Joseph Patrick Mauer (born April 19, 1983 in Saint Paul, Minnesota) is a catcher in Major League Baseball for the Minnesota Twins.

A graduate of Cretin-Derham Hall High School in Saint Paul, Mauer was named the USA Today and Gatorade national player of the year as Cretin-Derham’s quarterback but turned down a football scholarship from Florida State University to enter the MLB draft. Mauer was selected by the Twins as the first overall pick of the 2001 draft, ahead of superprospect Mark Prior, now of the Chicago Cubs. He is considered by many scouts to be the best catching prospect in the majors and is said to have one of the best swings in baseball.High School Career

Mauer was a three-sport athlete (baseball, football, and basketball) for St. Paul’s Cretin-Derham Hall High School Raiders. A stand-out in baseball, Mauer was struck out only once during his high school career, by Paul Feiner, and hit .605 during his senior season. He also set a Minnesota high-school record by homering in seven consecutive games. Mauer caught for the Team USA Junior National team from 1998 to 2000 and hit .522 during his final year on the team. He was voted best hitter at the world tournament in Panama in 2000. In 2001, Mauer was voted the Minnesota District V Player of the Year. During his senior season as the Raiders’ quarterback, Mauer completed 178 of 288 passes for 3,022 yards and 41 touchdowns and finished his two-year career as a starter with 5,528 yards and 73 touchdowns. He led the Raiders to two consecutive Class 5A state championship game appearances, winning the title in 2000, and once threw seven touchdown passes in a single playoff game. He was named Gatorade’s National Player of the Year, Parade and USA Today Player of the Year and a Reebok/ESPN High School All-American. Mauer was also named “National High School Quarterback Of The Year” in 2000 by The National Quarterback Club. He was also named an All-Stater during his final two years on Cretin-Derham’s basketball team.

Professional Career

Mauer was part of the United States’ roster at the 2003 All-Star Futures Game at US Cellular Field before being promoted to the Twins’ roster in 2004 after his predecessor, A.J. Pierzynski, was traded to the San Francisco Giants in the 2003 off-season. Mauer went 2 for 3 in his Major League debut, hitting a single off Rafael Betancourt of the Cleveland Indians for his first major-league hit. A knee injury to his left medial meniscus on April 7, 2004 required surgery and sidelined Mauer for over a month. After a rehibilitation stint with the Twins’ AAA affiliate Rochester Red Wings, Mauer returned to the Twins’ lineup in June. In July, pain and swelling in his knee forced an early end to Mauer’s 2004 season.
Following his injury-shortened 2004, Mauer signed a contract worth $5.7 million with the Twins on January 24, 2005. In 2005, Mauer returned to the Twins’ lineup for his first full major-league season and had 144 hits in 131 games, ending the year with an average of .294.

In 2006, Mauer’s performance throughout the months of May and June gathered attention from the national media. Mauer’s .345 batting average (through September 6th, 2006) leads the major leagues. If he ends up leading the league in batting average, it will be the first batting title for a catcher since Ernie Lombardi won it in 1942. No catcher has ever won the American League batting title. Mauer recorded a .528 average over the first ten days of June, and hit .452 over the course of the month. He was also the first player since Mike Piazza in 1997 to reach base at least four times in five consecutive games. On June 12, Mauer was named the American League Player of the Week by Major League Baseball for his performance the week of June 4-11, during which he hit .625 (15-for-24) with five doubles, four RBI and two stolen bases. Mauer was named the American League’s Player of the Month for the month of June after he hit .452 with a .624 slugging percentage and .528 on base percentage along with 11 doubles, 14 RBI and 18 runs scored during the month. Along with Johan Santana (Pitcher of the Month) and Francisco Liriano (Rookie of the Month), Mauer was part of the first-ever single-team sweep of MLB’s monthly awards. On July 2, Mauer was selected by the players to his first All-Star Game.