Twins

rom an autographed trading card perspective, Joe Mauer’s career spanned three eras. He was the first pick in the 2001 MLB draft, so he was featured heavily in 2002 card releases. In 2002, autographed cards were still mostly on-card, but some sets were moving towards stickers. Then about a decade of mostly sticker autographs occurred (i.e. the Dark Ages), followed by a slight but noticeable rebirth (hardly a Renaissance) in on-card autos towards the end of his playing career.