MINNEAPOLIS — Johnny Bench, Iván Rodríguez — and now, Joe Mauer.

Among the precious few catchers who have been skilled enough at their craft to even make it to the Major Leagues, there’s a very select echelon of Hall of Famers. And among those scant few who represent the elite of the elite, there are now only three who stand alone as having been elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame in their first year of eligibility.

Minnesota is the only place Mauer has ever called home, so Cooperstown will have to make do with being the adopted home for one of its newest honorees, whose 15-year career — all for his hometown team — has garnered the ultimate distinction to cap a decorated baseball life littered with accolades.

In his first year of eligibility, Mauer appeared on 76.1% of the ballots cast by members of the Baseball Writers’ Association of America for the Hall of Fame’s Class of 2024, as announced Tuesday evening, clearing the 75% threshold necessary for election alongside fellow first-ballot honoree Adrián Beltré and Rockies legend Todd Helton.

“I definitely don’t take that lightly. It’s an unbelievable honor, one, to join the group, and, two, to join that group [of first-ballot catchers],” Mauer said. “I don’t think it’s fully sunk in, to be honest. I mean, there are so many great players, great catchers in the Hall of Fame. Just thinking of some off the top of my head, Yogi Berra, Roy Campanella — it’s not lost on me.

“It’s unbelievable. I’m still kind of pinching myself to receive that type of news.”

The St. Paul native was the 2009 AL MVP winner, a three-time Gold Glover and six-time All-Star, but Mauer’s candidacy drew its most significant historicity from what he alone accomplished: His three batting titles in 2006, ‘08 and ‘09 while playing the most physically demanding position in the game make him the only AL catcher to win one, let alone three.

Six other players had already gone into the Hall of Fame representing the Minnesota Twins; Mauer will become the seventh, fitting for the man who wore No. 7 for his entire career — a number that will never be worn again by anyone in the organization. The state of Minnesota had already been represented in Cooperstown by four other natives of the North Star State — three of them also hailing from St. Paul: Dave Winfield, Paul Molitor and Jack Morris. (Charles “Chief” Bender, from Crow Wing County, is the fourth to precede Mauer.)