While the Minnesota Twins cautiously approach the offseason, one of the biggest additions of the winter is entirely out of the team's control.
Joe Mauer is eligible for the Baseball Hall of Fame for the first time this year, and it's created a frenzy around Twins Territory as fans wait to see if he'll get in on the first ballot. Surprisingly, there's been some debate over the years as to whether or not Mauer is a Hall of Fame player, an argument that might be solved with him not only getting in but doing so on the first try.
It would almost be fitting for Mauer to beat the odds once again.
Mauer was more than just another top prospect who carried the weight of the franchise on his back, he was a Minnesota Prince who promised to carry on a unique legacy of homegrown stars. There have been famous athletes born and raised in Minnesota who went on to have legendary success, but Mauer embodied that spirit unlike anyone else before him.
At every opportunity to leave, Mauer polietly declined. He could have gone off to play college football at Florida State -- at the peak of the Seminoles power in the early 2000s -- but chose to join the Twins farm system after being drafted. He could have left for a massive contract as a top free agent in 2010 but took a cheaper deal to remain in Minnesota.
In staying he became not only one of the greatest Twins players of all-time but one of the most iconic figure in Minnesota history.
Prince, Paul Bunyan, and Joe Mauer.
It's not just hometown bias coloring how his career is being remembered. Mauer's peak is among the best any catcher has had in the history of the game. During the five years where he was at the peak of his powers, Mauer won three batting titles, three Gold Gloves, four Silver Sluggers, was named to four All-Star teams, and won AL MVP.
Beyond the accolades, he was also a .306 career hitter, and his 55.2 career WAR ranks seventh among catchers all-time.
Narrative is on his side as well, with the hometown hero status being the sort of thing that baseball romantics go crazy for. Putting his name up against other icons in franchise history -- Kirby Puckett, Harmon Killebrew, and Rod Carew -- bodes well too, especially considering they're all Hall of Famers.
Joe Mauer Hall of Fame vote tracker (Updated)
Reaching Cooperstown is the pinnacle of a ballplayer's career, and it wouldn't be a baseball Final Boss without some math being involved.
Here's how the process works: 384 ballots are submitted by baseball writers, and a player needs to be on 75 percent of those ballots to get inducted. That part isn't complicated, it's tracking the votes as they come in that gets a little hairy. It's not unlike an election in November,
Here's where things stand with Joe Mauer right now:
Votes Earned | Remaining Votes Needed | Ballots Remaining | Percent of Vote |
|---|---|---|---|
175 | 113 | 184 | 83.3% |
Note: This count will updated as soon as every new ballot is submitted. It is accurate as of January 23, 2024.
Right now Mauer's margin for error is 63 ballots. That's how many of the remaining ballots he can afford to not show up on and still get enough votes to get inducted. He needs to show up on 121 of the 184 remaining ballots to reach the 75 percent threshold for election.
It's worth noting that the rush of public ballots isn't totally representitive of what the final tally will be. Not every voter makes their vote immeditely known and the final release sometimes shifts the balance rather significantly.
That being said, Mauer is trending around 80 percent of the vote, which is extremely promising since it continues to protect him against a sudden drop. The point is: things are looking really good.
When is Hall of Fame announcement?
Officially the announcement will be made on January 23rd, which is when all ballots will have been submitted and tallied. We might know before then, though, as voters making their ballots public makes it easy to get an idea of where the count stands.
It's not, however, an official tally.
There are both anonymous and unverified ballots floating around that might skew the count. Not everyone has to turn their ballots in at the same time, which means the trickle effect slows the whole process down.
We'll know one way or another in an official capacity before the end of January if Joe Mauer is in the Hall of Fame or if he'll have to wait until next year to get in.
When is the 2024 Baseball Hall of Fame ceremony?
This year the Hall of Fame ceremony will take place on July 21st, which falls on a Sunday this summer. As is the case every year, the whole shebang will happen at Cooperstown and one would expect a bevy of Twins legends to be on hand to watch Mauer get inducted if he ends up getting enough votes.