Saturday's Joe Mauer Hall of Fame Weekend: a Celebration of a Childhood Hero to Many

When Joe Mauer is inducted into the Twins Hall of Fame Saturday, joining 37 other players and staff like Kirby Puckett, Jim Kaat, and Tom Kelly, Twins fans will have a chance to look back at a childhood hero, and arguably the biggest star Minnesota sports has ever seen. 

One cannot overstate the impact that Joe Mauer had on the state in the early-to-mid 2000s and what it was like being a kid watching Mauer’s reign. To Twins fans of a certain age, Mauer represents some of our first memories of being a fan. He was not only an “American Idol” like the famous Sports Illustrated cover proclaimed, but a hometown, childhood hero, and a role model. 

As a kid who grew up playing softball with a baseball-playing brother and an older sister who also played softball, Twins baseball was huge in our family. We watched all the games on FSN North, our parents took us down to games at the Metrodome almost weekly, and we went to all the free player autograph signings at Cub Foods and the now-defunct Twins Pro Shop stores.

And Mauer was everywhere. 

He was the star of the hilarious Twins “This is Twins Territory” commercials of the 2000s, including one paying homage to the classic Mean Joe Green Coca-Cola TV commercial in which Mauer gives a kid his sideburns (fun fact- the kid in this commercial is the brother-in-law of Twins Daily writer Lou Hennessy) and one in which pitcher and “Joe Mauer’s teammate” Pat Neshek fields questions from crazed Mauer fans who want to know if Mauer has a girlfriend, if he smells nice, and even what his favorite kind of cheese is. “Kids, does anyone have any questions that aren’t about Joe Mauer?” asks the Twins PR staffer (commercial at 1:36 of this video). 

Then, when the Twins were preparing to make a move to Target Field and take baseball into great Minnesota outdoors, Mauer and Joe Nathan starred in the classic “Take It Outside” commercial featuring Mauer’s mother, Teresa, and the nostalgic “Sandlot” commercial in which Joe Mauer, Justin Morneau, and Michael Cuddyer play some sandlot baseball at the future Target Field stadium site. 

He was in a “This is SportsCenter” commercial with Scott Van Pelt, in which Van Pelt, who does not know anything about Minnesota, humorously tries to relate to Mauer the Minnesotan. “You ever meet Prince?” Van Pelt asks Mauer. 

He was on national magazine covers, in video game commercials like MLB 10 The Show and MLB 11 The Show, in which Mauer is still a really nice guy even when getting taunted while playing The Show and instead lets is bat do the talking, and national shampoo commercials. Locally, he was in even more TV spots, like for local health clubs.

Mauer, arguably, is the biggest sports star Minnesota has ever had. Think about it: when has Minnesota otherwise had a sports star on the cover of video games and national TV spots? Never. (The number of kids who do the Griddy on the Target Field big screen suggests that Justin Jefferson might reach these heights, but he is the only star I see as having the potential to reach this type of national visibility.  And yet, there are so many other high-profile NFL stars to compete with, and the batting stats Mauer managed to have as a catcher were truly remarkable). But even as Mauer’s national star rose, he was still ours- the hometown kid from St. Paul who never left and continues to make Minnesota his home. 

Outside of TV commercials, he was on “Got Milk?” posters we had hanging up in school, and he was on a Minnesota Department of Health anti-smoking poster emblazoned with “Fast, fearless, strong, and tobacco free” with a picture of Mauer mid-swing that I still have hanging up in my childhood bedroom. Kids in backyards playing wiffleball pretended to be Mauer, and undoubtedly he inspired more than a few kids to put on catcher’s gear. Kids practiced using Joe Mauer’s QuickSwing hitting device. Kids wanted to “be like Joe” and always the friendly, wholesome role model known for community volunteering and signing autographs; parents were all for it.

A common thread among commercials and 2000’s media featuring Mauer is that he was shown as a wholesome family man. He epitomized "Minnesota Nice." His mother, Teresa, frequently starred in commercials with Mauer, like the “Take it Outside” spot and a Kemps Ice cream commercial in which Mauer catches a scoop of ice cream like a popup in the kitchen. In a different Kemps commercial for milk, Mauer shows up for dinner at his mother’s door with a bouquet and a gallon of milk. “Boy, that was good, just like old times, huh, ma?” Mauer says after dinner as he takes a big swig of milk. “Exactly, so you’ll be doing the dishes,” Teresa Mauer responds. The message of these commercials seems to say that even though we may know him as a multi-millionaire All-Star and batting champion, he still loves his mom, does the dishes, and is still that boy from St. Paul. 

Mauer was also portrayed as a type of “everyman” like us: even though he is a national star and an adult, he plays video games with his friends, eats dinner with his family, and keeps his hair and sideburns looking good using Head and Shoulders shampoo. Commercials showing Mauer playing sandlot baseball and video games also show Mauer in a nostalgic light that makes us think of our own childhoods. 

I remember my parents taking my siblings and me down to Joe Mauer Bat Day at the ‘Dome in 2006 and waiting in long, snaking lines for it- but it was all worth it, and I still have that beauty today. There was also a Joe Mauer sideburns giveaway in 2006.

And when he put on the catcher’s gear one last time in his final game in 2018, there was no dry eye in the stadium. A recent college graduate, I watched Mauer step behind the plate from my spot along the first baseline. I wasn’t a little kid anymore- and Mauer had a constant presence on the team from the time I was in 4th grade until I was in law school. In the literal sense, I grew up watching Mauer. 

So, on Saturday, as the Twins induct Mauer into the coveted Twins Hall of Fame, fans will once again have a chance to celebrate one of Minnesota’s biggest points of pride and a nostalgic, childhood hero to many.