The Accidental Hall of Famer
Joe Mauer was elected to Cooperstown this week. He could have been headed to Canton instead.
Former Minnesota Twins catcher Joe Mauer was sitting in his living room when he got the call. He wore only his socks. “Can I speak with Joe Mauer, please?” said the voice on the other line.
“This is,” said Mauer.
The man on the other line said, “This is Jack O’Connell with the Baseball Writer’s Association. The last time I spoke with you was to notify you of your American League MVP, and I have a much bigger message for you today: the Baseball Writers have elected you to the Hall of Fame.”
Mauer buried his face in his hand. “That’s unbelievable,” he replied. “I don’t even know what to say.”
It was the pinnacle of his 15-year career, a six-time All-Star. But if things had gone differently, this day might have been very different. Another Hall of Fame just might have been the one making the call.
When he was a high school senior, had you asked Mauer to imagine that very moment, he probably would have told you that he figured the call would be from the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton. Mauer, by all accounts, was one of those kids who could excel at just about any sport he tried. It was in his blood: his mom starred in three sports in high school, and both of his older brothers played professional baseball. Mauer starred at baseball too, of course, but also averaged 20-points per game in basketball. In the fall, he starred on St. Paul’s Cretin-Derham Hall’s football team at quarterback.
Cretin-Derham was not just a Minnesota football powerhouse; more specifically, at the time, they were a quarterback factory, the home of NFL QB Steve Walsh and 2000 Heisman winner Chris Weinke. “Saying that [Mauer] was better than both of those guys is a pretty bold statement,” coach Mike Scanlan told Fox Sports in 2015. “But I saw all three play. As good as Weinke and Walsh turned out to be, I don’t know that they were as good in high school as Joe Mauer was.”
Mauer didn’t have the typical two-a-day high school football experience, though. “I’m telling you right now,” said Mauer’s old friend Tony Leseman, “He didn’t pick up a football until mid-August.” He traveled with Team USA’s youth baseball team most of the summer, and after baseball practice, he would grab someone to stand in the outfield and run routes for an extra 15 minutes. In his senior year, he tossed the ball for more than 2,800 yards and 41 touchdowns. In one game, he threw seven touchdown passes.
Mauer was good enough to earn a dizzying distinction: he was the top-rated overall recruit in the country in 2001, a class that included Matt Leinart, Larry Fitzgerald, and Marcus Spears. Mauer had offers from everywhere in the country and took official visits to hometown Minnesota as well as Miami, Arizona, and Florida State. While visiting Tallahassee and the Seminoles, Mauer sat down with legendary Florida State coach, Bobby Bowden. In the coach’s office, and Bowden told Mauer, “I want to come up to Minnesota and watch you play. But I don’t want to come up there in that cold just to get a no.”
Mauer gave him a yes instead, committing to Florida State. “He could have been a pro,” Bowden said years later, “an excellent pro. And he would’ve led us to a lot of victories.” Mauer started looking at what classes he might take freshman year. And then something unexpected happened that summer.
The Minnesota Twins held the first overall pick in the MLB Draft, a year loaded with talent like first baseman Mark Teixeira and pitcher Mark Prior, who at USC struck out 202 batters, walked only 18, and dealt two no-hitters over the course of a season. Everyone assumed the Twins would pick Prior. Instead, they took Mauer. It was a perfect story—the hometown hero—and the catcher couldn’t say no.
Bowden wrote Mauer a letter congratulating him. He had another agenda too: the coach added that, if anything changed, he’d be saving a scholarship for Mauer—just in case.
It’s safe to say things worked out just fine.
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