Joe Mauer remains on track to be inducted into the Hall of Fame
With one day until the Dec. 31st deadline to turn in ballots, former Minnesota Twins catcher Joe Mauer remains in a good spot as he looks to gain induction into the National Baseball Hall of Famer.
According to Ryan Thibodeaux, who has unofficially tracked ballots throughout the past month, Mauer has been voted in on 74 of 91 submitted ballots. While 85 ballots have been made public, there have also been six anonymous ballots, which all selected Mauer to be inducted into the Hall of Fame.
The 81.3 percent number represents a slight increase in Mauer's initial total when he appeared on 80.9 percent of ballots on Dec. 17.
Mauer has a compelling case to be inducted in his first year on the ballot. The St. Paul native hit .306 with a .388 on-base percentage in his career while hitting 143 home runs and drove in 923 runs while racking up 2,123 hits over 15 seasons.
Mauer's career also has historical significance as he became the first catcher to win the American League batting championship in 2006. Mauer went on to win two more batting titles in 2008 and 2009, and won the 2009 AL Most Valuable Player Award after hitting .365/.444/.587 with a career-high 28 homers and 96 RBI.
A six-time All-Star and a three-time Gold Glove winner, Mauer still has a ways to go before planning his induction speech. Inductees must reach a 75 percent threshold to be included in this year's Hall of Fame class, which means that Mauer needs an estimated 288 votes to get in.
Among players in their first year on the ballot only Mauer and Adrian Beltre (97.8%) are currently projected to be elected.
Last year, former Philadelphia Phillies and St. Louis Cardinals third baseman Scott Rolen was the only player voted in though former Atlanta Braves first baseman Fred McGriff was enshrined courtesy of the Contemporary Baseball Era Players Committee.
Former Twins outfielder Torii Hunter is also on the ballot, but has just two votes so far and 2.2 percent of the public vote.
With the deadline for ballots set for Dec. 31, this year's Hall of Fame class will be announced on Jan. 23.
