COOPERSTOWN, New York — His baseball odyssey started on Lexington Parkway, where the youngest of Jake and Teresa’s three boys, Joe, took to the game at an early age and was often just trying to keep up with his older brothers.

Soon, he surpassed them, with his sweet left-handed swing, which was nurtured at the Jimmy Lee Recreation Center, helping him become a young phenom.

Watching those who came before him from Minnesota’s capital city — Paul Molitor, Dave Winfield and Jack Morris — led Mauer to believe that his big league dreams might one day come true.

And oh, did they ever.

Sunday, Joe Mauer’s journey from St. Paul to the Hall was finally complete. To the delight of those from his hometown and across the state of Minnesota, Mauer became the fourth St. Paulite enshrined in Cooperstown. He was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in an afternoon ceremony alongside Adrián Beltré, Todd Helton and Jim Leyland.

On a sunny day in Cooperstown, New York, in front of a countless number of fans sporting his No. 7 jersey, Mauer, 41, took his rightful place in baseball history, inducted as just the third catcher to be elected to the Hall of Fame on the first ballot.

“As tough as it is to get into the National Baseball Hall of Fame, it might be just as tough to sum up what this game, this honor and this moment truly means to me,” Mauer said at the beginning of his speech, which served as a 16-minute thank you note to those who helped him along the way. “Even if I had all the time in the world, I’m still not sure I could properly put it into words.”

Mauer’s career was the stuff of fairy tales — a word he even used upon being drafted as an 18-year-old by the hometown Minnesota Twins with the first-overall pick in 2001.

He spent the entirety of his 15-year major league career playing for the Twins, competing day in and day out with family in attendance. His late grandparents, Michael and Phyllis Tierney, he noted in his speech, never missed a game, showing up to cheer on the Twins even if he was out of the lineup.

“For the baseball fans out there who love numbers, that’s 81 home games times 15 years adding up to 1,215 games,” Mauer said.

In front of his loved ones, he established himself as one of the game’s best catchers, winning three Gold Glove Awards, three batting titles (the only catcher in history to do so) and a Most Valuable Player Award in 2009 during his storied career.

Coming off his MVP season, Mauer signed an eight-year, $184 million contract extension, which ensured that he finished out his career at home.

“It’s a great story when the hometown kid has the expectations that were put on him as the No. 1 pick and then to fulfill it with the career that he had, I think, over time, people are just going to only grow in their appreciation for what he brought to that organization,” Molitor said. “The stability, the professionalism, the humility — all the things that you would want to have as the face of your franchise.”

He retired after the 2018 season, walking away on his own terms after cementing himself as one of the greatest to ever don the Twins’ uniform. On Sunday, No. 7 became the seventh player to join the Hall of Fame as a Twin.

While Mauer’s story does seem the one of fairy tales, the journey to this point wasn’t without its tough moments.

Mauer suffered a concussion in 2013 after taking a foul tip to the mask that ended his season prematurely and forced him to move from behind the plate to first base. He would suit up to catch just one more time in his career, strapping on the gear to receive one pitch in his final game, a fitting way for him to leave the field.

And both his father, Jake Jr. and grandfather, Jake Sr., the two men who he said were the first to see potential in him, passed away before seeing him become part of baseball immortality.

“They were my first and greatest role models, coaches and mentors and they supported me every step of my baseball journey,” Mauer said, getting choked up during the most emotional part of his speech. “I hope they are both looking down this afternoon with pride, knowing that all their hard work helped me get to this podium, standing here as a Hall of Famer.”

While Mauer was unable to celebrate his achievement with two of the most formative individuals in his life, a countless number of others traveled to Cooperstown to share the experience with him.

And he made sure to thank them all, paying special tributes to his mother, Teresa, brothers, Jake and Billy, wife Maddie and young kids, Maren, Emily and Chip, who was born just two days after he announced his retirement.

Watching 5-year-old Chip hold Babe Ruth’s bat back in January, Joe said, was a full-circle moment that brought him back to his days of pretending to be a big leaguer in his childhood backyard on Lexington Parkway.

And from those early days spent emulating those St. Paulites who came before him emerged one of the best catchers to ever play the game, one who will now forever be remembered among the game’s greatest.

“To stand here today and say that I am now a small part of baseball’s history is a statement that will never fully sink in for me,” Mauer said. “This moment is truly a dream come true.”

“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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