MINNEAPOLIS (AP) – Joe Mauer is retiring after 15 major league seasons, six all-star games, three gold glove awards, three battles and 2,123 career wins, all with his hometown, the Minnesota Twins.

"Thank you, Minnesota Twins, and thanks to you, fans, for making my career as special and memorable as it is," wrote Mauer in a one-page ad that will appear Sunday in the Minneapolis Star Tribune. "Thanks to you, I can leave the game I love with a full and grateful heart."

Mauer's eight-year, $ 184 million contract expired the day after the end of the World Series, creating a natural break with the game he played with. grew up in St. Paul's, less than 15 km from the baseball fields of downtown Minneapolis that he called home with the Twins.

"The decision was made for my health and my family," wrote Mauer. "The risk of a concussion is still there, and I have been reminded of this season when I missed 30 games because of diving for a flawless ball – that's all that took this time and it was all that I needed to take me back to the struggles I faced in 2013. "

First choice in the 2001 Preliminary Edition at Cretin-Derham Hall High School, the same program that produced the Paul Molitor Hall of Fame, Mauer made his Metrodome debut April 5, 2004 , two weeks before his 21st birthday. He signed his megadeal three weeks before the Twins started playing at Target Field.

Mauer acknowledged in the last season that he still did not know if he was interested in continuing to play, with 5-year-old twin girls at home and a third child on his way to him and his wife , Maddie. Then came the last game of the season, September 30, when he doubled his last game and donned his catcher equipment to symbolically take a new pitch at the top of the ninth inning as he greeted the trimmed crowd. . Few players could say their farewells more than that.

What made the moment so moving was the fact that Mauer was no longer behind the plate since August 19, 2013, when a rude blow broke his mask and triggered a concussion that caused him to lose his temper. forced to go to the first goal.

"The concussion I suffered this season has not only changed my professional life with the move to first base, but has also changed me personally," wrote Mauer.

While his track and field – he had a purse waiting for him to play quarterback at Florida State and was a sniper in the high school basketball team – allowed a relatively smooth transition on defense, the effects of the Head injury has stolen his prowess at the plate for most of the next three years.

As the receiver, the most difficult and dangerous position of the game, Mauer's offensive attack was worthy of the Hall of Fame. In 2006, he became the first receiver to lead the league batting average since 1942. He did it again in 2008 and 2009, when he reached .365 with a base percentage of .444 and a percentage .587 slogging to reach the top. AL in all three categories and wins the MVP award. In Mauer's last 10 games as receiver before the 2013 concussion, he scored 17 wins for 43 defensemen, with three doubles, three homers and nine RBIs.

Staying healthy, however, became a challenge, and his popularity diminished in a state generally very proud of local players because of the size of his contract and the number of his absences.

A knee injury limited his rookie season to 35 games, and a stretched left quadriceps placed him on the disabled list for more than a month in 2007. Back problems have put him aside for the entire month of April 2009, when Mauer managed to hit 28 homers. by far its career peak. In 2011, pain and weakness in both legs prevented him from entering for more than two months.

More: MLB owners will vote next week on the future of Commissioner Rob Manfred

More: Bryce Harper will sign with the Phillies. You can count on that.

His move to first base allowed him to play more often, but between 2014 and 2016, his cumulative average was only 267 and the three highest total of his career shoot-ups came in each of those seasons.

His rebirth took place in 2017, while the Twins went from 59-103 to 85-77, and a place in the AL wild card game, beating 0.305 with 36 doubles, the second highest total of his career. . This made it easier to see Mauer play beyond 2018, but he finally chose to win a .306 batting average and a spot in the top five of the team's career lists in a clear majority offensive categories. Mauer is their all-time leader in doubles and their times in base and their second in success behind Kirby Puckett.