Joe Mauer

[William Malone]

Joseph Patrick Mauer was born on April 19, 1983 in St. Paul, Minnesota.

The Minnesota Twins selected him first overall in the 2001 MLB Draft. He agreed to a signing bonus of $5.15 million, passing up the opportunity to play quarterback at Florida State University.

Mauer reported to the Elizabethton Twins (Rookie) and hit .400 in 32 games that summer. He hit .302 for the Quad Cities River Bandits (Class-A) in 2002, and .338 in 2003 while splitting the season between the Fort Myers Miracle (High-A) and New Britain Rock Cats (Double-A). Baseball America ranked Mauer as the league's number one prospect entering 2004, and he made the Opening Day roster that year without ever having played in Triple-A.

His much anticipated Major League debut couldn't have gone much better. Mauer went 2-for-3 with two walks and two runs scored. A six pitch walk to lead-off the eighth inning helped spark a four run, game tying rally. He also singled in the 11th inning, and eventually scored on Shannon Stewart's walk-off home run. Mauer tore the meniscus in his right knee while diving to catch a foul ball in his second career game, requiring surgery and landing him on the disabled list.

He returned to the lineup in June. Mauer played 33 more games before the Twins shut him down due to reoccurring knee pain. His rookie year slash line was .308/.369/.570 with six home runs and 17 RBI over 35 games. 

Mauer was fully healthy in 2005, playing in 131 games. This included 110 starts behind home plate. He hit .294/.372/.411 with nine home runs, 55 RBI and a career high 13 stolen bases.

History was made in 2006 when Mauer became the first catcher in American League history to win the batting title. He hit .347, securing the crown over New York Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter on the final day of regular season action. Mauer entered the 162nd game leading by the slightest margin of decimal points. He went 2-for-4 in a win over the Chicago White Sox, while Jeter went 1-for-5 in a loss against the Toronto Blue Jays. The young catcher finished sixth place in AL MVP voting, and won his first career Silver Slugger award.

The Twins and Mauer agreed to a four year, $33 million contract just days before spring training in 2007. This helped void all his future arbitration years. He hit .293 with seven home runs and 60 RBI, missing parts of May and June with a quad injury. Mauer led all catchers with a .998 fielding percentage, and caught a league best 53.3% of potential base stealers.

He won his second career batting title in 2008, hitting .328 and finishing fourth place in AL MVP voting. Mauer also won his second career Silver Slugger, and first career Gold Glove. He was particularly dominant during the Twins stretch run, batting .365 with 19 RBI that September. Every game was important in a very tight AL Central race, which came down to a "Game 163" tiebreaker against the White Sox. Minnesota lost that game 1-0.

Mauer missed the opening month of 2009 with a knee injury, but returned with a vengeance. He homered in his first at-bat of the regular season on May 1st, and followed that up with a four hit night on May 2nd. Mauer wound up hitting .414 with a 1.338 OPS that May, easily winning AL Player of the Month. This historical season rolled on, and the superstar catcher wound up receiving 27 of 28 first place votes for AL MVP. He became the first American League player to lead the league in average, on-base percentage and slugging percentage since George Brett in 1980. As of 2025, it's the only time a catcher in any league has led all three categories in a single season.

The 2009 season was highlighted by an epic "Game 163" tiebreaker for the AL Central crown against the Detroit Tigers. Minnesota won in 12th inning. Mauer was 2-for-4 with two walks and a double. He was 5-for-12 (.417) with two walks in the ALDS that fall, but the Twins were swept by New York.

Minnesota rewarded Mauer with an eight year, $184 million contract just before spring training in 2010. At the time, it was the fourth largest contract in Major League history, and the biggest given to any catcher. Mauer hit .327/.402/.469 in the Twins inaugural season at Target Field, winning his third consecutive Gold Glove and fourth career Silver Slugger. His average and on-base percentage were both third in the American League. He finished eighth in MVP voting.

Mauer missed most of spring training in 2011 after undergoing knee surgery during the off-season, but was still active on Opening Day. He went 8-for-34 (.235) through nine games, and was shut down with what the team called bi-lateral leg weakness. The Twins activated him in late-June, and Mauer finished the season slashing .287/.360/.368 over 82 games. His debut appearance as a first baseman came on July 7th. He turned the first ball hit towards him into an unassisted double play. This was the first of 16 starts he made at first base in 2011.

A healthy Mauer was back to his expected All-Star form in 2012. He hit .319 and led the American League with a .416 on-base percentage. Mauer followed that up by hitting .324 in 2013, but the year came to an unexpected end on August 19th. New York Mets first baseman Ike Davis hit a foul tip against his mask, which developed into a season ending concussion. Despite the early finish to his season, Mauer was awarded with his fifth career Silver Slugger.

The Twins announced that Mauer would make a full time move to first base ahead of the 2014 campaign. His offense wasn't the same post-concussion, as he slashed .267/.353/.380 between 2014 and 2016. Things rebounded a bit in 2017, with Mauer hitting .305 and helping Minnesota reach the postseason for the first time since 2010. This resurgence included several clutch hits during their playoff push. Mauer hit .333 with runners in scoring position during the 2017 season, and hit .343 with 19 RBI during the month of September. He was 1-for-5 during their Wild Card Game loss against the Yankees.

Mauer suffered another concussion on May 18, 2018. He missed almost a month, and retirement rumors began to swirl. Mauer finished the season batting .282/.351/.379, appearing in 127 games. The Twins legend put on the catching gear one final time during the final regular season game, catching one pitch from reliever Matt Belisle before getting removed to a massive ovation from the Target Field crown. His retirement became official on November 9, 2018. 

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