twice and joined Dave Winfield as just the second Gophers player inducted into the National College Baseball Hall of Fame.
His success at the collegiate level was just an appetizer for what would come next.
After being selected third overall by the Milwaukee Brewers in 1977, he quickly reached the majors and established himself as the Brewers’ second baseman a year after being drafted, finishing second in Rookie of the Year voting.
He was a seven-time All-Star over the course of his 21-year career. He batted over .300 in 12 of those years on his way to a .306 career batting average.
He finished with more than 200 hits four times, leading the American League in hits in multiple seasons. His 3,319 hits are 10th all time as of summer 2024.
After 15 years in Milwaukee, Molitor joined the Toronto Blue Jays, where he helped lead them to a World Series title in 1993. He was the World Series MVP that season and finished second in AL MVP voting.
He finished his career right where he started: Minnesota. Molitor joined the hometown Twins for his final three seasons as a player, before hanging it up after the 1998 season at age 42.
He was a first-ballot Hall of Famer, becoming the city’s second when he was elected in 2004.
Known for his wealth of baseball knowledge, Molitor became the manager of his hometown team, managing the Twins between 2015 and 2018. During that time, he led them to the postseason once and earned Manager of the Year honors.
Molitor
AT A GLANCE
Inducted into Hall of Fame: 2004
High school: Cretin High School
College: University of Minnesota
MLB teams: Milwaukee Brewers, Toronto Blue Jays, Minnesota Twins
Positions: Third base, Second base, DH
Bats: Right
Throws: Right
CAREER STATS 1973-1995
Hits: 3,319
Home runs: 234
Batting average: .306
Runs: 1,782
RBIs: 1,307
On-base percentage: .369
Slugging percentage: .448
Wins above replacement: 75.6
Source: Baseball-Reference.com
Molitor is congratulated by his Gopher teammates as he crosses the plate after hitting a solo home run in the fourth inning of a May 1976 home game versus Wisconsin. In that day's double-header against the Badgers, Molitor went 6-for-8 at the plate. (Buzz Magnuson / Pioneer Press)
Molitor top athlete
BY CHARLEY WALTERS Pioneer Press Staff Writer
Jan. 23, 1977
When Dick Siebert talks baseball, people listen.
“Paul Molitor,” the venerable Siebert was saying the other day, “is the most exciting ballplayer I’ve coached in my 29 years at Minnesota. This includes them all.”
That includes major leaguers Dave Winfield, Jerry Kin dall, Paul Giel, George Thomas, Bill Davis, Mike Sadek, Bobby Fenwick, Frank Brousseau and Harry Elliot. There have been others, too, and about 60 more Gophers who graduated to minor league careers.
“Molitor is definitely a major league prospect,” added Siebert, a 10-year big leaguer himself. “He’s fast, quick, strong, has good reflexes and is aggressive.
“He is very aggressive.”
He is also the 1976 Ramsey County Athlete of the Year, an award presented annually by the St. Paul Down town Lions Club. Molitor will be honored Wednesday in a noon luncheon at the St. Paul Athletic Club.
“I guess I’ve been one of the finalists the last three years,” said the 20-year-old Cretin graduate. “I’m thrilled.”
At Cretin, Molitor was a baseball, basketball and soccer star. Upon graduation the 6-foot, 175-pounder was drafted by the St. Louis Cardinals. He declined a bonus offer of $8,000.
In two seasons with the Gophers, Molitor has set seven school records. One is stealing six bases in a single game, including home.
Following his freshman year he starred for the world champion United States team in the Pan American
During his three seasons in a Gopher uniform, Molitor set records at the U of M for career runs, hits, RBIs, triples and stolen bases. (Pioneer Press file photo)
Games, where he was the third leading hitter with a .338 average. And the last two seasons he has been among the finalists for the Lefty Gomez Award, emblematic of the nation’s top college baseball player.
Last season Molitor was named first-team All-American.
This June the strong-armed, power-hitting shortstop will be eligible for the major league draft. There is little doubt he will be a No. 1 choice, and it is the opinion of some that he could step in right now and become the Minnesota Twins’ regular shortstop.
The Twins, however, probably will not get a chance to bid for Molitor’s services. He is expected to go high in the draft.
“Baseball is No. 1 in my life right now,” said Molitor, who hit .410 in the Big Ten last year and 10 home runs in the over-all season. “If I have a good enough season this year and a good enough offer, I’ll sign. I’m an education major in school and I want to coach some day. But right now, I want to play in the major leagues.”
About nine or 10 major league teams have contacted Molitor. The Twins have not. The Los Angeles Dodgers and Cincinnati Reds have.
The Gophers have begun their indoor workouts at the university’s fieldhouse, Molitor has not been with them. He severely sprained an ankle last week playing basketball and has it encased in a plaster cast.
“The cast will come off in a couple weeks,” said Molitor. “But I’ll be ready. I can’t wait.”
Siebert knows he’ll probably lose his star to the pros come summer. But the price will be worth it. n
Jack Morris fires from the mound at the Metrodome in Minneapolis during a September 1991 game against the Baltimore Orioles. (Joe Oden / Pioneer Press)
Jack Morris
Twinsfans of a certain age will never forget Jack Morris’ performance in Game 7 of the 1991 World Series.
How could they?
With the series tied 3-3 and a World Series title at stake, Morris willed the Twins to victory, outdueling future Hall of Famer John Smoltz in an effort for the ages. He threw 10 innings in the win, something which would be unheard of these days. The dependable hurler started three games in that World Series, giving up just three earned runs in 23 innings on his way to being named MVP of the World Series.
It wasn’t the first ring he had won, and it wouldn’t be the last.
Morris won his first World Series ring as a member of the Detroit Tigers in 1984, a year in which he also threw a no-hitter. And he was a member of both the 1992 and 1993 Toronto Blue Jays, who won back-to-back World Series, though he didn’t pitch in the latter postseason.
Over the course of his 18-year career, Morris won 254 games, winning at least 15 games 12 times. The workhorse starter threw 175 complete games in his career and 28 shutouts.
He was a five-time All-Star, and while he never won a Cy Young Award, he finished in the top-five five times. He was a durable righty, topping or coming close to 200 innings in nearly every season he pitched.
Morris played a majority of his career in Detroit, spending 14 seasons with the Tigers before joining the Twins for one very memorable year. Then, after two years in Toronto, he played his final season, 1994, in Cleveland.
The Highland Park High School grad, who was drafted by the Tigers in the fifth round in 1976, earned his call from the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 2017 and was inducted the next summer, becoming St. Paul’s third Hall of Famer.
Morris
AT A GLANCE
Inducted into Hall of Fame: 2018
High school: Highland Park High School
College: Brigham Young University
MLB teams: Detroit Tigers, Minnesota Twins, Toronto Blue Jays and Cleveland Indians
Position: Pitcher
Bats: Right
Throws: Right
CAREER STATS 1977-1994
Wins: 254
Losses: 186
Earned Run Average: 3.90
Games Pitched: 549
Games Started: 527
Complete Games: 175
Strikeouts: 2,478
Wins above replacement: 43.5
Source: Baseball-Reference.com
St. Paul contributed three players — Morris, Dave Winfield and Paul Molitor — to the 1985 All-Star Game at the Metrodome in Minneapolis. (John Doman / Pioneer Press)
St. Paul’s best await another chance at win
BY CHARLEY WALTERS x Pioneer Press Staff Writer
July 17, 1985
Asdid most of their American League teammates after another loss to the National League Tuesday night, Paul Molitor, Dave Winfield and Jack Morris — St. Paul’s finest in the All-Star Game — had to shrug shoulders and hope for another chance another time.
“The game was a little boring, wasn’t it, at least from my side of the field,” said Molitor, the Cretin graduate with the Milwaukee Brewers and a Fernando Valenzuela strikeout victim in his only at-bat.
“I guess you just have to chalk this game up as experience,” Molitor said at his locker moments after the 6-1 defeat. “I felt more relaxed out there than I thought I would.”
Molitor’s reference was to his strikeout in the seventh inning, when he entered the game at third base. It was the first time he faced Valenzuela.
“I missed a 1-0 fastball and I felt good swinging,” he said. “But after that, it was screwgie (screwball) time.”
Molitor took a big rip at the third strike.
“You’ve got to go up there swinging and go right through it,” he said.
Molitor was switched to center field in the ninth inning. “I felt out of place there; it’s a strange feeling being out there,” he said.
Molitor spent $875 for tickets for family and friends to attend the game and gave them a couple of waves from center field. As for the St. Paul contingent’s performance, he said, “Davey (Winfield) got a knock for us and Jack (Morris) threw the ball pretty good. They hit a couple of ground balls to drive in runs that just found holes. Jack pitched better than his numbers.”
Morris’ numbers included the loss as the starting pitcher, his first decision in three All-Star Game appearances. He gave up five hits in 2 2⁄3 innings and two earned runs.
“I told Sparky when he took me out that ‘these are my guys (bases were loaded)’ and he usually lets me get out of my jams,” Morris, the Highland Park graduate who paid $700 for tickets for family and friends, said. “But this is the All-Star Game and he had to make a move.
“I’m not upset; I’m fortunate. A lot of guys would like to do what I did out there.
“This just adds to the fact that good pitching will get out good hitting. I’ve done better before and I’ve done worse before. It’s just the way things happen. I was rushing things and jumping at the plate, but I don’t have any excuses.”
Morris’ streak of five career scoreless innings in AllStar competition ended in the second inning. His career All-Star earned-run average is 2.70.
Winfield, the Central graduate who spent $1,550 for tickets for family and friends for the game, had a sharp single to center off Nolan Ryan in three at-bats to raise his lifetime All-Star batting average to .370 (10 for 27) that ranks him fourth on the all-time list behind Billy Herman (.433), Steve Garvey (.393) and Enos Slaughter (.381).
“St. Paul is proud,” Winfield said. “I think the people here appreciated Molitor and Morris and Winfield, and Tom Brunansky. It’s too bad we didn’t win, but we’ll get them next year.
“I don’t say the National League has a better team. If we played head to head all year, we’d win more than our share. I’d say we have more good players. I can’t figure out why we lost again, and I’m not going to try.” n
American League teammates Morris and Molitor chat in the infield during the 1985 All-Star Game at the Metrodome. (John Doman / Pioneer Press)
Minnesota Twins catcher Joe Mauer eyes the next batter for the Detroit Tigers in the eighth inning of a game at Target Field in Minneapolis on April 1, 2013.
(John
Autey / Pioneer Press)
Joe Mauer
Hewas the No. 1 quarterback recruit in the country, an undeniable talent on the gridiron. There’s no telling how successful he could have been had he stuck to football. His grateful state is happy he didn’t.
After he committed to play for legendary coach Bobby Bowden at Florida State earlier in the year, the hometown Twins selected the 18-year-old catcher from Cretin-Derham Hall with the first overall pick in the 2001 draft, setting into motion his Hall of Fame career.
When he was drafted by the Twins, he called it “kind of a fairy tale.”
His career certainly was that of fairy tales and his career got its happy ending on Jan. 23, 2024, when he was elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame on the first ballot, earning over 75 percent of the votes from Baseball Writers’ Association of America members. He is one of just three catchers to receive that first-ballot honor, joining Johnny Bench and Iván Rodríguez.
In his 15-year-career, all with the Twins just miles away from where he grew up in St. Paul, Mauer won an MVP award, was a six-time All-Star and three-time Gold Glove award winner. He is the only AL catcher to win any batting titles and the only MLB catcher to win three.
A severe concussion suffered in 2013 forced Mauer to move from behind the plate to first base, where he spent the last five seasons of his career. He returned to his familiar position to receive one final pitch in the last game of his career, an emotional moment for all in attendance at Target Field.
The affable, humble catcher had quickly become a fan favorite, and many still flock to the ballpark wearing his No. 7 jersey. Shortly after he decided to hang it up, the Twins announced that they would retire his number, an honor reserved for a select few.
Mauer never got to experience the same postseason success as the three other St. Paulites, but he did nearly everything else during his illustrious career and will be remembered forever as one of the greatest Minnesotans to ever play the game.
Well played, Mauer.
Mauer AT A GLANCE
Inducted into Hall of Fame: 2024
High school: Cretin-Derham Hall
MLB team: Minnesota Twins
Positions: Catcher, first base, DH
Bats: Left
Throws: Right
CAREER STATS 2004-2018
Hits: 2,123
Home runs: 143
Batting average: .306
Runs: 1,018
RBI: 923
On-base percentage: .388
Slugging percentage: .439
Wins above replacement: 55.2
Source: Baseball-Reference.com
Sixteen-year-old Joe Mauer practices his swing after school at the Cretin-Derham Hall baseball diamond on Randolph Avenue in May 1999. (bill alkofer / Pioneer Press)
All eyes on Joe Mauer doesn’t let the attention from major league scouts distract him
BY BRIAN MURPHY x Pioneer Press Staff Writer
May 6, 2001
They gather in small huddles down the right-field line 20 minutes before Joe Mauer emerges from the Cretin-Derham Hall locker room to take batting practice. For the moment, the scouts outnumber the Raiders on the field, which makes them easier to spot than chaperones at a prom.
On this balmy, blustery Tuesday afternoon, there are about a dozen of them wearing polo shirts and sunglasses with notebooks and stopwatches in their pockets. Some will see one of the top catching prospects in the country for the first time; other veteran observers will scour for the intangibles that could determine whether Mauer ever dons their team’s uniform.
Stepping into the batter’s box, Mauer doesn’t seem to notice as the scouts cease the idle chatter, unsnap their pens and watch him casually spray line drives across the field in an exhibition that would foreshadow his monstrous day at the plate against visiting Humboldt.
Afterward, Mauer turns to shagging fly balls with his teammates while the gatekeepers to the major leagues wander around looking for a good vantage point from which to scrutinize him during the game. They are there for every Cretin-Derham home and road game, eyeing Mauer’s every move.
He tries not to be bothered by the whole spectacle.
