MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — The Minnesota Twins will place a bronze statue of retired catcher Joe Mauer outside Target Field.
Mauer’s statue will be the eighth at the ballpark, all designed by Minnesota-based artist Bill Mack. The new statue will be unveiled at some point next season.
The announcement was made during a pregame ceremony Saturday honoring Mauer’s induction last month into baseball's Hall of Fame. He was joined on the field by fellow St. Paul natives and Hall of Famers Jack Morris and Paul Molitor.
Molitor made the announcement of the statue.
Drafted No. 1 overall in 2001, Mauer spent his entire 15-year career with his hometown team. He won three batting titles as a catcher and was voted the 2009 American League MVP.
During Saturday's ceremony, Mauer received a standing ovation from the Target Field crowd and thanked the fans and others during his remarks. He made a special call-out to the Twins fans who made the trip to Cooperstown despite the travel disruptions that resulted in some fans having to rent cars and drive after flights were canceled.
Mauer also took photos with fans on the concourse before the game, and his Hall of Fame plaque was on display at the stadium.
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Former Minnesota Twins player Joe Mauer speaks during a ceremony honoring his induction into the National Baseball Hall of Fame before a baseball game between the Chicago White Sox and the Twins, Saturday, Aug. 3, 2024, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Matt Krohn)
Former Minnesota Twins player Joe Mauer acknowledges the crowd during a ceremony honoring his induction into the National Baseball Hall of Fame before a baseball game between the Chicago White Sox and the Twins, Saturday, Aug. 3, 2024, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Matt Krohn)
PESHAWAR, Pakistan (AP) — A roadside bomb hit a vehicle carrying officers assigned to protect health workers conducting a polio immunization drive in a former stronghold of the Pakistani Taliban in northwestern Pakistan on Monday, wounding six officers and three civilians, officials said.
No polio workers were hurt in the attack in South Waziristan, a district in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, local police official Tahrir Sarfraz said.
He said no one has claimed responsibility for the attack, which apparently targeted police.
Anti-polio campaigns in Pakistan are regularly marred by violence. Militants target vaccination teams and police assigned to protect them, falsely claiming that the campaigns are a Western conspiracy to sterilize children.
The latest attack came hours after Pakistan launched a drive to vaccinate 30 million children against polio. Since January, Pakistan has reported 17 new cases, jeopardizing decades of efforts to eliminate polio in the country.
Pakistan and neighboring Afghanistan are the only countries in which the spread of polio has never been stopped.
The potentially fatal, paralyzing disease mostly strikes children under age 5 and typically spreads through contaminated water.
A health worker administers a polio vaccine to a child in a downtown area of Lahore, Pakistan, Monday, Sept. 9, 2024. (AP Photo/K.M. Chaudary)
A health worker administers a polio vaccine to a child at a school in Peshawar, Pakistan, Monday, Sept. 9, 2024. (AP Photo/Muhammad Sajjad)
A health worker administers a polio vaccine to a child in a market in downtown area of Lahore, Pakistan, Monday, Sept. 9, 2024. (AP Photo/K.M. Chaudary)
A police officer stands guard as a health worker, right, administers a polio vaccine to a child in a neighbourhood of Peshawar, Pakistan, Monday, Sept. 9, 2024. (AP Photo/Muhammad Sajjad)
