Joe Mauer at 40: A little golf, a little relaxation — and a lot of being a dad

There was a feast the day Joe Mauer turned 40. It included all the trimmings and trappings of a celebration of athletic achievement.

The normally reserved Mauer allowed himself to absorb the atmosphere last April and revel in the moment.

"It was a nice way to spend your 40th," Mauer said.

Those attending included many people who meant the most to him — namely, Emily and Maren Mauer, his 10-year-old twin daughters. Mauer, never much for the spotlight during his playing days with the Twins, worked the edges of this party. His daughters beamed and lived it up.

It was their party, after all.

That's right. Instead of renting a restaurant and filling it with friends and family to celebrate the Big 4-0, instead of taking an exotic trip or organizing a golf outing with the buddies, Mauer marked this milestone at the swim team's end-of-season pizza party at Nativity Of Our Lord Elementary School in St. Paul.

You only turn 40 once.

Mauer opened a few birthday cards and spent the evening enjoying what he has become, a full-time father.

"My girls — and Maddie, too — they wrote me some nice cards," Mauer said. "It was really sweet and was actually my favorite thing. Really low-key."

Maddie has been Mrs. Mauer for a decade and she'll be in attendance on Aug. 5 when her husband is inducted into the Twins Hall of Fame. It'll be a family event. Most are these days.

This is what moving on means to No. 7, whose 15-year career with the Twins ended in 2018. Few will forget his final days as an active player. He batted .358 over his last 17 games, ended his career with a nine-game hitting streak and put on the catcher's gear one more time — albeit for just one pitch — in the season finale.

We wondered what would be next for one of Minnesota's greatest athletes and potential baseball Hall of Famer. Would he coach? Start a business? Use social media to advocate for the comeback of sideburns?

He has used the time to reconnect with friends. He's more involved with the Mauer automobile dealership group with brothers Jake and Bill.

And when there are no pizza parties on the calendar, Mauer does have his moments. He's played pickup basketball games. He's gone skiing, something he wasn't allowed to do during his playing days. He's playing hockey, sometimes on a frozen lake near Justin Morneau's home in Medina during the winter. He has more time to get involved in the community, as he and Maddie support Gillette Children's Specialty Healthcare.

There's a golf outing to Kiawah Island, S.C. with former teammates that's threatening to become an alumni event. Last year, Mauer. Morneau, Michael Cuddyer, Nick Punto, Matt Guerrier, Joe Nathan, Brian Duensing and Carl Pavano took part. It's called The Big Fella Classic, named after longtime clubhouse attendant Wayne Hattaway, who died in 2020.

"We laughed a lot." Mauer said. "I feel like this thing is just going to grow. There's been a lot of interest and people want to be a part of it."

But family is first. In addition to Emily and Maren, there's Charles Joseph "Chip" Mauer, who turns 5 in November.

Mauer remembers becoming a father at age 30 and leaving his daughters with Maddie while he was on road trips. He didn't like leaving them.

"I keep telling Maddie, 'I don't know how you did it,' " he said.

One joke about athletes retiring is that, after a few months, the spouse realizes how much better things were with them not around. That's not the case with Mauer.

"I've had a lot of people ask me that. No regrets," Maddie said. "I'll always miss watching him play, but I love having him home. I love having him help with the kids. It's just fun to see him be a dad. And I think he's making up for some of the stuff he missed when the girls were Chip's age."

Mauer was the best catcher in baseball for most of his 10 seasons behind the plate. He was a six-time All-Star. He had perhaps the best two-strike approach in the game. He controlled the running game as well as he controlled where he hit line drives. His career was altered by a concussion in 2013 that prompted a move to first base, but he was the face of the franchise for most of his 15 seasons with the Twins. His No. 7 was retired by the Twins in 2019 and he'll soon be in the team's Hall of Fame.

That might not be his last HOF. Mauer is now eligible to be elected to baseball's Hall of Fame, and his three batting titles — the only catcher to accomplish that feat — and 2009 AL MVP honor make him a viable candidate.

Mauer misses the competition. He misses stepping into the batter's box against the best pitchers in the world. He found a new career, though, and it suits him.

"I've long felt like Maddie and the girls and now Chip, they have been on my schedule, catering to everything that I've needed," he says. "Since I've stopped playing, I've tried to kind of return that favor. I try to be there for whatever they need."

It's 8:45 a.m. one morning in June when Mauer says this during a phone call, sounding as if he had been up for several hours. That's because he has been, as he and Maddie like to work out in the mornings before the kids take over their day.

"We have stayed busy over here," Mauer says. "We had tennis lessons this morning. We're just moving and shaking here. We have Chip going at 8:30 and the girls coming in at 9:30."

