We have a significant retirement to discuss in baseball as Joe Mauer of the Minnesota Twins has elected to retire from the game after playing 15 seasons in the Majors, all of which were with the Twins.

Mauer made his announcement in an open letter to the fans that will run in the Minneapolis Star-Tribune and the St. Paul Pioneer Press. Mauer cited a desire to maintain his health and spending time with his family to retire from the game at age 35. His last contract came to an end this year.

The first overall pick of the 2001 Amateur Draft, Mauer would make his debut in a Twins uniform in 2004 and was cemented as the starting Catcher the following season. In 2006, he would win his first of three Batting Titles, leading all batters with in the American League with a .347 Batting Average. He would win his second Batting Title in 2008 and his third in 2009 with a career high of .365. Mauer would also finish first in On Base Percentage (.444), Slugging Percentage (.587) and OPS (1.031) and he would have a career high 28 Home Runs. For his efforts, Mauer would be named the American League Most Valuable Player. Mauer would continue to be productive with four more seasons over .300 and he would also have a second season (2012) where he would lead the AL in On Base Percentage.

The Catcher retires with 2,123 Hits and a .306 career Batting Average with five Silver Sluggers and three Gold Gloves. He will be eligible for the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2024. It is definitely worth mentioning that Joe Mauer is one of 22 MVPs to remain with one team. The other 21 all entered Cooperstown.

The Hall of Fame candidacy of Joe Mauer is strong. He retires with a decent bWAR of 55.1, which eclipses the average Catcher’s bWAR of 53.5 and he has a higher JAWS of 47.0 than the average Hall of Fame Catcher, which is 44.0. As a former MVP, and being one time regarded as the best in his position bodes well in his favor.

We here at Notinhalloffame.com would like to thank Joe Mauer for the wonderful on field memories and we wish him the best in his post playing career.

The National Toy Hall of Fame has announced that the three new inductees are the Magic 8 Ball, Uno and Pinball. These toys will comprise the Class of 2018.

Going forward they will be on display inside the Strong Museum in Rochester, New York and will join the 65 other honorees. The other Finalists this year were American Girl Dolls, Chalk, Chutes and Ladders, Fisher-Price Corn Popper, Masters of the Universe, Sleds, Tic-Tac-Toe, Tickle Me Elmo and Tudor Electric Football.

The Magic 8 Ball likely saw this induction coming after being a finalist seven previous times. The toy comprising of a floating 20-sided die was first introduced in 1946.

Uno was first developed 50 years ago and is currently the property of Mattell.

Pinball machines have been around for decades enjoying incredible popularity in the 1970’s. There are continued pinball competitions being held across the country.

The Songwriters Hall of Fame have announced their Finalists for the 2019 Class.

The Performing Finalists are:

Cat Stevens: Stevens (now known as Yusuf Islam) had four top ten hits. The British Singer/Songwriter was chosen for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2014.

Chrissie Hynde: The lead singer of the Pretenders wrote many of her bands hit songs including “Brass in Pocket”, “Don’t Get Me Wrong”, “Middle of the Road” and “My City was Gone”. They were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2005.

Jeff Lynne: The lead singer of ELO (Electric Light Orchestra) was also the lead songwriter and producer for the band. They were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2017.

Jimmy Cliff: The reggae star from Jamaica was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2010.

John Prine: This is a big year for the Country/Folk Singer/Songwriter as he was also nominated for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame this year.

Lloyd Price: Inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1988, Lloyd Price had multiple R&B Hits, quite a few of which crossed over to the mainstream.

Mariah Carey: It isn’t widely known but many of her hits (and there have been eighteen alone that went #1) were written or co-written by Carey herself.

Mike Love: The co-founder of the Beach Boys co-wrote 35 songs (officially) and claims to have co-written another 40. For those wondering, Brian Wilson was inducted in 2000.

Missy Elliott: Should Elliott be chosen, she would become the first female rapper inducted to the Songwriters Hall of Fame. She had five top ten hits.

The Eurythmics: Comprising of Annie Lennox and Dave Stewart, the British duo had three top ten hits with one, “Sweet Dreams are Made of This” going to the top.

Tommy James: James led his group, Tommy James and the Shondells to multiple hits in the late 60’s and early 70’s.

Vince Gill: Inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2007, Vince Gill had five #1 songs and 50 that charted onto the Country Charts.

The Non-Performing Finalists are:

Bobby Hart & Tommy Boyce: Hart & Boyce wrote the songs for the Monkees and also had hits written for Jay & the Americans and Paul Revere & the Raiders.

Dan Penn & Spencer Oldham: Penn & Oldham wrote many soul hits in the 1960’s.

Dallas Austin: Austin wrote R&B and Pop hits for artists like TLC, Madonna and BoyzIIMen.

