Catcher garnered the most All-Star votes despite playing for a small-market club, which speaks volumes not just about his baseball skills, but his clean-cut image.

The ballots kept rolling in, the numbers adding up, until Joe Mauer realized that he had more All-Star votes than any other player in baseball.

More than Derek Jeter or Albert Pujols.

More than there are people living in the state of Minnesota, where Mauer grew up and now plays pro ball.

Suffice to say, the Twins’ catcher, arriving in Anaheim for Tuesday night’s game, has 5,372,606 reasons to be pleasantly surprised.

“Minnesota is not the biggest market in the world,” he said. “I guess people realize we can play some baseball up here.”

This “aw-shucks” reaction — hometown boy makes good — goes a long way toward explaining Mauer’s unusual popularity.

Two Gold Gloves and last season’s American League most valuable player Award certainly have boosted his image.

But in an era of Tiger Woods and Michael Vick, in a game still shadowed by the legacy of Barry Bonds, something about Mauer resonates with fans to a far greater degree than statistics or awards.

Complete Article at LA Times