HEIGHT: 6'5"
WEIGHT: 215 lbs
BATS: Left
THROWS: Right
BORN: 04/19/83
MLB Debut: 04/05/2004
HOMETOWN: St. Paul, MN
RESIDES: Fort Myers, FL
HOW OBTAINED: No. 1 overall pick in the 2001 draft.
On March 21, 2010, Mauer agreed to an eight-year contract extension with the Twins worth $184 million, which will take effect from the 2011 season to the 2018 season. It is the richest contract in the history of major league baseball for a catcher.
Joe hit his 1,000th career Major League hit on 9/14/10 against the Chicago White Sox at U.S. Cellular Field.
Mauer finished third in the AL with a .327 batting average, and his 43 doubles rank second on baseball's All-Time list for doubles by a catcher (behind Ivan Rodriguez's 47 with Texas in 1996).
For the second straight year, Mauer was named the Twins' Most Valuable Player, as he was voted the Calvin R. Griffith Award.
Mauer made his fourth trip to the All-Star game. He was the leading vote-getter in Major League Baseball with 5,372,606 votes. It's the third highest vote total of all-time, trailing only the 6,079,688 cast for Ken Griffey Jr. in '94 and the 5,397,374 Albert Pujols received for last year's Midsummer Classic in St. Louis.Mauer will be making his fourth trip to the Midsummer Classic in six full Major League seasons and this year he does so as the leading vote-getter in Major League Baseball with 5,372,606 votes. It's the third highest vote total of all-time, trailing only the 6,079,688 cast for Ken Griffey Jr. in '94 and the 5,397,374 Albert Pujols received for last year's Midsummer Classic in St. Louis
Mauer won his 3rd consecutive Gold Glove and his fourth Silver Slugger in 2010.
In 2009, he became the first catcher to lead the league in batting average, on base percentage, and slugging percentage in a single year, and the first player to lead the American League in all three since George Brett did so in 1980. Mauer's .365 average, which is the all-time highest mark among catchers in MLB history, led Major League Baseball. Mauer also won his second consecutive Gold Glove in 2009. Mauer was named the American League's 2009 MVP by a near-unanimous decision (27 out of 28 first place votes). On March 11, Mauer was diagnosed with inflammation in the sacroiliac joint 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. Mauer missed the start of the 2009 regular season and returned on May 1. He went 2 for 3 with an RBI and three runs scored in his first game back, hitting a home run on his first swing of the season. He returned May 1, and had the best month of his career. Mauer hit 11 home runs and drove in 32 RBI becoming the first-ever Twins player to reach that mark in a single month. 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 MLB Player of the Week for his performance. 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. Mauer appeared on the cover of Sports Illustrated for a second time on June 24. 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.
Had 11-game hit-streak, going 16-for-43 (.372), April 15-29...hit first home run of season, June 2 vs. New York (AL)...hit second home run, June 4 vs. Baltimore...was 11-for-20 (.550) in six games, May 2-9...hit safely in nine of 10 games, May 11-21...was 10-for-21 (.476) with two home runs in six games, May 31-June 6...fourth three-hit game on June 6 at Chicago (AL)...three straight two-hit games June 17-19...eight-game hit-streak from June 29-July 9, hitting .397 (11-for-29)...finished the first-half third in the AL in batting (.322), behind Ian Kinsler (.337) and Justin Morneau (.323)...became the first Twins catcher to start an All-Star Game, July 15 at New York (AL), going 1-for-1 with a walk...career-high 16 game hitting-streak from August 4-24, hitting .349 (22-for-63) with one home run, 10 rbi and 13 runs scored...second career five-hit game tying his career-high on August 29 at Oakland, season-high four rbi...had a 12-game hitting streak, going 18-for-47 (.383), September 10-23...11th three-hit game of the season, September 25 vs. Chicago (AL)...recorded 11 multi-hit games in September...his .362 batting average with runners in scoring position ranked seventh in the American League...recorded his fourth triple of the season, matching his career-high...was one of just four catchers to log 1,200-or-more innings behind the plate and ranked second in the league by throwing out 36% of potential basestealers...finished the season four points ahead of Dustin Pedroia (Boston) to win his second batting title in three years (2006)...it was the 13th American League batting title by a Minnesota Twin in the 48 year existence of the team, and he joined Tony Oliva and Rod Carew as the only Twins who won multiple titles...joined Buddy Myer (Washington, 1935) and Joe Cronin (Washington, 1931) as the only players in franchise history to hit over .300, score over 95 runs, record 30-or-more doubles, drive in 80-or-more runs and walk 80-or-more times in a single season...was given the Dick Seibert Award for Upper Midwest Player of the Year and the Carl R. Pohlad Community Service Award by the Twin Cities Baseball Writers Association...won first ever Rawlings Gold Gold Glove Award becoming the second Twins catcher to win the award (Earl Battey in 1961 & '62)...first American League player to win the Batting Title and Gold Glove in the same season since Ichiro Suzuki in 2004...won Louisville Slugger Silver Slugger Award.
