xzcxThe day after the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame voting results were announced, I wore my Joe Mauer Twins jersey to school to represent one of the newly-elected members of that prestigious group. Of course, Joe Mauer only wore a Minnesota Twins jersey in his MLB career, which was a testament to the hometown boy who could likely have gotten more money from other organizations.
I will admit that I was not always a Mauer supporter. There were times in his career that frustrated me. He never swung at a first pitch strike, so it was easy for a pitcher to groove one in there that could have been driven to a gap. He grounded into a lot of double plays. His power numbers were not what one would have hoped for a man of his stature.
But at the end of the day, Mauer put together a career that was worthy of election into the Hall of Fame. He batted .306 in his career, switching to first base after years as a catcher caused him too many concussions. He had 2,123 hits, 923 RBI, and scored 1,018 runs. He won three batting titles as a catcher, the only backstop in MLB history to do so. He was the MVP in 2009 and won three straight Gold Glove awards as the best fielder at his position. In addition, he won five Silver Slugger awards as the best batter at his position. He was selected to the All-Star Game six times in his fifteen year career and lived up to his billing as the #1 overall draft pick of his class.
Plus, he was a classy guy. That should be taken into account. He was a good person and always downplayed his accomplishments, focused on the team. The Twins had some good teams during his career, though their playoff (lack of) success has been well-noted.
A.J. Pierzynski was the Twins’ catcher prior to Mauer’s arrival. Pierzynski was a good catcher with a fiery attitude, and he went on to win a World Series with the Chicago White Sox. He knew his time was up when Mauer arrived at his first training camp; that’s how good Mauer was as a young ballplayer.
There was a time I didn’t think Mauer was good enough for the Hall of Fame. He was a good player, but there have been times I’ve thought the Hall of Fame was getting watered down, allowing too many good, not great, players in.
However, I’ve come to realize we live in a new era of baseball. Players don’t play as long. We’ll probably never have another pitcher with 300 career wins. Getting to 3,000 hits, which was always an automatic entry into the HOF, doesn’t happen as often. Get to 2,000 hits and you can make a case. Even the old standard of hitting 500 home runs doesn’t take anymore; neither Adrian Beltre or Todd Helton, who both also made it into the Hall this year, came close to that, with Beltre 23 short of that magic number.
So Mauer’s numbers match up with this time period for MLB. He was one of the best offensive catchers ever, and his defense was good, too. He slowed later in his career because of the concussions and adjusting to a new position. But he showed defensive acumen at first base after just a short time learning the spot.
I sometimes wonder what would have happened if the Twins had drafted Mark Prior, a pitcher, instead of Joe Mauer. Prior was an excellent pitcher early in his career before injuries took their toll. He debuted with the Chicago Cubs in 2002, a year after being drafted. In 2002, the Twins made it to the ALCS, a step away from the World Series. Would Prior have made the difference that year in beating the Angels? Or in 2003 when the Twins lost to the Yankees in the playoffs?
We’ll never know. We do know that Prior was out of baseball by 2007 because of his injuries. Mauer played for 15 years.
Here’s a great stat that Wyatt Groskreutz sent me about Mauer. In over 8,000 career at-bats in the big leagues, he only popped out to an infielder 31 times. Those of you who have played baseball or softball know how impressive that is.
The induction ceremony for Mauer will be July 21 in Cooperstown, New York. He will be the 7th Minnesota Twin to get into the HOF. He is the fourth player from St. Paul.
When you look back at his career, it’s easy to see that Joe Mauer making it to the Hall of Fame was an easy choice for voters. Making it on his first try shows that, even if one didn’t think he belonged, a notoriously hard group of voters to please did something that doesn’t happen much.
Way to go, Joe! I wear your jersey with pride!
Word of the Week: This week’s word is stultiloquy, which means foolish talk, as in, “It was sheer stultiloquy to question why Joe Mauer belonged in the Hall of Fame.” Impress your friends and confuse your enemies!