The 2024 class of inductees for the Baseball Hall of Fame will be announced Tuesday evening and several first-year candidates have a decent chance of getting elected. One of them is legendary Minnesota Twins catcher Joe Mauer who is on the ballot for the first time after retiring following the 2018 season.
Mauer's accolades speak for themselves and he was as respected a player as there was in his era. If elected on his first ballot, Mauer would join rare company and become the first Hall of Fame baseball player born in the 1980s to be inducted, per Reddit user Knightbear49.
Along with that honor, Mauer would also be the third catcher to be inducted on his first try (Ivan Rodriguez, Johnny Bench) and the third first-ballot player going into the Hall of Fame as a Twin (Rod Carew, Kirby Puckett).
Born in 1983, Mauer was the first overall pick in the 2001 draft by his hometown Twins. He made his MLB debut less than three years later in 2004 and quickly established himself as a star and one of the best catchers in baseball.
Mauer's Hall of Fame case
Mauer earned his first All-Star selection in his third season and won AL MVP in his sixth. He collected five Silver Slugger Awards and three Gold Glove Awards and also won three batting titles. In total, the six-time All-Star collected over 2,100 hits and had a .306 batting average during his 15-year career.
Mauer ranks well analytically among other Hall of Fame catchers and was an all-around great player and person, which should make him an attractive choice for all voters. As of this post, over 55 percent of the ballots have been made public and Mauer is on track to get elected with 83.5 percent of the vote, per the BBHOF tracker.
Along with Mauer, Adrian Beltre, Todd Helton and Billy Wagner are on pace to earn induction. The official announcement will be made at 6 p.m.
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