Legion Baseball alumni Leyland, Mauer enter Hall of Fame
Joe Mauer has fond memories of growing up in St. Paul, Minn., playing on some of the same baseball fields that Dave Winfield, Paul Molitor and Jack Morris played on when they were younger.
On Sunday, Mauer joined those three — all of whom, like Mauer, played American Legion Baseball — in the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, N.Y.
Mauer and Jim Leyland brought the total number of former Legion Baseball players enshrined in Cooperstown to 87 with their inductions July 21 alongside fellow Class of 2024 inductees Adrian Beltre and Todd Helton.
“How lucky and unique it was to have three big leaguers and future role models hail from my same city. Watching them as a kid was my first glimpse of hope that maybe I could make it in baseball as well,” Mauer said in his induction speech.
“It’ll never be lost on me that the same guys I pretended to be in my yard are men I grew up to know personally, and I even had one of them (Molitor) become my manager.”
Mauer, who like Molitor and Winfield played Legion Baseball for Post 606 in St. Paul, spent his entire 15-year major league career with his hometown Minnesota Twins. The 2009 American League MVP, he won batting titles that year and in 2006 and 2008.
Mauer became just the third catcher to be selected to the Hall of Fame in his first year on the ballot, joining Johnny Bench and Ivan Rodriguez. They played Legion Baseball as well — Bench in Anadarko, Okla., and Rodriguez for Post Vega Baja in Puerto Rico.
Leyland won 1,769 games in 22 seasons as a manager with the Pirates, Marlins, Rockies and Tigers, winning the 1997 World Series in the Marlins’ fifth year of existence. He also managed Team USA to the 2017 World Baseball Classic title — four years after retiring from major league managing. Leyland was a three-time Manager of the Year, with Pittsburgh in 1990 and 1992 and with Detroit in 2006.
“My contributions to our beautiful pastime pale in comparison to the joy it has brought to my life,” said Leyland, who played for Post 183 in Pemberville, Ohio.
