Minneapolis/St. Paul, MN – The Minnesota Twins announced today that they will honor Joe Mauer by retiring his uniform number 7 during a pre-game celebration for a yet to be determined date during to the 2019 season.
Mauer, 35, joins Harmon Killebrew (No. 3 – 1975), Rod Carew (No. 29 – 1987), Tony Oliva (No. 6 – 1991), Kent Hrbek (No. 14 – 1995), Kirby Puckett (No. 34 – 1997), Bert Blyleven (No. 28 – 2011) and Tom Kelly (No. 10 – 2012) as the ninth Twins player or manager to have his number retired by the organization. The Twins, in conjunction with all of Major League Baseball, retired Jackie Robinson’s No. 42 in 1997.
The St. Paul native ranks first on the Twins all-time list in doubles (428) and times on base (3,087); second in games (1,858), hits (2,123) and walks (939); fifth in RBI (923) and 11th in home runs (143).
“The Minnesota Twins organization has been blessed to have Joe Mauer part of our franchise since 2001,” Twins Executive Chair Jim Pohlad said. “Few players have achieved more on the field, or given back more off the field than Joe. With Joe’s storied career in mind, the Twins family is proud to bestow our highest honor with the retirement of his jersey – number 7. We are excited to celebrate Joe’s excellence, commitment to this community and special relationship with Twins Territory.”
Mauer was selected first overall by the Twins in the 2001 First-Year Player Draft out of Cretin-Derham Hall High School. He would go on to play all 15 major league seasons with the Twins, joining Tony Oliva as the only player in club history to do so. He hit .306 (2123-for-6930) for his career with 428 doubles, 30 triples, 143 home runs, 923 RBI, 1,018 runs scored, 939 walks and a .388 on-base percentage. He caught 921 career games, the most in Twins history prior to moving to first base in 2014.
The 2009 American League Most Valuable Player was named to the AL All-Star team six times, earned three Rawlings Gold Glove Awards at catcher, earned the Louisville Slugger Silver Slugger Award five times and won three AL Batting Titles, the only catcher in AL history to have done so.
Joe and his wife Maddie have been very active in the community over his career. They annually host the Mauer and Friends Kids Classic luncheon event to benefit Gillette Children’s Specialty Healthcare, raising more than $1 million for the hospital’s foundation. The Mauer’s donated a play room at Gillette Children’s Specialty Healthcare hospital, a room that provides a welcome break from medical treatment for the pediatric patients at the hospital. The room is called Gillette Field and has sports themes that include all sports, not just baseball.
Mauer serves as a spokesman and annually hosts a bowling fundraiser for the Highland Friendship Club, an organization dedicated to providing work and recreation opportunities to people with developmental disabilities. The bowling event, which includes multiple local celebrities, brings awareness to the organization and provides needed funds for their work.
For years now, Mauer has supported Friends of St. Paul Baseball, an organization that helps improve baseball facilities for youth in St. Paul, raising more than $30,000. Mauer also spent his career as a spokesman and mentor to the MLB Player’s Association’s Action Team. In partnership with Volunteers of America, the Action Team enlists high school students to recruit others to volunteer in their community. Since 2005, he established a community ticket program called Mauer’s Minnies, providing Twins game tickets to thousands of economically disadvantaged youth from the Twin Cities – from 2005-2018, over 50,000 youth and their families have attended Twins games for free to due Joe’s generous contributions.
In addition to his charitable work mentioned above, Mauer spent countless hours signing autographs at TwinsFest and Autograph Party, helping to raise needed funds for the Twins Community Fund. He spent nearly his entire career also participating in the Minnesota Twins Winter Caravan, visiting with community groups and Twins fans all over Twins Territory.