"I was starstruck meeting him" - Joey Votto recalls endearing moment as Joe Mauer inducted to Cooperstown

MLB free agent Joey Votto shared a warm anecdote about former Minnesota Twins star Joe Mauer after Mauer was voted into the Hall of Fame on Tuesday.

Votto, the longtime Cincinnati Reds star, recalled his first interaction with Mauer during an MLB game at the Twins' Target Field.

"At 34 years old, I was starstruck meeting him. Now, he's HOF! Congrats, Joe!" Votto wrote.

Mauer made the cut on his first year on the ballot. He received 76.1% of the votes from the Baseball Writers Association of America.

During his 15-year career, Mauer established himself as one of the best catchers in baseball and won the AL MVP in 2009. He made six All-Star appearances and won the AL batting title three times, along with several other individual awards.

Joe Mauer was selected by the Minnesota Twins in the 2001 MLB draft and made his major league debut in 2004, after two years in the minors. He played his entire career with his hometown club. However, after the 2013 season, he was permanently moved to first base after a string of injury concerns over the years.

Joey Votto, a former NL MVP, is at the tail end of his career as a free agent after 17 years with the Cincinnati Reds.

Joe Mauer gets inducted into HOF by four votes

Minnesota Twins legend Joe Mauer was announced as one of three inductees to the National Baseball Hall of Fame in his first year on the ballot on Tuesday. The star catcher needed 289 votes from the BWAA to be inducted and finished with 293, just four more which got him to 76.1% in the voting.

Texas Rangers legend Adrian Beltre and Colorado Rockies icon Todd Helton occupied the top two spots in the voting. The three players will be enshrined into the HOF in July.