All played on the same St. Paul playgrounds
Joe Mauer this summer joins the short list of athletes we have covered their entire career who later made the Hall of Fame in their particular sport: Lindsay Whalen, Seimone Augustus and Maya Moore. The latter two are going into the Women College Basketball Hall of Fame this April.
Mauer received 293 votes from Baseball Writers Association of America (BBWAA) members, four more than the 75 percent threshold (289) required for election in his first time on the Baseball Hall of Fame ballot. He played his entire 15-year career with Minnesota (2004-2018).
He also becomes the fourth HOF from St. Paul. He, Dave Winfield, Paul Monitor and Jack Morris all played on the same city playgrounds such as Jimmy Lee and Oxford, and all grew up within two miles of each other.
“We all played down at Oxford Playground and Jimmy Lee Rec Center,” recalled Mauer during the January 23 Zoom media call, which included the MSR, the day he received word that he was voted into the Hall. “We all grew up in that city block. It is amazing.”
Following is Mauer’s impressive resume: 2009 American League MVP, six-time All-Star, five-time Silver Slugger Award winner, three Gold Glove honors and three AL batting titles, the only catcher in AL history to have done so. He ranks first on the Twins all-time list in doubles and times on base, and is second in games, hits and walks.
Making the Hall was virtually expected after his retirement, but going in on his first time eligible is historic given the often fickle voters, all of whom are baseball writers. Winfield and Kirby Puckett both were first-ballot electees in 2000, and Rod Carew also was elected in 1991 in his first time on the ballot.
Only Mobile, Alabama (five), New York (33), and Illinois (12) have more Baseball Hall of Famers than Saint Paul. Legendary St. Paul Youth Coach Bill Peterson saw the potential of the four St. Paul HOFs but always wants it to be known that he never coached them.
“I just don’t like it when it says that I coached them, because I really didn’t,” Peterson, who’s over 80 years old and still active with local youth baseball, told the MSR. He has a baseball field named for him and has worked with youth since the 1960s, beginning with coaching an all-Black hockey team in St. Paul.
Mauer going into the Hall of Fame this summer didn’t surprise Peterson. “We thought around here that he had everything that he should have to go in,” he said of Mauer.
Peterson added that Winfield virtually set the example for others like Monitor and Morris, and eventually Mauer to follow. “The impact that David had on them because they [Monitor and Morris] were in eighth and ninth grade, and David was a senior. They saw all the things that he did.”
The newest Hall of Famer told me that he owes his newest position to his parents, grandparents, and people like Peterson and others who helped him along the way.
“I’ve been blessed to have great coaches and mentors. I owe a lot to that,” Mauer said. “St. Paul’s a close-knit community, and I definitely learned from each of them and watched them play,” said Mauer of Winfield, Monitor and Morris.
Mauer’s Baseball Hall of Fame induction is set for Sunday, July 21, in Cooperstown, NY.
Support Black local news
Help amplify Black voices by donating to the MSR. Your contribution enables critical coverage of issues affecting the community and empowers authentic storytelling.