Joe Mauer Gives Emotional Speech Upon Being Inducted into Minnesota Twins Hall of Fame

An MLB.com article on the ceremony transcribed a portion of his speech as well:

“Growing up in the backyard of Minnesota Twins territory here, it’s just been an unbelievable ride, really,” Mauer said. “Sometimes, retiring, you reflect on it. It’s like, ‘Did that really just happen?’ It goes by so fast. But I enjoyed every minute of it and always knew the opportunity I had and always wanted to maximize it. Fifteen years goes pretty fast.”

Mauer played for the Twins from 2004-2018, getting the distinction of spending his entire career in one organization. The Minnesota native was a lifetime .306 hitter with 143 home runs. He was named an All-Star six times, won three Gold Gloves, three batting titles and an MVP award.

He'll certainly be in consideration for induction into the National Baseball Hall of Fame.

He also got to the playoffs four times with the Twins, appearing in postseasons in 2006, 2009, 2010 and 2017. The Twins were knocked out by the Yankees in three of those four years, losing to Oakland in the other.

This year's Twins are 58-54 on the season and lead the American League Central by 3.5 games.