Byron Buxton bobblehead could rise in value based on Home Run Derby success
Minnesota Twins' Byron Buxton reacts after hitting a foul out to end the bottom of the ninth inning of a baseball game against the Tampa Bay Rays on July 6 in Minneapolis.
Abbie Parr | AP File
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Audio transcript
NINA MOINI: Well, we are right in the thick of summer sports, with the Twins and the Lynx both wrapping up the first half of their seasons. And joining us with the latest sports news are Minnesota Now sports contributors Wally Langfellow and Eric Nelson. Hi, guys. Happy Monday.
ERIC NELSON: Yeah, same to you, Nina.
WALLY LANGFELLOW: Happy Monday, Nina.
NINA MOINI: [LAUGHS]
It is Monday. We are at a new week. And so the Twins, you guys, I understand won two of their three games against the Pittsburgh Pirates this last weekend. It was kind of nasty with that smoke out. But I saw a lot of pictures from folks that it seemed like it was nice games to be at anyway, Wally. How's the first half of their season been?
WALLY LANGFELLOW: Well, nice in that they filled the stadium on both Friday and Saturday. They had their first sellout of the year on Friday night. Yeah, that was a good thing. And they won, which was another good thing. That was Friday night, 2 to 1, in what was really deemed a huge pitcher's duel. And I think the Friday night crowd was helped by the fact that they had Nelly doing a concert afterwards.
NINA MOINI: That's right.
WALLY LANGFELLOW: So that was a two-for-one if you were going to the game. And then Saturday was Byron Buxton Bobblehead Day. So they gave away bobbleheads to fans coming into the game. I think it was the first 10,000, if I'm not mistaken.
NINA MOINI: OK, those are both big events, for sure.
WALLY LANGFELLOW: Those are biggies. And that tends to draw people in. And then Byron Buxton, he helped accommodate the situation by hitting for the cycle. In other words, he had a single, a double, a triple, and a home run, which is a very rare commodity in baseball. And so he put on a show for fans. And he's had a great year. And Eric's going to talk more about that in a minute.
But then yesterday, Twins lost the final game of the series. And let's not forget, Pittsburgh is a last place team. So it was important that the Twins at least won two out of three. And they did. So they go into the break 11 and 1/2 games out of first place. And they find themselves a half game ahead of both Kansas City and Cleveland in the division.
And here's the rub now. Starting this week, after the All-Star festivities are over, on Friday, they go and play another last place team. They play against Colorado, which is the worst team in baseball this year. They've only won 22 of their first 96 games this year. They're 22 and 74. So they go to Denver to play Colorado. And then they have to go and play the Dodgers, the best record in baseball. That starts a week from today. But important for them to have this rest and then go into Colorado and at least take two out of three from the Bad News Bears that are currently playing as the Colorado Rockies.
NINA MOINI: Yeah, that's a big swing from the basically worst right now to the best. But, Eric, what has been going on with Byron Buxton? It's been a good season for him.
ERIC NELSON: Yeah, it really has. Byron is one of two Minnesota Twins, Nina, going to the All-Star game, which is in Atlanta. Joe Ryan is the other. He's a pitcher. And for Buxton, simply put, it's a homecoming. He grew up in Baxley, Georgia, which is a dot on the map. Population 4.945. And this town is 203 miles southeast of Atlanta. So I'm guessing a good chunk of Baxley, Georgia, will be in the Peachtree City to see Byron Buxton. This will be a second All-Star game for Buxton.
And tonight, he's part of the first-ever Home Run Derby for him. It's an annual event for Major League Baseball. That'll be at Truist Park in Atlanta. And I know, Nina, you love home runs. This will be the ultimate tater show. Everybody's trying to hit taters tonight. We'll see how Buxton does. He's certainly got the talent to maybe win this thing, like Justin Morneau did a few years ago for the Twins at Yankee Stadium.
