Minnesota Twins' Joe Mauer Voted Into Baseball Hall of Fame in 1st Year on Ballot

Five years removed from his final game with the Minnesota Twins, legendary catcher Joe Mauer earned enough votes to make the National Baseball Hall of Fame.

Former Minnesota Twins catcher Joe Mauer is on his way to Cooperstown.

Mauer received votes on 293 of the 385 ballots submitted by the Baseball Writers Association for the National Baseball Hall of Fame Class of 2024, which were revealed Tuesday night on MLB Network. That was good enough for 76.1%, exceeding the 75% required for induction.

This was Mauer's first year on the ballot.

The Twins selected Mauer with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2001 MLB Draft. He now joins Harold Baines, Ken Griffey Jr. and Chipper Jones as the fourth top pick to make it to Cooperstown since the draft began in 1965.

Mauer spent his entire career in Minnesota, making his big league debut in 2004 and remaining with the club until his retirement at the end of the 2018 campaign. Mauer hit .306 with an .827 OPS for his career, racking up 2,123 hits, 143 home runs, 428 doubles and 923 RBI.

Along the way, Mauer won three AL batting titles in 2006, 2008 and 2009. He won MVP in 2008 in addition to three Gold Gloves, five Silver Sluggers and six All-Star appearances.

Mauer's 55.2 career WAR is the ninth-highest by any catcher. The top 12 are all now in the Hall of Fame.

Joining Mauer in the Class of 2024 are third baseman Adrian Beltre and longtime Colorado Rockies first baseman Todd Helton. Outfielder Gary Sheffield fell just short of Cooperstown after 10 years on the ballot, meaning he will have to wait for the Contemporary Era Committee to decide his fate when they reconvene in December 2025.

One of Mauer's former Twins teammates, outfielder Torii Hunter, continued to hang around after his fourth year on the ballot. He received 7.3% of the vote.

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