Joe Mauer’s friends and family and former Twins flood Cooperstown ahead of Sunday’s induction ceremony

COOPERSTOWN, N.Y. – Joe Mauer arrived in Cooperstown on Wednesday. That’s when the impact of receiving baseball’s highest honor — a place in its Hall of Fame — began to hit him.

He began thinking ahead to what Sunday’s induction ceremony will bring. He will be the 20th catcher, fifth Minnesotan, fourth St. Paul native, first player born in the 1980s and first player who debuted in the 2000s to have a plaque in Cooperstown.

“The first couple of days — a lot of nerves, nervousness, anxious you know, to get ready for Sunday,” he said Saturday.

Since then, Mauer has taken part in a walkthrough for the ceremony, which helped him settle down. Then fans began pouring into the town, bringing energy and electricity to baseball’s largest convention. And Twins fans have arrived in force.

One group of Twins fans, including a few from the old “Save The Met” gang that abhorred indoor baseball, are wearing T-shirts reading “Mount St. Paul” with pictures of local legends Mauer, Dave Winfield, Paul Molitor and Jack Morris. And they have the “Save The Met” banner with them.

“Obviously there were some tech problems the other day,” Mauer regarding the software problem that led to massive delays at airports across the country Friday. “For them to make the trip and actually be here means a lot to me. To see the Twins fans and to see the Twins logo everywhere and number sevens, it really does warm my heart.

“A lot of those emotions come out, and my appreciation from my side for them for supporting me for so many years, you want to give it back. So I’m looking forward to everything that comes along with this week, and it has been a great start.”

Mauer’s former teammates, and former manager Ron Gardenhire, have been part of the throng. A Hall of Fame official said this year has one of the largest groups of former players in town for the ceremony. One reason is the large number of players connected with fellow inductee Jim Leyland. Another is the number of players connected with the 41-year-old Mauer, the fourth-youngest player (at time of induction) ever to be enshrined.

On Friday, Mauer looked relaxed and shared laughs with Matt Guerrier, Joe Nathan, Brian Dozier and other Twins alumni at the Otesaga Resort Hotel. Rod Carew and Tony Oliva held court a few feet away. Dozier and Jim Thome never played together, but Mauer guessed the two would take a liking to each other, and they did.

Mauer has watched his children meet the children of fellow Hall of Famers and play with them on the lawn behind the hotel. So getting settled in and spending time with his contemporaries has helped him embrace the moment.

“As teammates, family and friends have started rolling in, I’m starting to relax a little bit,” Mauer said.

Mauer played in the annual Hall of Famers golf tournament Saturday morning, leading a foursome that included Glen Perkins, Justin Morneau and Nick Punto. Mauer should have been the ringer of the group, having competed in last weekend’s American Century Celebrity Golf Championship in South Lake Tahoe, Nev., but instead it was a former Little Piranha.

“Nick basically got off the plane, right up to the tee box and fired a 70,” Mauer said with a smile. “That was pretty fun to watch.”

Mauer spoke on Saturday during press event with fellow inductees Leyland, Todd Helton and Adrián Beltré. Leyland spent his time talking about the great players he managed throughout his career but brightened when asked about Mauer.

“I saw Justin Morneau out there today, out of respect for Joe, and that brought back memories of those two guys hitting in the middle of that Twins lineup when we managed against them,” Leyland said. “You knew [Mauer] was going to lay the bat on the ball somewhere. You were hoping there wasn’t somebody on third because you knew he was going to make contact.”

Mauer’s arc of emotions will swing back toward nervousness on Sunday when he approaches the podium and attempts to articulate what his career has meant to him as tens of thousands of fans, friends, family and former teammates lean forward in their chairs.

Seeing so many familiar faces has already made the week special for him.

“There’s a lot of people coming in, and seeing a lot of teammates rolling in and coaches,” Mauer said. “I even got heckled by Gardy on the golf course today. So it all was great, and it is going to be a great weekend.”

On Sunday, Joe Mauer will be one of the youngest former players to be enshrined in the Baseball Hall of Fame. Only four others were younger when they were inducted; Mauer is going into the Hall of Fame 15 days younger than Catfish Hunter in 1987 and 50 days younger than Kirby Puckett in 2001.

Lou Gehrig: Inducted Dec. 7, 1939*, at age 36 years, 5 months

Sandy Koufax: Inducted Aug. 7, 1972, at age 36 years, 7 months

Joe DiMaggio: Inducted July 25, 1955, at age 40 years, 8 months

Joe Mauer: Inducted July 21, 2024, at age 41 years, 3 months

Catfish Hunter: Inducted July 26, 1987, at age 41 years, 3 months

Kirby Puckett: Inducted Aug. 5, 2001, at age 41 years, 4 months

*-no formal induction ceremony; Dec. 7, 1939 was the date of Lou Gehrig’s special election

Note: List does not include Roberto Clemente, who was 38 years old when he died and was inducted posthumously