But I think with Byron Buxton, he's been with Minnesota since 2015. But he's had a checkered career. He's been constantly injured. And this season, though, that has not been the narrative. He's played in 78 of the Twins' 96 games, and he's been outstanding. 21 home runs, 56 RBI. He's fantastic with the glove in center field. And as Wally said, he hit for the cycle against Pittsburgh, first time ever at Target Field. The ballpark's been around since 2010. That's how rare it is to get a single, a double, a triple, and a home run in the same game. So those bobbleheads that people got before the game--
NINA MOINI: Yeah.
ERIC NELSON: And there's always a value to bobbleheads. The Royce Lewis one is $40, I was told, on eBay.
NINA MOINI: Oh!
ERIC NELSON: The value of the Byron Buxton bobblehead has gone up after the cycle. If he wins the Home Run Derby, it will go up even more. And if he has a big night tomorrow in Atlanta, that bobblehead might be worth a couple hundred bucks.
NINA MOINI: Yeah. Hopefully, it's tater time for Byron. We'll see.
ERIC NELSON: [LAUGHS]
NINA MOINI: So, Wally, when we talk about the Twins, your vibes are kind of like, womp-womp. But the Lynx also lost Saturday in Chicago. They're supposed to be our reliable winners. They lost against Hopkins native Paige Bueckers. I mean, what happened there? What's been going on in the WNBA?
WALLY LANGFELLOW: Well, let's start with the Lynx. As you said, on Saturday, they lost to Chicago. So they lost their last couple of games. They also lost to Phoenix earlier in the week. And the players are a little bit disgusted. I know, Cheryl Reeve, the head coach, mentioned it as well. They had a really difficult schedule as far as number of games in a short amount of time. They played 11 games in 21 days, which is a lot.
And so coming off of that, again, they lost those two. But they're still 18 and 4. They still have the best record in the WNBA, which as they head into the All-Star break, which is this coming weekend, they're in really good shape. I don't think that that's anything to be concerned about at this point. But I think that the fact that they have some time off during the All-Star break, that'll definitely help them. Now, you mentioned Paige Bueckers.
NINA MOINI: Yeah, I said that wrong. So Paige Bueckers and Caitlin Clark are heroes. They faced off.
[LAUGHS]
WALLY LANGFELLOW: Yes. Well, while they played against each other yesterday. And Paige Bueckers got the better of it as far as scoring goes. She had 21 points. She plays for Dallas. Caitlin Clark plays for Indiana. But Caitlin Clark and Indiana won the basketball game in front of over 17,000 people in Indianapolis. And Caitlin Clark had a tremendous game, 14 points and 13 assists, which is outstanding.
NINA MOINI: Wow.
WALLY LANGFELLOW: So, yeah, fun stuff. And as I said, the All-Star game coming up. And they'll both be playing in it. And of course, Napheesa Collier from the Lynx will also be playing in it as well. And they go into the break, the Lynx do, with the best record in the WNBA. I think they can hang their hats on that.
NINA MOINI: Sure. So, Eric, the Target USA Cup soccer tournament is underway in Blaine this week. Will you be there?
ERIC NELSON: Yes, I will. I'm going to go out on Wednesday. And, boy, this is a global gathering for youth sports.
NINA MOINI: Yes, I've been.
ERIC NELSON: --National Sports Center in Blaine. Literally, Blaine is the center of the soccer universe for about nine days.
NINA MOINI: Yeah.
ERIC NELSON: And this is a milestone, 40th annual USA Cup. So you have over 1,250 teams competing-- that's a record-- representing 17 countries and 27 states. Now, I did talk to a person connected with the Cup about a week and a half ago. Some countries are not coming because of the current circumstances regarding immigration in the US. So they're not coming.
But still, it's going to be a record turnout. Also, 525 referees from all over the world will be at this tournament. And you go back four decades ago, this USA Cup-- I believe it was the Schwan's tournament back then-- very humble beginnings. They had a small tournament, just a few fields. Now the National Sports Center has over 60 fields.
NINA MOINI: Wow.
ERIC NELSON: And they're going to have the opening ceremonies tomorrow night. And I've been to this. My kid played in it many years ago. This is equivalent to what you see at the World Cup or the Olympics. If you have a chance to get into Blaine tomorrow and the parking is free, it is a great scene. It's cultural. It's colorful. There's pomp, there's circumstance. It's youth sports. It's not quite the pro level yet, where they're trying to gouge you for a bunch of money. It's a great scene. Tomorrow night, opening ceremonies at the Target USA Cup.
