In his first five full big league seasons, Joe Mauer led the American League in batting average three times. No catcher in AL or NL history had ever before won more than two batting titles.
For Mauer, it was the peak of a nine-year stretch that – before injuries forced him to move to first base – saw him hailed as one of the finest all-around catchers in the game’s history and put him on a path to Cooperstown.
Born April 19, 1983, in St. Paul, Minn., Mauer was a three-sport star in high school and became the first student to be named USA Today’s High School Player of the Year in two sports (football in 2000 as a quarterback and baseball in 2001). Turning down multiple offers to play college football, Mauer was selected by the Twins with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2001 MLB Draft.
After just three minor league seasons, Mauer was brought to the big leagues in 2004 but missed most of the campaign with a knee injury. But in his first full season with the Twins in 2005, Mauer hit .294 with 26 doubles and 55 RBI. The next year, Mauer became the first AL catcher to win a batting title by hitting .347 en route to the first of six All-Star Game selections and five Silver Slugger Awards.
He hit .293 in 2007 then won his second batting crown with a .328 average in 2008, the same year he won the first of three Gold Glove Awards for his work behind the plate. Mauer’s finest season came in 2009 when he hit .365 to lead all big league batters while also leading the majors in on-base percentage (.444) and pacing the AL with a .587 slugging percentage. His 1.031 OPS also led the AL, making Mauer the first catcher in history (with at least 100 games caught) to lead the AL or NL in OPS. He received 27 of 28 first place votes in a landslide win in the AL Most Valuable Player voting.
Mauer continued to perform at an All-Star level for the next several seasons, including 2012 when he led the AL with a .416 on-base percentage. But late in the 2013 season, Mauer was sidelined with a concussion. He finished the year with a .324 batting average in 113 games, and the next year the Twins announced that Mauer would move to first base as a precaution against further concussions.
Over his last five big league seasons, Mauer hit .278 while averaging 29 doubles and 65 walks per season. He finished his career with a .306 batting average, .388 on-base percentage, 428 doubles and 2,123 hits. Mauer is the only catcher in history with at least 2,000 hits, a .300 batting average and a .380 on-base percentage.
“I don’t think Joe ever lost that edge,” said Hall of Famer Paul Molitor, who managed Mauer in Minnesota during Mauer’s last four seasons. “He’s tremendously driven to win.”
