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JockBio Vital Stats |
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• Minnesota
Twins |
• Catcher |
• #7 |
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Height: 6' 4" |
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Weight: 220 |
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Born: 4/19/83 |
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- Joe is one of a
handful of baseball greats from St. Paul, including Paul Molitor, Dave
Winfield and Jack Morris.
- Joe was named All-State
in three sports during his senior year at Cretin-Derham.
- Joe struck out
just once in his high school career and finished with a .567 average.
- Joe was the first
athlete named the nation’s top high school football and baseball
player in the same season.
- Joe was a member
of the USA national junior baseball team in 1998, 1999 and 2000. He
was voted the best hitter in the world junior tournament in Panama in
2000.
- Joe was the First-Team
catcher on the 2001 High School All-America squad. Other first-teamers
included J.J. Hardy, David Wright and Scott Kazmir.
- In 2001, Joe was
named High School Player of the Year by Gatorade, USA Today
and Parade Magazine.
- Before Joe, the
last high-school catcher drafted #1 was Danny Goodwin in 1971. The last
catcher to be taken with the top pick was B.J. Surhoff in 1985.
- Joe was offered
football scholarships by Miami, Arizona and Minnesota as well as FSU.
- Joe made All-Metro
First Team in basketball during his senior year. He led his team to
the semifinals of the 2001 state championships.
- Joe dated former
Miss USA Chelsea Cooley in 2006.
- Joe’s proclivity
for hitting to the opposite field in the minors prompted some teams
to concoct a backwards shift.
- Joe’s “tutor”
during his first spring training was veteran backstop Tom Prince.
- Joe played for
the U.S. team in the 2003 Futures Game. He also played for Team USA
in the Olympic qualifying tournament that year.
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David Wright, 2003 Just Minors

BJ Surhoff, 1987 Leaf
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