Joe Mauer
From BR Bullpen
Joseph Patrick Mauer
- Bats Left, Throws Right
- Height 6' 5", Weight 220 lb.
- High School Cretin-Derham High School
- Debut April 5, 2004
- Born April 19, 1983 in St. Paul, MN USA
[edit] Biographical Information
Joe Mauer has made a name for himself as a top catcher in the majors at a young age. Mauer was 3 for 9 in the 1999 World Junior Championship, which the US won; he backed up Scott Heard at catcher; despite his backup role, he would go on to one of the brightest careers from the team (Carlos Quentin was the only other future All-Star). Mauer was drafted by the Minnesota Twins in the 1st round of the 2001 amateur draft. He was signed by scout Mark Wilson and made his pro debut that summer.
At age 21, in 2004, he was already hitting .308 in the majors (in 35 games), at age 22 he hit .294 as the regular catcher for the Minnesota Twins in 2005, and at age 23 spent most of the 2006 season sitting atop the American League list of batting leaders. He became the first catcher to win the batting title in the American League by compiling a .347 average to beat Derek Jeter by four points; Hall of Famer Ernie Lombardi had been a batting champion in the National League. In 2008, Mauer won a second title, although his .328 average was one of the lowest among batting title winners in recent years. On June 4, 2008, Mauer hit a two-run sacrifice fly, the first of its kind in the majors in over 7 years. In 2009, he won the title again; that year, he was also named the American League MVP after hitting .365/.444/.587 in 138 games. He hit 28 homers that year, more than twice his next best single-season total, of 13 in 2006. The Wall Street Journal ran an article in September of that year to the effect that Mauer and Jeter were the top candidates for the 2009 MVP award. Sabermetricians were said to feel that Mauer was clearly the top offensive player, but Jeter's team was in front and there was a lot of sentiment for Jeter to win his first MVP award. In the end, Mauer came out on top.
While Mauer's power went down to his more traditional level in 2010, when the Twins moved to the more pitcher friendly Target Field, he managed to keep his batting average quite high, at .327. However, he was bothered by a string of injuries early in 2011 and he did not hit his first homer of the year until July 27th, in his 46th game.
Mauer was also a top high school quarterback. He was selected the Player of the Year by USA Today in 2000 and was slated to play both football and baseball for Florida State University before turning pro. However, Mauer was the #1 overall pick in the 2001 amateur draft, prompting him to abandon plans to go to college. As a local Minnesota boy, he was considered to be a "signability pick" ahead of the more-heralded Mark Prior and Mark Teixeira, but hindsight has shown the Twins made a perfectly good choice. Throughout his minor league career Mauer was considered to be one of the best prospects in the minors and he was named the 2003 Minor League Player of the Year by Baseball America.
Mauer, despite being taller and much younger than most catchers, has been considered an elite defender from the time he reached the majors. There has always been concern, however, that the strain of catching full-time would affect him more than other players and that he would need to move to the outfield or first base at some point. His injuries early in the 2011 season only increased this talk.
The most similar player to Mauer, based on similarity scores, is Mickey Cochrane, although Cochrane never won a batting title. Two other Hall of Fame catchers, Bill Dickey and [Yogi Berra]], are among his top five similar players, although even Cochrane, with a 900 score in 2011, is not particularly good comparison.
He has two brothers, Jake and Bill, who played in the Twins minor league system.
[edit] Notable Achievements
- 2003 Baseball America Minor League Player of the Year, Fort Myers Miracle, Florida State League & New Britain Rock Cats, Eastern League
- 2004 Topps All-Star Rookie Team
- 4-time AL All-Star (2006 & 2008-2010)
- AL MVP (2009)
- 3-time AL Gold Glove Winner (2008-2010)
- 4-time AL Silver Slugger Award Winner (2006 & 2008-2010)
- 3-time AL Batting Average Leader (2006, 2008 & 2009)
- AL On-Base Percentage Leader (2009)
- AL Slugging Percentage Leader (2009)
- AL OPS Leader (2009)
- 20-Home Run Seasons: 1 (2009)
| AL MVP | ||
|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 2009 | 2010 |
| Dustin Pedroia | Joe Mauer | Josh Hamilton |