2007 CAREER HIGHLIGHTS:
Hit safely in eight of nine games, going 12-for-33 (.364), April 2-12...was 15-for-32 (.469) in nine games, April 14-24...tied career-high with three doubles, April 17 at Seattle...disabled with strained left quadriceps, May 6-June 8...began rehab assignment at Single-A Ft. Myers, June 6...hit safely in eight consecutive games, going 11-for-35 (.314), June 19-27...second career two-homer game, June 24 at Florida...hit first career grand slam, June 29 at Detroit...was 9-for-23 (.391) in five games, July 4-8...went 4-for-6 and tied career-high with five rbi, July 6 at Chicago (AL)...recorded Twins first inside-the-park home run since Torii Hunter (July 26, 2001), July 21 vs. Los Angeles (AL)...season-high 10-game hit-streak, going 15-for-40 (.375), July 14-24...had game-winning walk-off single in 9th inning, July 15 vs. Oakland...was 9-for-17 (.529) in four games, August 11-14...threw out 19 of 40 (48%) runners attempting to steal to up career totals to 58 of 127 (46%).
2006 CAREER HIGHLIGHTS:
Was 9-23 (.391) in 6 games, April 5-12 . . . hit safely in 6 consecutive games, going 10-22 (.455), April 21-29 . . . had 7-game hit-streak, going 10-29 (.345), May 9-17 . . . career-high 11-game hit-streak, going 24-47 (.511), May 19-June 1 . . . fifth career 4-hit game, May 20 at Milwaukee . . . hit safely in 9 consecutive games, going 19-37 (.514), June 3-13 . . . named American League Player of the Week, June 5-11 . . . sixth career 4-hit game, June 6 at Seattle . . . seventh career 4-hit game (3rd of season) and career-high 5 rbi, June 26 vs. Dodgers . . . first career 5-hit game, June 27 vs. Dodgers . . . named American League Player of the Month for July ... selected to first career All-Star team, July 11 at Pittsburgh . . . was 11-23 (.478) in 6 games, July 16-21 . . . had 9-game hit-streak, going 13-34 (.382) with 2 homers and 8 rbi, July 31-August 9 . . . went 3-4 with 2 doubles and 4 rbi August 24 at Baltimore . . . recorded his 15th game with 3-or-more hits on September 8 vs. Detroit, he went 3-4 with 3 runs scored ... homered with 2 out in the 9th inning to tie Kansas City at 1-1, September 28, the Twins won 2-1 in 10 innings ... finished the season hitting .347 and won the American League batting title . . . Mauer is the first AL catcher to win the batting title, and at 23, the youngest batting champ since Alex Rodriguez (21) in 1996 . . . the last catcher to win the title was Ernie Lombardi in 1942 with the Boston Braves.
2005 CAREER HIGHLIGHTS:
Hit safely in 8 of 9 games, going 11-36 (.306), April 4-16 . . . hit safely in 5 consecutive games with an at-bat, going 7-18 (.389), April 18-25 . . . had 6-game hit-streak, going 13-25 (.520), April 29-May 8 . . . second career 4-hit game, May 6 at Tampa Bay . . . homered in consecutive games, May 6-8 . . . had 9-game hit-streak, going 10-37 (.270), May 11-24 . . . hit safely in 6 of 7 games, going 10-28 (.357), June 8-16 . . . was 19-46 (.413) in 11 games, July 2-19 . . . third career 4-hit game, August 10 at Seattle . . . had 8-game hit-streak, going 13-31 (.419), August 13-21 . . . was 9-21 (.429) in 5 games, August 27-31 . . . fourth career 4-hit game, September 12 at Detroit . . . tied career-high 9-game hit-streak, going 14-34 (.412), September 9-20 . . . threw out 17 of 48 (22%) runners attempting to steal to up career totals to 22 of 64 (34%) . . . had .993 (6 E, 742 TC) fielding percentage . . . led club in batting and walks, tied for lead in intentional walks, was second in hits and multi-hit games (41), tied for second in stolen bases and was third in doubles . . . was tied for fourth in league in intentional walks (12) and sixth in batting vs. righthanders (.323).
