Joseph Patrick Mauer
Positions: Catcher and First Baseman
Bats: Left, Throws: Right
Height: 6' 5", Weight: 230 lb.
Bats: Left, Throws: Right
Height: 6' 5", Weight: 230 lb.
Born: April 19, 1983 in St. Paul, MN (Age 29)
High Schools: Cretin-Derham Hall HS (St. Paul, MN)
Drafted by the Minnesota Twins in the 1st round (1st pick) of the 2001 amateur draft.
Signed July 17, 2001. (All Transactions)
Debut: April 5, 2004 (Age 20)
Team: Twins 2004-2013
2013 Contract Status: Signed thru 2018, 8 yrs/$184M (11-18)
Service Time (01/2013): 9.000, Free Agent: 2019 , Agents: Ron Shapiro
High Schools: Cretin-Derham Hall HS (St. Paul, MN)
Drafted by the Minnesota Twins in the 1st round (1st pick) of the 2001 amateur draft.
Signed July 17, 2001. (All Transactions)
Debut: April 5, 2004 (Age 20)
Team: Twins 2004-2013
2013 Contract Status: Signed thru 2018, 8 yrs/$184M (11-18)
Service Time (01/2013): 9.000, Free Agent: 2019 , Agents: Ron Shapiro
High-school career
Joe Mauer played football, basketball, and baseball for Saint Paul's Cretin-Derham Hall Raiders, the high school of Paul Molitor,[3] a member of the Baseball Hall of Fame.[4] 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).[5]
In December 2009, Sports Illustrated magazine included Mauer in its article on ten "signature" moments in U.S. high-school sports in the 2000–2009 decade, referring to his selection by the Minnesota Twins as the first pick in the 2001 amateur draft.[6]
Baseball
Mauer attended the same high school as Baseball Hall of Famer and former Milwaukee Brewer Paul Molitor.[7] Molitor has said that Mauer "has the best swing he had ever seen".[8] Jim O'Neill, Mauer's baseball coach at Cretin-Derham Hall, said his former student "has been groomed for this job since he was a little boy. Mauer's dad, Jake, created a contraption for Joe he later named the 'Quickswing'. The device dropped balls down a tube from eye level and released them at waist level." Mauer had been asked to leave his T-ball league at the age of four, because he was hitting the ball too hard for the other players.[9] "Another guy that came from Cretin-Derham Hall, Paul Molitor, was very similar, [and] had a good short swing," O'Neill said. "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."[10]
A stand-out in baseball, Mauer struck out only once during his four-year high school career, and hit .605 during his senior season.[8][11] Years later, Mauer laughingly told an interviewer: "I can remember the time I did strike out. It was junior year, and it was in the state tournament. I came back to the bench and everybody thought something was wrong with me."[9] Mauer's high school batting average exceeded .500 every year.[10] 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.
Basketball
Mauer averaged more than 20 points a game as a point guard for Cretin-Derham Hall.[10] He was also named to the All-State team during his final two years on Cretin-Derham's basketball team.[12]
Football
Mauer had an extremely accomplished high school football career. In 2000, he appeared in the Faces in the Crowd section in Sports Illustrated. During his senior season as the Raiders' quarterback, Mauer completed 178 of 269 passes (69% completion percentage), for 3,022 yards, 41 touchdowns and 5interceptions.[13] He finished his two-year career as a starter with 5,528 yards and 73 touchdowns,[8] leading the Raiders to two consecutive Class 5A State Championship Game appearances and winning the title in 1999, the Raiders' first of all time.
Mauer was honored as the 2001 Gatorade National Player of the Year, 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.[12]
Professional career
Mauer ultimately turned down a football scholarship from Florida State University to enter the Major League Baseball Draft.[12] Mauer was selected by the Twins as the first overall pick of the 2001 draft, ahead of college pitcher Mark Prior, who was taken second overall by the Chicago Cubs.[14] Mauer was part of the United States' roster at the 2003 All-Star Futures Game at U.S. 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 affiliateRochester 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.
Other work
Mauer modeled for Perry Ellis in the 2004–05 off-season, and is featured in television commercials for Head & Shoulders, Pepsi, ESPN, Fox Sports Net, PlayStation 3, Gatorade and my29.[60]
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. Mauer taped an episode of Homecoming with Rick Reilly for ESPN on January 27, 2010 at Cretin-Derham Hall High School, his alma mater, in St. Paul, Minnesota. The episode aired on April 12, 2010.
Mauer appeared in a TV commercial for Explore Minnesota, the state tourism agency, in March 2011.[61]
Video games
Mauer was the cover athlete for Sony Computer Entertainment's MLB 10: The Show and MLB 11: The Show gamefor the PlayStation platform.[62]
The game's tagline, "Well played, Mauer", used by actor Jerry Lambert (playing the role of fictional vice presidentKevin Butler) in television commercials promoting the game (in the ad, Mauer and Butler were playing MLB 11 and Mauer hits a home run to deep right field), was mimicked by Twins announcer Dick Bremer during a game versus the visiting Kansas City Royals on June 10, 2010. Royals outfielder Mitch Maier fouled back a pitch from Twins pitcher Brian Duensing. The ball traveled over the protective net behind the home plate area. Mauer tracked the ball, reached around the screen, and caught it, leading Bremer to exclaim, "Did he catch that? Oh, well played, Mauer!" The catch is featured in MLB 11: The Show's "Joe Mauer" introductory vignette.[63]
Mauer appeared as a playable pro in Backyard Baseball 2009.[64]
Personal life
Mauer shared a house with friend and Twins teammate Justin Morneau in St. Paul during the 2006 season. Mauer and Morneau no longer live together, as Morneau has married.[65][66]
Mauer is also recognized for the large sideburns that he has worn ever since joining the big leagues. On August 10, 2006, the Minnesota Twins held "Joe Mauer Sideburns Night" in honor of the catcher. The first 10,000 fans were given synthetic replica sideburns with double-sided tape to share in Mauer's trademark look.[67]
On December 11, 2011, Mauer announced his engagement to St. Paul nurse Maddie Bisanz, his girlfriend of about 18 months and a fellow graduate of Cretin-Derham Hall High School. The couple was married on December 1, 2012 at Nativity of Our Lord Catholic Church in St. Paul, MN. Morneau was a groomsman.[68][69][70] On February 27, 2013, Mauer announced that they are expecting fraternal twins in August.[71][72][73]
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. Thomasin 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.[74] Jake Mauer ended his playing career after the 2005 season but went on to manage the Gulf Coast League Twins (Rookie Level). After winning the GCL South with the Twins in 2009, Jake moved up to the High-A Fort Myers Miracle and managed the team for two seasons. Following the Twins' agreement to add the Cedar Rapids Kernels as the team's Low-A affiliate in November 2012, Mauer was named the team's manager.[75]
- Mauer's other brother, Billy, 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. Billy now owns Mauer Chevrolet, an auto dealership in the Twin Cities suburb of Inver Grove Heights.[76]
- Joe’s cousin, Ken Mauer, is a referee in the NBA.
Sources:
- "Joe Mauer." Wikipedia. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Apr. 2013. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_Mauer>
- "Joe Mauer Statistics and History."Baseball-Reference.com - Major League Baseball Statistics and History. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Apr. 2013. <http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/m/mauerjo01.shtm
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