(KNSI) – A beloved member of the Minnesota Twins has entered baseball immortality.
Joe Mauer is officially a Hall of Famer. The former Twins catcher was inducted into Cooperstown on Sunday. The St. Paul-native was drafted by his hometown team with the first overall pick in the 2001 MLB Draft. Mauer spent his entire career with Minnesota, playing with the club from 2004 until 2018.
He won three A.L. batting titles and is the only catcher to lead the American League in batting average. Mauer was also named the 2009 A.L. MVP after hitting .365 with 28 home runs.
Mauer thanked his late father and grandfather for believing in his abilities and his mother for teaching him that it was more important to be a good person than a good player. He is the seventh player inducted into the Hall Of Fame as a Minnesota Twin.
Harmon Killebrew, Rod Carew, Kirby Puckett, Bert Blyleven, Jim Kaat, and Tony Oliva are the others.
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