Promotion and performance: Byron Buxton delivers Rod Carew-like day to remember
The Twins center fielder hit for the cycle on the day he was featured in a bobblehead giveaway at Target Field. For longtime Twins fans, that should conjure up memories of nearly 50 years ago.
The first 10,000 fans who entered Target Field on Saturday afternoon received a Byron Buxton bobblehead. That meant 16,496 fans — the announced attendance was 26,496 — didn’t get the “Buck Truck” bobble. Buxton, however, rewarded them as well with a day no one will soon forget.
The All-Star center fielder became the first player in the 15-year history of Target Field to hit for the cycle in a 12-4 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates. Buxton went 5-for-5 with two RBI and three runs. This included a single in the first inning, a triple in the second and a double in the third. Buxton came to the plate with a chance to complete the cycle in the fifth inning but only produced another single.
The Twins were up 9-2 after five and there was some thought that manager Rocco Baldelli might remove Buxton to get him rest. This would have been a very Twins-like thing to do, and Buxton is headed to his home state of Georgia to compete in the Home Run Derby on Monday night and the All-Star Game on Tuesday. Buxton also had left Wednesday’s game against the Cubs after being hit by a pitch on his left hand in the first inning.
“I forgot he was going for the cycle for a second,” Baldelli said, “and I was reminded by multiple coaches: Both (hitting coach Matt Borgschulte) and Jayce (Tingler, the Twins’ bench coach) that I might want to leave him in the game. So there was a period before he hit the home run — he was 4-for-4 at the time. … But with everything going on during a game, sometimes I’ll be the one who might miss on a hitting streak or something that’s going on with a particular player.
“Once they reminded me of that, he was going to stay in the game, he was going to get another at-bat, regardless of score. … To complete that, you’ve got to give him the chance to do it. I thank my coaches for that. That would have been something I would have regretted.”
There was a buzz in the crowd as Buxton approached the plate with two outs in the bottom of the seventh inning to face Andrew Heaney. The lefthander got ahead of Buxton with a changeup for a called strike and a sinker that was fouled off. But Buxton thrilled the crowd by hammering an 0-2 curveball 427 feet to center field for his 21st homer of the season and the first cycle of his career.
Although it wasn’t the first time Buxton was the subject of a bobblehead giveaway, he admitted to some nerves before the game. “I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t nervous, just knowing it was bobblehead day,” Buxton said. “Just want to come out and do something good. So to be able to come out on bobblehead day like this and have a day like this is something I won’t forget.”
The Twins have done countless giveaways in their 64 seasons in Minnesota and many of them have featured individual players. But few have delivered a memorable performance on the day in which their name was tied to a promotion.
Buxton did that and moved into select company by doing so.