Mauer surges in finale to win first AL batting title

Joe Mauer was on the verge of history. Entering the final day of the 2006 regular season, however, one of the game’s greatest clutch players – and a future Hall of Fame teammate – was right on Mauer’s heels.

But the Minnesota Twins young star – who was in just his second full big league season – was not to be denied.

Mauer went 2-for-4 at the plate against the White Sox on Oct. 1, 2006, raising his batting average to an American League-best .347. He became the first catcher in AL history to win a batting title and just the third in AL/NL history, joining National League backstops Bubbles Hargrave (1926) and Ernie Lombardi (1938 and 1942).

“You couldn’t really not think about it,” Mauer told the Associated Press after the game. “There were so many questions. Scores on the board, people saying you need to do this, do that. I’ve never been so nervous in my life. I’m just happy it’s all over with and we’re here celebrating.”

Mauer began the season’s final day a little more than one point ahead of Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter at .3462 to .3447. The Yankees hosted the Blue Jays that day in a 1:10 p.m. ET start, and Jeter singled off Dustin McGowan in his first at-bat to push his average to .3457. But Jeter would go 0-for-4 the rest of the afternoon with two strikeouts and two groundouts to leave him at .3435.

The Twins game against the White Sox started at 1:11 p.m. CT at the Metrodome, and Mauer struck out in his first at-bat against Javier Vázquez to put his average at .3456. But Mauer doubled to lead off the fourth inning and then singled in the fifth to boost his mark to .3481. A seventh-inning lineout left Mauer with a season-ending mark of .3474.

“That’s something you can never take away when you’re the first,” Mauer said of the batting title. “It’s unbelievable, the things that happened today.”

Mauer’s batting average never dropped below .300 from May 10 through the end of the 2006 season, peaking at .392 in early July. His final mark of .347 led all MLB batters and helped the Twins win 96 games and the AL Central title.

Mauer would go on to win two more AL batting titles and finish his career with a .306 average en route to his election to the Hall of Fame in 2024.

“He knew from the beginning what he can do,” Tony Oliva, the legendary Twins hitter and batting coach, said of Mauer. “Guys like that don’t come around too often.”

Craig Muder is the director of communications for the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum