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Joe Mauer
Minnesota Twins — No. 7
Catcher
Born: April 19, 1983 (1983-04-19) (age 26) St. Paul, Minnesota
Bats: Left	Throws: Right
MLB debut
April 5, 2004 for the Minnesota Twins
Career statistics (through October 4, 2009)
Batting average	.328
Home runs	72
Runs batted in	397
On-base percentage	.408
Slugging percentage	.483
Teams
Minnesota Twins (2004–present)
Career highlights and awards
3x All-Star selection (2006, 2008, 2009) Gold Glove Award winner (2008) 2x Silver Slugger Award winner (2006, 2008) 3x AL Batting Champion (2006, 2008, 2009) MLB Home Run Derby participant (2009) Dick Siebert Award (Upper Midwest Player of the Year) (2008)

Joseph Patrick Mauer born April 19, 1983 in St. Paul, Minnesota) is a Major League Baseball catcher for the Minnesota Twins.

Mauer is considered by many to be the best catcher in baseball and has been said by some, including Hall of Famer Cal Ripken Jr., to have the best swing in baseball.^[1][2] In his breakout 2006 season, Mauer became the first catcher in major league history to lead both leagues in batting average and the first American League catcher to win the batting title, finishing with an average of .347.^[3] In 2008, he became the first American League catcher to win the batting title twice when he led the AL with an average of .328, and in 2009, he became the first catcher to lead in batting average, on base percentage, and slugging percentage in a single year. He also won his third batting title in 2009, leading all of Major League Baseball with a .365 average, which is the all-time highest mark among catchers in MLB history.^[4][5]

Contents 1 High-school career 1.1 Baseball 1.2 Basketball 1.3 Football 2 Early Professional Career 3 Highlights 4 Other work 5 Personal life 6 Relatives 7 References 8 External links

[edit] High-school career

Mauer played football, basketball, and baseball for Saint Paul's Cretin-Derham Hall Raiders. In his senior year he became the only athlete ever to be selected as the USA Today High School Player of the Year in two sports (football in 2000 as a quarterback and baseball in 2001 as a catcher and pitcher). ^[6]

[edit] Baseball

Mauer attended the same high school as Baseball Hall of Famer and former Milwaukee Brewer/Minnesota Twin/Toronto Blue Jay Paul Molitor.^[7] Molitor has said that Mauer "has the best swing he had ever seen".^[2] Jim O'Neill, Mauer's baseball coach at Cretin-Derham Hall, says that "[i]t's real difficult to tell whether Joe had a great night or a bad night by the way he acts. He's pretty consistent in his behavior, and that's a good thing for a baseball player." O'Neill said his former student has been groomed for this job since he was a little boy. That's when Mauer's Dad, Jake, created a contraption he later named the "Quickswing." The device dropped balls down a tube from eye level and released them at waist level. It helped Mauer develop his swing, said O'Neill. "Another guy that came from Cretin-Derham Hall, Paul Molitor, was very similar, had a good short swing," O'Neil says. "And they're both able to wait on the ball so long because they don't have the big swing. Like anything, you keep simple and keep it small or short, there's not a lot of holes in it and not a lot of room for errors."^[8]

Mauer appeared in a Sports Illustrated issue as in "Faces In The Crowd". A stand-out in baseball, Mauer struck out only once during his four year high-school career, and hit .605 during his senior season.^[2][9] His batting average exceeded .500 every year.^[8] He also set a Minnesota high-school record and tied the national preps mark by hitting a home run in seven consecutive games.^[7] Mauer caught for the Team USA Junior National team from 1998 to 2000 and hit .595 during his final year on the team. He was voted best hitter at the World Junior Baseball Championship in Canada in 2000. In 2001, Mauer was voted the United States District V Player of the year.

[edit] Basketball

Mauer averaged more than 20 points a game as a point guard for Cretin-Derham Hall.^[8] He was also named to the All-State team during his final two years on Cretin-Derham's basketball team.^[10]

[edit] Football

Mauer also had an extremely accomplished high school football career. During his senior season as the Raiders' quarterback, Mauer completed 178 of 288 passes (62% completion percentage), for 3,022 yards, 41 touchdowns and 5 interceptions. He finished his two year career as a starter with 5,528 yards and 73 touchdowns,^[2] leading the Raiders to two consecutive Class 5A State Championship Game appearances and winning the title in 1999.

Mauer was honored as the 2001 Gatorade National Player of the Year in both football and baseball, was named to the USA Today All-USA high school football team, was honored as USA Today's Player of the Year, and was a Reebok/ESPN High School All-American. Mauer was also named National High School Quarterback Of The Year in 2000 by The National Quarterback Club.^[10]

[edit] Early Professional Career

Mauer ultimately turned down a football scholarship from Florida State University to enter the Major League Baseball Draft.^[10] Mauer was selected by the Twins as the first overall pick of the 2001 draft, ahead of prospect Mark Prior, who was taken second overall by the Chicago Cubs.^[11]

Mauer was part of the United States' roster at the 2003 All-Star Futures Game at US Cellular Field before being promoted to the Twins' roster in 2004 after his predecessor, A.J. Pierzynski, was traded to the San Francisco Giants, in the 2003 offseason.

Mauer went 2 for 3 in his Major League debut, hitting a single off Rafael Betancourt of the Cleveland Indians for his first major-league hit. A knee injury to his left medial meniscus on April 7, 2004, required surgery and sidelined Mauer for more than a month. After a rehabilitation stint with the Twins' AAA affiliate Rochester Red Wings, Mauer returned to the Twins' lineup in June. In July, pain and swelling in his knee forced an early end to Mauer's 2004 season.

Following his injury-shortened 2004, Mauer signed a contract for $5.7 million with the Twins on January 24, 2005. In 2005, Mauer returned to the Twins' lineup for his first full major league season and had 144 hits in 131 games, with 9 home runs and 55 RBI. He ended the year with an average of .294.

[edit] Highlights

In 2006, Mauer's performance during the months of May and June garnered attention from the national media. He recorded a .528 batting average over the first ten days of June and hit .452 over the course of the month.^[12] He was also the first player since Mike Piazza in 1997 to reach base four or more times for five consecutive games.^[13] On June 12, Mauer was named the American League Player of the Week by Major League Baseball for his performance the week of June 4 - 11th, during which he hit .625 (15-for-24) with 5 doubles, 4 RBI and 2 stolen bases.^[14]

Mauer recorded his first five RBI game June 26, against the Los Angeles Dodgers.^[12] Mauer followed that up with his first career five-hit game on June 27, also against the Los Angeles Dodgers.^[12] He was also named Player of the Month for June after batting .452 with a .624 slugging percentage and .528 on base percentage, 11 doubles, 14 RBI and 18 runs. Along with Johan Santana (Pitcher of the Month) and Francisco Liriano (Rookie of the Month), Mauer was part of the first-ever single-team sweep of MLB's three monthly awards.^[15] On July 2, Mauer was selected by the players to his first All-Star Game.^[16] Mauer appeared on the cover of the August 7, 2006 issue of Sports Illustrated. ^[17]

Mauer finished the 2006 regular season with a .347 batting average, edging the Yankees' Derek Jeter and Robinson Canó to win the American League batting title and become the first-ever American League catcher to win the crown and the first catcher to claim the title since Ernie Lombardi in 1942 with the Boston Braves. His .347 average was the highest in the Major Leagues, a feat not achieved by the previous three catchers to win NL batting titles.^[3][18] He was the youngest player to win a batting title since Alex Rodriguez in 1996.^[18]

After going 2-for-4 in the last game of the 2006 regular season, Mauer confessed to reporters, "When I told you I wasn’t thinking about the batting title? I was lying. I’ve never been that nervous in my life. I haven’t felt anything like that since Opening Day as a rookie.”

Mauer won his first Silver Slugger award in 2006, announced on November 10, 2006, along with teammate Justin Morneau, who also won a Silver Slugger award that year.^[19]

On February 11, 2007, Mauer agreed to a four year, $33 million dollar contract with the Twins to avoid arbitration. The deal ensures that Mauer will remain in Minnesota long enough to play in the Twins' Target Field in 2010.^[20]

On July 21, 2007, Mauer hit his first career inside-the-park home run against Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim pitcher Scot Shields. It was his fifth home run of the season, and there were two players on base when he hit the homer. It was the first inside-the-park home run by a catcher since Kelly Stinnett did it for the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2005. ^[21]

On July 6, 2008, Mauer was announced as the starting catcher for the American League in the 2008 Major League Baseball All-Star Game. ^[22]

At the end of the 2008 season, Mauer won the AL batting title with a .328 batting average; it was his second in three years. Mauer underwent surgery to eliminate the problem of kidney obstruction on December 22.

Mauer won his first Gold Glove award in 2008, announced on November 6, 2008^[23]

Mauer finished fourth in the balloting for AL MVP, behind Dustin Pedroia, Justin Morneau, and Kevin Youkilis.^[24]

On March 11, 2009, Mauer was diagnosed with inflammation in the sacroiliac joint -- where the base of the spine meets the top of the pelvis by team doctors following a magnetic resonance arthrogram. He was unable to take part in team workouts during spring training due to the pain in his lower back, which he first began experiencing late in the 2008 season.^[25] Mauer missed the start of the 2009 regular season and returned on May 1. He went 2 for 3 with an RBI and 3 R in his first game back, hitting a home run on his first swing of the season.^[26]

In May 2009, Mauer hit 11 home runs and drove in 32 RBI becoming the first ever Twins player to reach that mark in a single month (In 1960 Harmon Killebrew drove in 32 runs for the Washington Senators, before the team moved to Minnesota). During the week of May 18-24, Mauer led the major leagues in batting average at .458 (11-24), RBI with 13, and runs scored with 12, also hitting 4 HR and accumulating 25 total bases. On May 26, he was named American League Player of the Week by Major League Baseball for his performance.^[27] Through the month of May, Mauer lead the major leagues in AVG at .414, OBP at .500, and SLG at .838, in addition to his HR and RBI totals, earning him his second Player of the Month Award honors.^[28]

Mauer also appeared on the cover of Sports Illustrated for a second time on June 24, 2009. An additional 25,000 copies of the magazine were sent to Minnesota for the occasion. He was selected to the 2009 MLB All Star Game as the starting catcher and participated in the Home Run Derby, losing a tiebreaker to Albert Pujols in the first round.

Later in 2009, the Twins trailed the Detroit Tigers by seven games in the American League Central Division at the start of September, but rallied, winning 17 of their last 21 games to finish the season tied atop the division. On October 6, 2009, the Twins beat the Tigers 6-5 in 12 innings to secure the division title.^[29] In 2009 Mauer lead the American League in Batting Average (.365), On Base Percentage (.444), and Slugging Percentage (.587), and OBPS (On base plus Slugging at 1.031)^[30] Mauer became the first catcher to lead the league in all four offensive categories in a single season, and the first catcher to win three batting titles.^[31]

As for Mauer's place in history, with his third batting title, he has now won as many batting championships in a span of 4 years (2006-2009) as all Major League catchers in the history of baseball combined. Two National League catchers have won a total of three batting titles: Eugene "Bubbles" Hargrave in 1926, and Hall Of Famer Ernie Lombardi in 1938 and 1942.^[32]

[edit] Other work

Mauer modeled for Perry Ellis in the 2004-05 off-season, and is featured in television commercials for Pepsi, ESPN, Fox Sports Net, and my29.

Mauer has also been noted to have been creating his own rap music in his spare time.^[33]

• Mauer's Quickswing Camp is held annually in the winter at a St. Paul area college. The camp teaches youth the basics of batting skills.