Mauer, a senior at Cretin-Derham Hall, prepares to face Woodbury in the sectional finals at Midway Stadium in St. Paul on June 5, 2001. Mauer went 4 for 4 with two runs batted in to help the Raiders to a 13-3 victory in five innings. Earlier that same day, Mauer was drafted No. 1 overall by the Minnesota Twins in the amateur baseball draft. (Chris Polydoroff / Pioneer Press)
“They don’t say a whole lot, which is kind of nice,” Mauer said after belting a pair of opposite-field home runs onto Hamline Avenue and driving in four runs in a blowout victory. “I’m not the kind of guy who needs everyone to look at him. I’d be fine if they knew about me but didn’t make a whole big deal about it.”
They’re making a big deal about it because Mauer is projected to go in the top 10 in the June 5 amateur draft and could command a $2 million to $3 million signing bonus.
They’re making a big deal about it because earlier this season, 26 scouts came to watch Mauer in one game, along with Twins general manager Terry Ryan. Minnesota has the first overall pick, and Mauer is reportedly on a working list of about 10 prospects for that No.1 slot.
And they’re making a big deal about it because Mauer has signed a letter of intent to play quarterback at Florida State, mirroring the path that former Cretin-Derham baseball and football star Chris Weinke chose a decade ago.
Weinke was at Florida State for a week before signing a pro baseball contract that kept him out of football for several years until he returned to the Seminole football team and won the HeismanTrophy at age 28.
Mauer said he will not decide his athletic future until after graduation and the draft, which has scouts and their bosses at the 30 major league teams scurrying to lock in the other 1,500 prospects in the final month.
Minnesota Twin and the fourth hall of famer born in St. Paul, joining Paul Molitor, Dave Winfield and Jack Morris.
Mauer gained entry for a career during which he hit .306, won three Gold Gloves, three batting titles and five Silver Slugger Awards and was elected to six All-Star Games. The 2009 American League Most Valuable Player spent 10 seasons behind the plate before a concussion forced him to first base for the final five seasons of his career.
“For somebody who was built up being a hometown kid, being built up the way he was, it was almost impossible for him to live up to those expectations,” his good friend and former teammate, Justin Morneau, said. “Somehow, he managed.”
At the time he debuted in 2004, Mauer was the No. 1 prospect in baseball, and he quickly established himself as a star, leading the American League in hitting in 2006 (.347), 2008 (.328) and 2009 (.365) and becoming the only catcher in MLB history to accomplish the feat thrice in the process.
He ensured his entire career was spent playing just miles away from where he grew up rooting for Twins legends like Kirby Puckett and Kent Hrbek by signing an eight-year, $184 million contract extension with the Twins — then the richest deal in franchise history — in 2010 to keep him in his home state for good.
“I can’t imagine there’s another player in Twins history that there was greater anticipation for or more pressure on to deliver than Joe Mauer,” Twins president and CEO Dave St. Peter said. “To be picked 1-1 in the draft, to come from Cretin-Derham Hall to the Twins and then to go on and have a Hall of Fame career, that’s storybook.”
That’s not to say his storybook career didn’t come with some speed bumps. In the second game of his majorleague career, Mauer injured his knee, which required surgery and sidelined him for most of the 2004 season.
An issue the Twins dubbed “bilateral leg weakness” disrupted his 2011 season and a concussion suffered in August 2013 drastically altered the trajectory of his career, ending both his season and his time behind the
plate. Mauer would put on the catcher’s gear to receive one last pitch in 2018 during an emotional final game of his career before opting to retire that offseason, citing his health and his family.
Through both triumph and adversity, Mauer remained the same steady person, exemplifying the values instilled in him by his parents, Teresa and Jake, who passed away last January, a year before his son was bestowed with baseball’s highest honor.
“Joe’s always been an incredibly respectful and polite young man,” St. Peter said. “...I think he brings a level of humility to the table that endears him to every single person he ever meets. There’s just no errors about Joe Mauer. Never has been.”
That personality — along with the immense talent that was evident in Mauer even as a young boy — has made him one of the most beloved figures in franchise history, a favorite of generations of Twins fans.
Beginning in July, those same Twins fans can venture to Cooperstown, N.Y., walk through the famed Plaque Gallery and find Mauer’s image proudly displayed among the top 1 percent of players to ever play the game. That plaque will forever serve as an engraved visual of that fairy tale journey that began all those years ago in St. Paul.
“You know that old saying ‘local boy does good’?” said Terry Ryan, the general manager who selected Mauer. “There’s no more proof than Joe Mauer.” n
Mauer signs his name to the backer board of his plaque at the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, N.Y., on Jan. 25, 2024. (Associated Press)
Mauer waves to fans as he walks off the field at the beginning of the Twins’ 2024 home
opener against the Cleveland Guardians at Target Field in Minneapolis. (John Autey / Pioneer Press)