Joe Mauer - Cooperstown - IN!

Ope3

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It feels like #7 should get his own thread, especially if the question mark can be removed by tomorrow. Originally I was going to be surprised if it happened 1st Ballot for Joe Mauer, but the media speculation has got it to the point that it will now be a let down if he falls short.

I think it happens. These are the 3 times a Right Handed Catcher won the AL Batting title.

Joe Mauer .347- 2006
Joe Mauer .328- 2008
Joe Mauer .365- 2009

That's it. That's the list.
 
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My opinion - he should be in, but won't make it in. Guy is criminally underappreciated even by his own fan base.
He's currently at 83% with half the ballots revealed. He's very likely to make it in tomorrow and pretty much a lock for next year if he somehow falls just short.
 


He's currently at 83% with half the ballots revealed. He's very likely to make it in tomorrow and pretty much a lock for next year if he somehow falls just short.
Im still mad at him for treating every count like he had 2 strikes
 

He's currently at 83% with half the ballots revealed. He's very likely to make it in tomorrow and pretty much a lock for next year if he somehow falls just short.
Well then I'm very happy to be wrong.
 

My opinion - he should be in, but won't make it in. Guy is criminally underappreciated even by his own fan base.
I'm one of those.

Gawd, what was that contract again.

Year, after year, after year, of this guy hitting 10 HR's with 60 RBI batting in the 3 hole.

Was never excited or expecting runs when he stepped in the box.
 

I'm one of those.

Gawd, what was that contract again.

Year, after year, after year, of this guy hitting 10 HR's with 60 RBI batting in the 3 hole.

Was never excited or expecting runs when he stepped in the box.
Nobody wants to talk about him putting up MVP numbers while making league minimum though. He more than earned that deal.
 



I'm one of those.

Gawd, what was that contract again.

Year, after year, after year, of this guy hitting 10 HR's with 60 RBI batting in the 3 hole.

Was never excited or expecting runs when he stepped in the box.
Nobody wants to talk about him putting up MVP numbers while making league minimum though. He more than earned that deal.
I'll talk about his salary the 3 years in won the AL Batting crown:

Joe Mauer .347- 2006 / $ 400,000
Joe Mauer .328- 2008 / $ 6,250,000
Joe Mauer .365- 2009 / $10,500,000
 

8 years/184 million

He might bleed one between first and second with a runner on.

It was just stealing from everyone.

I laugh at him being first ballot hall of fame!

Oh well

I won't post those 8 year stats.......they are beyond embarrassing
 

He'll make it. And good for him. First ballot HOFer is incredible.

It's crazy to me the backlash he still receives from quite a few MN fans. For a State that loves "one of us" more than any other, he's the epitome of one of us. I get the frustration of the lack of postseason success, obviously if the Ump hadn't f'd up his down the line extra bagger vs the Yanks we win that series and who know how history changes, but he deserves to be in Cooperstown and I'm excited for the announcement tomorrow night.

Win Twins!!
 

I'll talk about his salary the 3 years in won the AL Batting crown:

Joe Mauer .347- 2006 / $ 400,000
Joe Mauer .328- 2008 / $ 6,250,000
Joe Mauer .365- 2009 / $10,500,000
For the folks still upset at his salary:

Joey Gallo .177 -2022 / $11,000,000 (not including credit for cooling costs saved at Target Field from the stiff breeze)
 



8 years/184 million

He might bleed one between first and second with a runner on.

It was just stealing from everyone.

I laugh at him being first ballot hall of fame!

Oh well

I won't post those 8 year stats.......they are beyond embarrassing
He actually had some pretty good seasons over those 8 years when he was healthy, but I won’t bother trying to change your mind.
 

8 years/184 million

He might bleed one between first and second with a runner on.

It was just stealing from everyone.

I laugh at him being first ballot hall of fame!

Oh well

I won't post those 8 year stats.......they are beyond embarrassing
If that was his entire career you’d have a point. But he was incredibly underpaid the first half of his career while having one of the greatest stretches a catcher has ever had.

Still complaining about the contract is so typical of MN fans.
 

If that was his entire career you’d have a point. But he was incredibly underpaid the first half of his career while having one of the greatest stretches a catcher has ever had.

Still complaining about the contract is so typical of MN fans.
By his play he's a Hall of Famer. National fans and HOF voters don't know his salary and don't care. Just like we don't know how much Adrian Beltre made. People need to get over his freaking contract already. It was a fair contract when he signed it.
 




By his play he's a Hall of Famer. National fans and HOF voters don't know his salary and don't care. Just like we don't know how much Adrian Beltre made. People need to get over his freaking contract already. It was a fair contract when he signed it.
It also wasn’t the reason the Twins were so bad. Even if continued to be an elite catcher throughout his contract, the Twins were going to be bad because they couldn’t develop talent at all.
 

Reusse was making this point with Randball on the Strib podcast.

If Mauer would have retired instead of moving to 1st base - and people were judging his career by his time at Catcher only - he would look better by comparison.

1 MVP
6x All-Star
3x Gold Glove
3 batting titles as a Catcher (1st time in AL history)
5x Silver Slugger --
and all that in the first 10 seasons of his career

finished with career WAR of 55.2 - with 48.3 in his first 10 seasons and 6.9 in his last 5 seasons.
 


Taking a gander at the JAWS metric, it appears to be a no-brainer that Mauer is a deserved HOF'er:
#12 Thurman Munson, I don't think there's any question he would have made it had his life not come to a tragic end. Just a few more seasons at his production, it would have been a no brainer.

I'm surprised he hasn't made it via a Veterans Cmte. Seems much more impactful than Harold Baines, with all due respect.
 

#12 Thurman Munson, I don't think there's any question he would have made it had his life not come to a tragic end. Just a few more seasons at his production, it would have been a no brainer.

I'm surprised he hasn't made it via a Veterans Cmte. Seems much more impactful than Harold Baines, with all due respect.
Graig Nettles, Lou Whitaker, Bobby Grich, Rusty Staub, Keith Hernandez, Jose Cruz, Ron Cey, Dick Allen. . .all far exceed Baines' HOF credentials.

Even Baines' comparative studies--Dave Parker, Steve Garvey, Al Oliver--seem to have delivered much bigger highs or memorable moments than Baines.

Admitting Baines was so dumbfounding, it seems that it's just put into the mulligan category--in my readings about HOF candidacy, Baines rarely is mentioned by writers as a comparison point.
 




Let's go, Joe!!!

If he had chosen football instead, I wonder how far he would've gone. He was the best HS QB I've ever watched in person.
 

Another point: He gets criticized for his lack of HRs (and somewhat rightfully so). But of the guys in the top 200 in career doubles, Mauer ranks 64th in PA/doubles. If you go all the way out to top 1,000, he ranks 161st all time. He hit doubles more frequently than guys like Puckett and Gwynn.

More home runs would have been nice but he was more than just a singles hitter.
 

Another point: He gets criticized for his lack of HRs (and somewhat rightfully so). But of the guys in the top 200 in career doubles, Mauer ranks 64th in PA/doubles. He hit doubles more frequently than guys like Puckett and Gwynn.

More home runs would have been nice but he was more than just a singles hitter.

Several of his line drives to Left Center would have made into the stands had the Twins stayed in the HHH Dome.
 




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