The Minnesota Twins honored their six-time MLB All-Star and 2009 American League MVP Joe Mauer with a statue outside of Target Field in Minneapolis on Sunday.

Mauer, 41, is a St. Paul native and was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2024 as a first-ballot entry. Now, he's enshrined in his city, steps outside of the Twins' ballpark.

“To think I’m bronzed here at Target Field in Minnesota, it means more to me than you guys will ever know,” Mauer said to a crowd as he stood beside his new statue Sunday via MLB.com. “Obviously it was a big summer last year, going into Cooperstown—that was just an unbelievable experience. But to see myself here, this isn’t going to be moving for a long time. Here in my home state of Minnesota, I was always proud to put on this uniform, to play for this club, and to go out there and try to win every night with my teammates. So this just means the world to me.”

In a heartwarming moment, the statue was unveiled to the large crowd by Mauer's children:

And the statue is extremely well done, too:

Before the Twins played the Detroit Tigers on Sunday, Mauer threw out the ceremonial first pitch to his longtime former teammate Justin Morneau, another Twins legend.

Mauer's signature No. 7 was retired by the Twins in 2019, one year after he retired following 15 MLB seasons, all in his home state of Minnesota. Now, he's forever commemorated right outside of Target Field.


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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Twins Commemorate Native Son Joe Mauer With Target Field Statue.