[edit] Personal life

Mauer used to share a house with good friend and Twins teammate Justin Morneau in Saint Paul during the 2006 season. Mauer and Morneau no longer live together, as Morneau has married.^[34][35] Mauer is also recognized for the large sideburns that he's worn ever since joining the big leagues. On August 10, 2006, the Minnesota Twins held "Joe Mauer Sideburns Night" in honor of the All-Star catcher. The first 10,000 fans were given synthetic replica sideburns with double-sided tape to share in Mauer's trademark look. ^[36]

[edit] Relatives

• In the 2001 draft, the Twins also selected Joe's older brother Jake as the 677th overall pick in the 23rd round. Jake played at the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul. Some observers concluded that this was an attempt to induce Joe to sign a contract, but Mike Radcliff, the scouting director of the Twins, denied this.^[37] Jake Mauer ended his playing career after the 2005 season but manages the Gulf Coast League Twins (Rookie Level).
• The Mauers have a third brother, Billy, who signed with the Twins as an undrafted free agent in 2003, and pitched in the organization for three seasons before chronic shoulder problems forced him to retire from the game. He ended his minor league career with a 3-4 record and 3.66 earned run average in 43 games.
• His uncle, Ken Mauer, is a referee in the NBA.^[38]

[edit] References

[edit] External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Joe Mauer

• Career statistics and player information from MLB, or ESPN, or Baseball-Reference, or Fangraphs, or The Baseball Cube
• A Swing of Beauty
• Right at Home - ESPN the Magazine, March 1, 2004
• Did Mauer make the right choice? (Minnesota Public Radio)
• Joe Mauer: Too good to be true? (Minnesota Public Radio)

Awards and achievements
Preceded by Adrian Gonzalez	First overall pick in the MLB Entry Draft 2001	Succeeded by Bryan Bullington
Preceded by Miguel Olivo	Topps Rookie All-Star Catcher 2004	Succeeded by Brian McCann
Preceded by Alex Rodriguez Evan Longoria	American League Player of the Month June, 2006 May, 2009	Succeeded by David Ortiz B. J. Upton
Preceded by Michael Young Magglio Ordóñez	American League Batting Champion 2006 2008,2009	Succeeded by Magglio Ordóñez Incumbent

v • d • e USA Today Offensive High School Player of the Year 1982: J. Paye | 1983: R. Knight | 1984: H. Dykes | 1985: J. George | 1986: E. Smith | 1987: T. Marinovich | 1988: T. Kirby | 1989: A. Hastings | 1990: M. Smith | 1991: S. Davis | 1992: R. Powlus | 1993: J. Booty | 1994: D. Kendra | 1995: T. Couch | 1996: T. Minor | 1997: R. Curry | 1998: C. Simms | 1999: B. Berlin | 2000: J. Mauer | 2001: M. Clarett | 2002: C. Leak | 2003: B. Brohm | 2004: R. Perrilloux | 2005: M. Mustain | 2006: J. Clausen | 2007: T. Pryor | 2008: G. Gilbert

v • d • e Major League Baseball number one overall draft picks Rick Monday (1965) • Steve Chilcott (1966) • Ron Blomberg (1967) • Tim Foli (1968) • Jeff Burroughs (1969) • Mike Ivie (1970) • Danny Goodwin (1971) • Dave Roberts (1972) • David Clyde (1973) • Bill Almon (1974) • Danny Goodwin (1975) • Floyd Bannister (1976) • Harold Baines (1977) • Bob Horner (1978) • Al Chambers (1979) • Darryl Strawberry (1980) • Mike Moore (1981) • Shawon Dunston (1982) • Tim Belcher (1983) • Shawn Abner (1984) • B. J. Surhoff (1985) • Jeff King (1986) • Ken Griffey, Jr. (1987) • Andy Benes (1988) • Ben McDonald (1989) • Chipper Jones (1990) • Brien Taylor (1991) • Phil Nevin (1992) • Alex Rodriguez (1993) • Paul Wilson (1994) • Darin Erstad (1995) • Kris Benson (1996) • Matt Anderson (1997) • Pat Burrell (1998) • Josh Hamilton (1999) • Adrian Gonzalez (2000) • Joe Mauer (2001) • Bryan Bullington (2002) • Delmon Young (2003) • Matt Bush (2004) • Justin Upton (2005) • Luke Hochevar (2006) • David Price (2007) • Tim Beckham (2008) • Stephen Strasburg (2009)

