Former Minnesota Twins third baseman Corey Koskie spoke with KSTP about Joe Mauer’s historic first-ballot election to the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York.

Koskie shared his immediate thoughts on Mauer making the Hall of Fame, and touched on what makes him so special.

***Click the video box for KSTP’s interview with Corey Koskie***

Koskie and Mauer were teammates in 2004, the season Mauer made his MLB debut. They also got to know each other in spring training years prior.

Mauer (293, 76.1%) joined Johnny Bench and Iván Rodríguez as the only first-ballot picks who primarily were catchers and at 40 became the youngest living Hall of Famer. He got 293 votes (76.1%), four more than the 75% needed, after batting .306 with 143 homers and 906 RBIs in 15 years, all with his hometown Minnesota Twins.

The Associated Press contributed to this story