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The Minnesota Twins unveiled a bronze statue of Hall of Fame catcher Joe Mauer at Target Field before Sunday’s game against the Detroit Tigers.

Mauer spoke to a crowd of about 400 Twins fans after his two daughters pulled the veil off the statue, located outside a gate beyond right field. Fans cheered as he imitated the statue’s pose, which shows him wearing catcher’s equipment with a baseball in his right hand.

In high school, he played shortstop, not catcher. But his parents and grandfather encouraged him to switch positoins.

“They said the quickest way to the big leagues is playing catcher,” Mauer said. “So what did I do? I went and got some catcher's gear.”

He says he chose that pose for his statue because he enjoyed stopping runners who were trying to steal or who were leaning too far off first base. “I’m looking at this right now, it looks like I’m going to throw somebody out,” he said.

Longtime teammate Justin Morneau, who also played for the Twins, congratulated Mauer.

“This is amazing to see my old roommate up here in bronze on Target Field forever,” said Morneau. “You grew up in St. Paul imitating Kirby Puckett’s leg kick, playing wiffle ball in your backyard with your brothers. You watched Kent Hrbek hit a grand slam in the World Series, and it inspired you like it inspired so many Minnesota kids who dreamt of one day playing for their hometown team.”

Mauer joins Rod Carew, Harmon Killebrew, Kirby Puckett, Tony Oliva, Kent Hrbek, manager Tom Kelly and owners Carl and Eloise Pohlad with a statue outside the ballpark.

Designed by Minnesota artist Bill Mack, the statue is just over 8 feet tall and weighs more than 800 pounds.

Mauer batted .306 with 143 homers and 906 RBIs with Minnesota from 2004-18. He was voted to baseball's Hall of Fame on the first ballot in 2024.

“Obviously, it was a big summer last year, going into Cooperstown — that was just an unbelievable experience. But to see myself here, this isn’t going to be moving for a long time,” Mauer said. “Here in my home state of Minnesota, I was always proud to put on this uniform, to play for this club, and to go out there and try to win every night with my teammates.”

The first overall pick in the 2001 amateur draft, Mauer played 15 seasons for his hometown club. He won three American League batting titles, was voted the 2009 AL MVP, was picked for six All-Star games and earned three Gold Gloves. A severe concussion late in the 2013 season led to a move to first base in 2014.

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Nicole Ki

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The Associated Press

The Minnesota Twins unveiled a bronze statue of Hall of Fame catcher Joe Mauer at Target Field before a game against the Detroit Tigers.

Bronze statue of Joe Mauer unveiled by Minnesota Twins outside Target Field

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