Made major leage debut and singled off Rafael Betancourt for first big league hit, April 5 vs. Cleveland . . . disabled with medial meniscus tear in left knee, April 7-June 2 . . . had surgery to remove meniscus in left knee, April 8 . . . began rehab assignments at Ft. Myers and Rochester, May 26 . . . hit first major league homer off Esteban Yan, June 6 vs. Detroit . . . was 8-17 (.471) in 6 games, June 9-15 . . . career-high 6-game hit-streak, going 12-22 (.545), June 29-July 5 . . . first career 2-homer game, June 30 vs. Chicago . . . first career 4- hit game, July 7 vs. Kansas City . . . disabled for remainder of season with sore left knee, July 19 . . . won Bill Boni Award as Twins' Outstanding Rookie.
Began season at Ft. Myers ... was 12-26 (.462) in 7 games, April 18-24 ... hit safely in 9 of 11 games, going 18- 46 (.391), May 3-14 ... tied season-high 4 hits, May 14 at St. Lucie ... season-high 19-game hit-streak, going 30-73 (.411), May 18-June 6 ... Twins' Minor League Player of the Week, May 24-30 ... played in Florida State League All-Star Game, June 14 at Ft. Myers ... batted .392 (31-79) with runners in scoring position ... was 4-10 (.400) with the bases loaded ... promoted to New Britain, June 16 ... had 11-game hit-streak, going 16-40 (.400), June 22-July 5 ... was 33-77 (.429) in 17 games, July 8-27 ... played for United States Team in Futures Game, July 13 at Chicago ... Twins' Minor League Player of the Month for July ... named Topps' Eastern League Player of the Month for July ... hit safely in 8 of 9 games, going 13-33 (.394), August 1-9 ... tied season-high 5 rbi, August 3 at Bowie ... had 9-game hit-streak, going 14-30 (.467), August 16-22 ... was 3-8 (.375) with the bases loaded ... threw out 36 of 69 (52%) runners attempting to steal on season ... led both Florida State League and Eastern League in throwing out runners attempting to steal ... led Twins' minor leaguers in hits, was second in rbi and fourth in walks ... was fifth among all minor leaguers in hits and was 11th in batting (.338) ... led all minor league catchers in batting ... selected to Florida State League Post-Season All-Star Team ... ranked Best Hitting prospect and Best Defensive Catcher in Florida State League by Baseball America ... named to Baseball America's Minor League All-Star Team and All-Defensive Team ... ranked Best Prospect in Eastern League and Florida State League... named Teenager of the Year by Sportsticker ... named Minor League Player of the Year by Baseball America and Sportsticker ... won Sherry Robertson Award as Twins' Minor League Player of the Year ... played for Team USA in Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Panama.
Hit safely in 9 of 10 games, 14-37 (.378), April 13-24...homered in consecutive games, April 14-15...was 12-26 (.462) in 6 games, April 30-May 5...season-high 9-game hit-streak, going 12-28 (.429), May 10-19...season-high 4 RBI, May 19 vs. Burlington...was 13-21 (.619) in 6 games, June 5-10...hit safely in 11 of 12 games, June 15-July 3...was selected to Midwest League All-Star team, June 18 at Lansing...hit safely in 9 of 10 games, going 15-37 (.405), July 11-23...tied season-high 3 hits, Aug. 24 at Clinton...disabled for remainder of season after surgery to repair hernia, Aug. 30...had surgery to repair hernia, Aug. 30...led club in walks, was second in batting, hits, and RBI, tied for second in doubles and fourth in at-bats and runs...threw out 45 of 108 (42%) runners attempting to steal...selected to Sportsticker's Midwest League All-Teen Team and league Post-Season All-Star team...rated top Minor League catching prospect, second best arm strength, third best receiving skills and best defensive catcher in Midwest League and selected to Low Class-A All-Star team by Baseball America.
2001 CAREER HIGHLIGHTS:
Hit safely in 7 of 8 games, going 13-29 (.448), July 23-Aug. 4...was 11-13 (.846) in 3 games, Aug. 22-23...tied season-high 4 hits, Aug. 23 at Martinsville...Twins' Minor League Player of the Week, going 14-29 (.483), Aug. 26-Sept. 1...Twins' Minor League Player of the Month for August, going 44-107 (.411)...hit safely in 22 of 32 games...threw out 10 of 31 (32%) runners attempting to steal on season...rated top prospect in Appalachian League and top Minor League catching prospect by Baseball America.
