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Joe Mauer received the call that every baseball player dreams of following their retirement. He will be enshrined in the National Baseball Hall of Fame this summer, as part of the Class of 2024. Some Twins fans might be surprised by his support from the baseball writers, but his résumé stacks up with that of the top players in baseball history.
Entering Tuesday, Mauer was trending above 83% on the known ballots. Candidates must be listed on 75% or more of the submitted ballots to be inducted. A player can stay on the ballot for up to 10 years if they receive more than 5% of the vote, so it looked as if Mauer would eventually be elected even if he fell short in 2024. Instead, he made it in his first try, and joined some elite company in the process. Mauer slid in at 76.1 percent, behind no-brainer third baseman Adrián Beltré (95.1 percent of voters) and sixth-time candidate Todd Helton (79.7 percent) in clearing the threshold, and the trio will go in alongside Jim Leyland in July.
Before Mauer, there had only been two catchers in baseball history to be selected on the first ballot. To many, Johnny Bench is considered the greatest catcher of all time, and he received 96.4% of the vote in 1989. Iván Rodríguez was considered an elite defensive catcher and was named on 76% of the ballots in 2017. Mauer finished behind Bench with his percentage, but it still means he has the second-highest percentage for any first-ballot catcher in history.
Mauer also becomes the latest pledge of the fraternity of Hall of Fame players from St. Paul, MN. He joins Paul Molitor, Dave Winfield, and Jack Morris in the halls of Cooperstown. Molitor and Winfield were both first-ballot selections, while Morris had to wait to be elected by the Veterans Committee. It’s incredible to have three first-ballot Hall of Fame members from the same city, and even rarer that they could all wear a Twins uniform during their prestigious careers.
Mauer and the rest of the Baseball Hall of Fame’s 2024 class will be inducted in a ceremony on July 21, 2024, in Cooperstown, New York. For fans planning on attending, planning your trip well in advance is best. Cooperstown is a tough place to get to, and you must fly into a neighboring city and drive the rest of the way. That being said, a large contingent of Twins Territory will likely be on hand to support the hometown star.
Congratulations to Mauer and his family on a tremendous career. Twins fans were lucky to watch him play in his hometown for his entire career. Now, he will be immortalized in Cooperstown, and one has to think that a statue outside Target Field will be coming in the years ahead.
What’s your favorite Mauer memory? Will you be making the trek to Cooperstown this summer? Leave a COMMENT and start the discussion.
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