Seven numbers that help explain Joe Mauer’s Twins career
Joe Mauer became the 38th person to be enshrined in the Twins’ Hall of Fame when he was inducted on Saturday. Here are seven numbers that help define Mauer’s career.
.306: Mauer became the first catcher to win an American League batting title in 2006.
Mauer, one of the best hitting catchers of all time, would accomplish the feat two more times, leading the AL in hitting in three of four seasons. During his MVP season in 2009, Mauer hit a whopping .365, leading the American League not only in batting average, but also in on-base percentage, slugging percentage and on-base plus slugging percentage.
He hit .347 to take home the batting title in 2009 and .328 when he won it in 2008. For his career, he hit .306.
1: The Twins made Joe Mauer the No. 1 overall pick in the 2001 draft, opting to take the homegrown talent over Mark Prior, considered the consensus top player in the draft back then.
The late Mike Radcliff, then the organization’s scouting director, was the one who ultimately made the call, setting Mauer’s Twins career in motion.
“That’s probably the toughest decision he had to make as a scouting director,” former general manager Terry Ryan said this February. … “(He) felt very confident Joe was the guy. He was convicted that was going to be the right choice.”
3: Just as Mauer was a three-time batting award winner (2006, 2008, 2009), he was also honored three times for his defensive prowess behind the plate.
Mauer won three consecutive Gold Gloves at catcher, taking home the award in 2008, 2009 and 2010. During his time behind the plate, he threw out 33% of attempted base-stealers.
7: The threshold for a number retirement is high. Most of the numbers the Twins have retired belong to Hall of Famers. Mauer could join that club someday.
The Twins retired his No. 7 the year after Mauer retired. He is just one of nine Twins to have his number retired by the team. That number was the one assigned to him when he got to rookie ball in Elizabethton, Tenn. He wore a couple other numbers as he was making his way up through the minors and reclaimed No. 7 upon reaching the majors.
15: Mauer debuted on April 5, 2004, as a young 20-year-old. He collected a pair of hits in his debut.
Fifteen years later — all with the Twins — he hung it up for good. Mauer’s last game came on Sept. 30, 2018, at age 36. During that game, Mauer lined a double in his final at-bat and then donned his catcher’s gear for the first time since 2013 when a concussion forced him off the position.
55.2: Joe Mauer’s case for Cooperstown will come up for the first time this winter. Mauer will need to garner 75% of the vote for enshrinement.
His 55.2 bWAR (Wins Above Replacement per Baseball Reference) certainly gives him a compelling case. The mark is currently 249th all time. There are relatively few catchers in the Hall of Fame, and Mauer himself was not a catcher for his entire career, but his bWAR is above the average of the Hall of Famers at the position.
$184 million: The Twins inked Mauer to an eight-year, $184 million extension in 2010, one of the richest deals in the majors at the time.
It also made him the highest-paid Twin at the time, and the deal ensured that Mauer would be able to spend the entirety of his major league career in Minnesota.
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