Minnesota Twins to unveil Joe Mauer statue on Sunday outside Target Field

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Joe Mauer wore his catching gear out in the ninth inning for one pitch as he waved to the crowed at Target Field Sunday September 30, 2018 in Minneapolis, MN. ] The Minnesota Twins hosted the Chicago White Sox at Target Field. (Jerry Holt/Star Tribune via Getty Images)

MINNEAPOLIS (FOX 9) - The Minnesota Twins host the Detroit Tigers on Sunday at Target Field, and before the game, they’ll unveil and dedicate a bronze statue to Joe Mauer.

Mauer was selected to the 2024 National Baseball Hall of Fame in his first appearance on the ballot, and the St. Paul native spent his entire Major League Baseball career with the Twins.

Sunday’s ceremony

What we know:

Before Sunday’s first pitch, Mauer will be honored with a statue at 11:30 a.m. outside Gate 34 at Target Field. He’ll join Rod Carew, Harmon Killebrew, Kirby Pucket, Carl and Elise Pohlad, Tony Oliva, Kent Hrbek and Tom Kelly as Twins legends to be immortalized with a statue outside Target Field. All the statues are the work of Minnesota-based artist Bill Mack.

Twins’ dignitaries expect to attend the ceremony include former teammate Justin Morneau, Paul Molitor, Kelly, Oliva, Corey Koskie, Glen Perkins and Mack.

Mauer’s career

Why you should care:

The former Cretin-Derham Hall star athlete was verbally committed to play football at Florida State when the Twins selected him with the No. 1 overall pick in 2001. He spent all 15 MLB seasons with the Twins. He hit .306 with 428 doubles, 30 triples, 143 homers, 923 RBI and 939 walks in 1,858 career games.

He played 921 career games at catcher, a team record. He was the 2009 American League MVP, a six-time All-Star, a five-time Silver Slugger Award winer and three-time Gold Glove winner. He won three AL battling titles as a catcher.

Jersey retirement

The backstory:

Mauer’s No. 7 jersey was retired by the Twins in 2019, and inducted to the team’s Hall of Fame in 2023. Last year, Mauer became the seventh Twins’ player in franchise history to be selected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame.

In his final game with the Twins in 2018, Mauer caught one pitch as the catcher in his final inning before leaving the game. He had to move from catcher to first base and designated hitter due to concussion issues.

Mauer will go down as one of the greatest Twins’ players in franchise history.