The daughters also played softball this summer. Chip started playing baseball and is messing around with golf — or whatever his father is playing at the time.

"I've been coaching softball and baseball this summer," Mauer says. "So I've been at the ballpark five days a week, which I thought I was getting away from. But it's been a lot of fun and very rewarding."

How does he like coaching?

"I like being a player better," Mauer jokes. "I tell the kids' parents my goal for this year is to make them want to come back the next time. Try to make it fun and teach them as much as I can."

Mauer is throwing different sports at his children to see what sticks. It's the same thing his parents, Jake Jr. and Theresa, did with their children. Baseball won over Joe, but he was a standout in basketball and a stud in football.

At first, Mauer liked whatever sport was in season. He initially preferred basketball, and then in early in high school football became his favorite when coaches discovered he could throw. Baseball won out after his sophomore season, though, following a stint with USA Baseball.

Now that he's coaching and watching his children, he's remembering things his parents taught him about sports.

Donald "Jake" Mauer Jr. died on Jan. 17 following a battle with lung cancer and Lambert-Eaton myasthenic syndrome, an autoimmune disorder. Following the service for his father, Mauer spoke with many attendees who praised Jake's approach to youth coaching. "Folks I haven't seen in 20, 30 years coming up and appreciating how he coached them as if they were his own," Mauer says.

Like father, like son.

"One of his things was being present and showing up," Mauer says. "Any chance he could get he was there. Me and my brothers, we try to be as present as we can with our kids and our kids' friends. You don't appreciate it as a kid as you do as an adult. That's something I'm trying to do with my kids as he did with me."

After getting directions, Maddie Mauer and the kids left their home in Sunfish Lake and headed for Tria Rink, the Wild's practice facility. It was July 8, and Joe was playing a celebrity hockey game as part of a charity event called The Crazy Game of Hockey. And it certainly was different, as current and former Wild players, members of the rock band O.A.R., local guitarist Cory Wong and others took part. Two people looked out of place — intially, anyway — in this group: Mauer the three-sports-but-not-hockey star, and former NBA player Greg Ostertag, all 7 feet, 2 inches of him, who plays once a week in a league outside of Dallas.

As they neared the rink, Maren looked at her mother with a question.

"Mommy, is Daddy going to lose his teeth like Mr. Parise?" she asked. Joe is friends with former Wild star Zach Parise. Maren has not forgotten the day their families visited right after Parise lost a tooth in a game.

"Yeah," Mauer said with a chuckle. "Emily and Maren were like, 'What happened to you?'"

Maren referred to Parise as "Mr. Parise," just as her father addressed his elders the same way. Mike Scanlan was Cretin's football coach. To Mauer, he was Mr. Scanlan. Baseball coach Jim O'Neill was Mr. O'Neill.

Like father, like daughter.

The family sat in the stands to watch No. 7 on skates. When the action began, Mauer no longer looked out of place on the ice. Playing as a left-sided defenseman, Mauer at one point maneuvered past two opponents as they converged on him just inside the blue line.

You could hear Justin Morneau's eyes roll through the phone when told of Mauer's move.

"I didn't know he knew how to skate, let alone play hockey, because you had to kind of twist his arm to come out and play," Morneau said. "I wouldn't say it's shocking because nothing he does shocks me, really, anymore."

A week later, Mauer had yet another set of sticks in his hands. He's worked hard to cut down on a pronounced hook, and he tried out his improved swing at the American Century Championship celebrity golf tournament. He finished 30th out of 93 players and was on national television when he nearly had a hole-in-one on a par-3 from 204 yards out. Then his tee shot five holes later stopped 18 inches from the cup.

So much about life has changed for Mauer, but you can spot some symmetry. When we first learned about Joe Mauer, it was basketball, football and baseball. Now it's charity hockey, celebrity golf and dadding.

Those filling the seats in Target Field this Saturday will wonder if baseball will ever be a part of his life again. Morneau found a new professional home after retirement in the broadcast booth. Maybe for Mauer, coaching will stick.

"He has too much knowledge to not be part of the game somewhere at some point," Morneau said. "We are in a fortunate situation. People want more time to watch their kids grow up. We have that, and I think he's taken advantage of that."

Mauer will wave back to the crowd attending his Twins Hall of Fame game, and he'll deliver his induction speech. He spoke from the heart in 2019 when his No. 7 was retired. He has spent recent weeks crafting this heartfelt speech 2.0. When he's done, the family will climb back in the car and head home to the east side of town.

There could be another call coming to the Mauer house soon. What happens if he gets "The Call" from Cooperstown early next year to enter the National Baseball Hall of Fame?

"Then," Maddie said while chuckling, "we're going to have to write another speech."