v • d • e American League Catcher Gold Glove Award 1958: Lollar | 1959: Lollar | 1960: Battey | 1961: Battey | 1962: Battey | 1963: Howard | 1964: Howard | 1965: Freehan | 1966: Freehan | 1967: Freehan | 1968: Freehan | 1969: Freehan | 1970: Fosse | 1971: Fosse | 1972: Fisk | 1973: Munson | 1974: Munson | 1975: Munson | 1976: Sundberg | 1977: Sundberg | 1978: Sundberg | 1979: Sundberg | 1980: Sundberg | 1981: Sundberg | 1982: Boone | 1983: Parrish | 1984: Parrish | 1985: Parrish | 1986: Boone | 1987: Boone | 1988: Boone | 1989: Boone | 1990: Alomar, Jr. | 1991: Peña | 1992: Rodríguez | 1993: Rodríguez | 1994: Rodríguez | 1995: Rodríguez | 1996: Rodríguez | 1997: Rodríguez | 1998: Rodríguez | 1999: Rodríguez | 2000: Rodríguez | 2001: Rodríguez | 2002: Molina | 2003: Molina | 2004: Rodríguez | 2005: Varitek | 2006: Rodríguez | 2007: Rodríguez | 2008: Mauer

v • d • e American League Catcher Silver Slugger Award 1980: Parrish | 1981: Fisk | 1982: Parrish | 1983: Parrish | 1984: Parrish | 1985: Fisk | 1986: Parrish | 1987: Nokes | 1988: Fisk | 1989: Tettleton | 1990: Parrish | 1991: Tettleton | 1992: Tettleton | 1993: Stanley | 1994: Rodríguez | 1995: Rodríguez | 1996: Rodríguez | 1997: Rodríguez | 1998: Rodríguez | 1999: Rodríguez | 2000: Posada | 2001: Posada | 2002: Posada | 2003: Posada | 2004: Rodríguez, Martínez | 2005: Varitek | 2006: Mauer | 2007: Posada | 2008: Mauer

v • d • e Minnesota Twins current roster 40-man roster 1 Trevor Plouffe | 2 Denard Span | 5 Michael Cuddyer | 7 Joe Mauer | 8 Nick Punto | 11 Jason Pridie | 15 Glen Perkins | 16 Jason Kubel | 19 Justin Huber | 20 Matt Tolbert | 21 Delmon Young | 23 Brendan Harris | 25 Alexi Casilla | 28 Jesse Crain | 30 Scott Baker | 33 Justin Morneau | 36 Joe Nathan | 44 Bob Keppel | 47 Francisco Liriano | 49 Jeff Manship | 50 José Mijares | 51 Anthony Swarzak | 52 Brian Duensing | 53 Nick Blackburn | 54 Matt Guerrier | 57 Luke Hughes | 58 José Morales | 60 Jon Rauch | 71 Drew Butera | 74 Deibinson Romero | 76 Wilson Ramos | 77 Steven Tolleson | -- J. J. Hardy Inactive roster Disabled list 17 Pat Neshek | 26 Boof Bonser | 59 Kevin Slowey Coaching Staff Manager 35 Ron Gardenhire | Bench Coach 9 Steve Liddle | 1st Base Coach 13 Jerry White | 3rd Base Coach 45 Scott Ullger | Hitting Coach 46 Joe Vavra | Pitching Coach 40 Rick Anderson | Bullpen Coach 43 Rick Stelmaszek | Coach 75 Nate Dammann

Persondata
NAME	Mauer, Joe
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Joey
SHORT DESCRIPTION	Baseball player
DATE OF BIRTH	April 19, 1983
PLACE OF BIRTH	Saint Paul, Minnesota
DATE OF DEATH
PLACE OF DEATH