Twins jerseys and caps are the most prevalent of all the MLB teams this weekend on the streets of Cooperstown, N.Y., — at least three for every Texas Rangers T or purple Colorado Rockies bill.

So what brought Twins fans out in such a show of force? My first idea for this report was to ask Twins fans on the streets of Cooperstown on Saturday to sum up their impression, their memories, their thoughts about Joe Mauer in one word each. Then I’d just list the words.

Twins fans had no interest in playing along with that — they had way more to say about Mauer (and one other guy, but we’ll get to that later).

And listening to them, it was clear that most of them didn’t make the trek to upstate New York because they thought Mauer was the best catcher of his generation, or because he was a No. 1 draft pick, or because he won three batting titles or an MVP award, or had perhaps the finest year a catcher ever had in 2009.

Over and over, they said they were here because they felt a personal connection to this kid from St. Paul. When pressed, they remembered moments of his baseball career, but usually they wanted to talk about how they saw Mauer as a person.

”I just appreciate who he is — such a good person,” said Ruth Thom of Clear Lake, Minn.

“Over-the-top when it comes to character,” said her husband, Brad.

Kathy Brown of Champlin, who several people described as the “Queen of Baseball” (this claim could not be verified but I was convinced), said she loved all of the Twins’ greats, but Mauer was special for being homegrown and “a good guy.”

Kathy’s husband, Greg Brown, was once an official for one of Mauer’s football games when he was Cretin-Derham Hall’s star quarterback. Even then, Brown said, you could see Mauer was headed someplace special. It’s been a thrill, Brown said, “to see somebody you’re familiar with make it.”

Chuck Knadel of Lake Elmo has been a Twins usher for years (“it’s not a job you do if you don’t love it”) and when asked to recount a signature Mauer moment, he  told a story about Mauer, a year after retirement, making a special trip down to the Twins’ employee break room just to thank all the folks who keep the operation running behind the scenes.

“I’ve never seen someone so friendly,” Knadel said.

Tom Myers of Plymouth, when asked about a signature Mauer memory, was the first person to start the story on the baseball field, but even then it didn’t go where I expected. It happened at spring training — when Mauer would make sure Myers’ kids got the game ball direclty from him at the end of the inning.

Karen and Mike Duthoy of Golden Valley were making their first visit to Cooperstown to see “the hometown kid” inducted — Karen described Mauer as “fantastic” and “iconic” but more important, she said: “a nice guy.”

“Twins fans show up for their players,” said Greg Mader of Perham, Minn., who was making his fourth visit to Cooperstown with his wife, Rose (but first with their grandkids). “He was a great sportsman, on and off the field.”

Thaddeus Fridgen, a Mankato native now living in Maryland, said Mauer “just meant so much to me and my brothers” as they were growing up.

Mauer stood out as a “deep down good person,” said Joe Wenner of Cold Spring. His wife, Mary, asked why she would come all this way for a ballplayer, said: “I would go to Antarctica for Joe.” And to be clear, Mary was speaking about Mauer, and not her husband, Joe. (Yes, Mary and Joseph — and they have heard all the jokes.)

Becca Riley of Rosemount said she was in Cooperstown this weekend because Mauer “made me and my brother become catchers.” (She said this enthusiastically — so no need to feel guilty if you’re reading this, Joe.) Her brother Matt agreed: “Perfect person to look up to, on and off the field.”

Becca and Matt — real Minnesota twins! — were in Cooperstown with their parents, Ryan and Maggie, and that brings me to the other guy I heard a lot about on Saturday. As Ryan Riley searched for a moment to express how Mauer struck him as a good and decent person, the phrase he landed on was, “He’s like Tony O.”

It was at least the fifth time a Twins fan had said something like that — after words like “nice” and “class act” and “admirable” seemed to come up short, they summed it up by simply invoking the Twins’ Hall of Famer right fielder Tony Oliva. “He’s like Tony O.”

And they had stories about the times Mauer had spoken to them, or spent more time than necessary taking a selfie with them, or said a kind word about how much he appreciated their interest — and just about every one of them had a story to match about Tony Oliva.

So Minnesota is plenty proud of its native son this weekend — and one we adopted, as well.

“From St. Paul to the Hall”: the Pioneer Press chronicled the careers of Dave Winfield, Paul Molitor, Jack Morris and Joe Mauer, and we’ve compiled the best of our coverage into a new hardcover book that celebrates the legendary baseball legacy of Minnesota’s capital city. Order your copy of “From St. Paul to the Hall.”

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