Dean Dillon: Dillon is already a member of the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame and he wrote hits for George Jones and many hits for George Strait.

Dean Pitchford and Michael Gore: The duo collaborated on the Fame Soundtrack and won an Oscar for Fame. They would also write hits for Whitney Houston.

Jack Tempchin: Tempchin collaborated with the Eagles on some of their hits and also penned hits for Johnny Rivers and Emmylou Harris.

Jerry Fuller: Fuller wrote hits for Ricky Nelson, Gary Puckett & Union Gap, Reba McEntire and Tom Jones.

Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty: The pair collaborated on many musicals on Broadway.

P.F. Sloan & Steve Barri: Sloan and Barri wrote hits for The Searchers, The Grass Roots, Johnny Rivers, The Turtles, Herman’s Hermits and the Mamas and the Papas.

Roger Nichols: Nichols wrote many Adult Contemporary hits.

Russell Brown and Irwin Levine: Brown and Levine wrote all of the hits for Tony Orlando and Dawn.

Tom T. Hall: Hall was a country music writer whose compositions spawned twelve number one hits on the Country Music Charts.

Six of these nominees will be chosen and will comprise the 50th Songwriters Hall of Fame Class.   The ceremony will take place on June 13 in New York City.

It is a pretty big day in the Baseball Hall of Fame as the Today’s Game Era Committee has announced their 10 nominees for the Hall. This is one of four committees, which includes the Modern Baseball, Golden Days and Early Baseball. Specifically, the Today’s Game Era Committee comprises candidates whose contributions occurred from 1988 on. Along with the Modern Baseball Committee the Today’s Era Committee meets twice in a five year period. The last time they met was in 2016 where Commissioner Bud Selig and longtime Atlanta Braves Executive, John Scherholz.

The nominees include six former players, three managers and an owner.

Let’s take a look at the nominees!

Harold Baines: A six time All Star, Baines was an elite Designated Hitter who had 384 Home Runs and had 2,866 Hits over his career. Baines played 14 of 22 his seasons with the Chicago White Sox and he also spent time with Baltimore, Oakland, Texas and Cleveland. He is ranked #39 on Notinhalloffame.com.

Albert Belle: Belle was one of the most feared power hitters for a time and he would blast 381 Home Runs and he would lead the American League in that category in 1995. The five time All Star was a three time RBI leader and he was in the top three in AL voting three years in a row (1994-96). Belle played for Cleveland, the Chicago White Sox and Baltimore. He is ranked #56 on Notinhalloffame.com.

Joe Carter: Carter smacked 396 Home Runs but it was one that he hit in Game 6 to win the World Series for the Toronto Blue Jays that he will always be remembered most for. He was a six time all star who also played for the Chicago Cubs, Cleveland Indians, San Diego Padres, Baltimore Orioles and San Francisco Giants. He is not ranked on Notinhalloffame.com.

Will Clark: Clark was best known for his hitting prowess as a member of the San Francisco Giants where he would have four top five finishes in American League MVP voting. Clark retired with a .303 Batting Average with 284 Home Runs. He also played for Texas, Baltimore and St. Louis. He is ranked #58 on Notinhalloffame.com.

Orel Hershiser: The long time Los Angeles Dodger won the Cy Young in 1988 and was in the top four in voting three times. He was a three time All Star who won 204 Games and he also played for Cleveland, San Francisco and the New York Mets. He would be the MVP in the Dodgers 1988 World Series win and would later be the ALCS MVP for Cleveland in 1995. He is ranked #75 on Notinhalloffame.com.

Davey Johnson: Johnson helmed the New York Mets to the 1986 World Series and he was a two time Manager of the Year. He compiled a 1,372 and 1,071 record over stints with New York, Cincinnati, Baltimore, the Los Angeles Dodgers and Washington.

Charlie Manuel: Manuel would take the Philadelphia Phillies to back-to-back World Series appearances winning the first one in 2008. Manuel won an even 1,000 Games against 826 losses and he also managed the Cleveland Indians over his career.

Lou Piniella: Piniella was a pretty good player in his own right who played 20 years as a player but he is nominated here for his work as a Manager. He was a three time Manager of the Year who took the Cincinnati Reds to a surprise World Series win 1990. He also managed the New York Yankees, Seattle Mariners, Tampa Bay Devil Rays and the Chicago Cubs and he had a 1,835 and 1,713 record.

Lee Smith: Smith at one time was the all-time leader in Saves (with 478) and he was a seven time All Star who played for Chicago Cubs, Boston, St. Louis, the New York Yankees, Baltimore, California, Cincinnati and Montreal. He is ranked #35 on Notinhalloffame.com.

George Steinbrenner: The iconic and late owner of the New York Yankees was certainly hands on and wanted to win and as an owner the Yankees would win seven times.

Voting will take place on December 9 at the Winter Meetings in Las Vegas.