NINA MOINI: Yeah. And if you think about just how much soccer here has grown in the last 40 years or so, it's a really cool event. I've actually covered it before, believe it or not. Well, I wish we had more time, you guys. But I appreciate you coming by, as always. Hope you have a great week.
WALLY LANGFELLOW: All right--
ERIC NELSON: You too, Nina.
NINA MOINI: Thank you. Take care. That was Wally Langfellow, who's the founder of Minnesota Score Sports Magazine and cohost of the sports talk show 10,000 Takes. And of course, Eric Nelson is the other host of that show and Minnesota Vikings NFL reporter for CBS's Eye on Football on Sirius XM.
ERIC NELSON: Yeah, same to you, Nina.
WALLY LANGFELLOW: Happy Monday, Nina.
NINA MOINI: [LAUGHS]
It is Monday. We are at a new week. And so the Twins, you guys, I understand won two of their three games against the Pittsburgh Pirates this last weekend. It was kind of nasty with that smoke out. But I saw a lot of pictures from folks that it seemed like it was nice games to be at anyway, Wally. How's the first half of their season been?
WALLY LANGFELLOW: Well, nice in that they filled the stadium on both Friday and Saturday. They had their first sellout of the year on Friday night. Yeah, that was a good thing. And they won, which was another good thing. That was Friday night, 2 to 1, in what was really deemed a huge pitcher's duel. And I think the Friday night crowd was helped by the fact that they had Nelly doing a concert afterwards.
NINA MOINI: That's right.
WALLY LANGFELLOW: So that was a two-for-one if you were going to the game. And then Saturday was Byron Buxton Bobblehead Day. So they gave away bobbleheads to fans coming into the game. I think it was the first 10,000, if I'm not mistaken.
NINA MOINI: OK, those are both big events, for sure.
WALLY LANGFELLOW: Those are biggies. And that tends to draw people in. And then Byron Buxton, he helped accommodate the situation by hitting for the cycle. In other words, he had a single, a double, a triple, and a home run, which is a very rare commodity in baseball. And so he put on a show for fans. And he's had a great year. And Eric's going to talk more about that in a minute.
But then yesterday, Twins lost the final game of the series. And let's not forget, Pittsburgh is a last place team. So it was important that the Twins at least won two out of three. And they did. So they go into the break 11 and 1/2 games out of first place. And they find themselves a half game ahead of both Kansas City and Cleveland in the division.
And here's the rub now. Starting this week, after the All-Star festivities are over, on Friday, they go and play another last place team. They play against Colorado, which is the worst team in baseball this year. They've only won 22 of their first 96 games this year. They're 22 and 74. So they go to Denver to play Colorado. And then they have to go and play the Dodgers, the best record in baseball. That starts a week from today. But important for them to have this rest and then go into Colorado and at least take two out of three from the Bad News Bears that are currently playing as the Colorado Rockies.
NINA MOINI: Yeah, that's a big swing from the basically worst right now to the best. But, Eric, what has been going on with Byron Buxton? It's been a good season for him.
ERIC NELSON: Yeah, it really has. Byron is one of two Minnesota Twins, Nina, going to the All-Star game, which is in Atlanta. Joe Ryan is the other. He's a pitcher. And for Buxton, simply put, it's a homecoming. He grew up in Baxley, Georgia, which is a dot on the map. Population 4.945. And this town is 203 miles southeast of Atlanta. So I'm guessing a good chunk of Baxley, Georgia, will be in the Peachtree City to see Byron Buxton. This will be a second All-Star game for Buxton.
And tonight, he's part of the first-ever Home Run Derby for him. It's an annual event for Major League Baseball. That'll be at Truist Park in Atlanta. And I know, Nina, you love home runs. This will be the ultimate tater show. Everybody's trying to hit taters tonight. We'll see how Buxton does. He's certainly got the talent to maybe win this thing, like Justin Morneau did a few years ago for the Twins at Yankee Stadium.
But I think with Byron Buxton, he's been with Minnesota since 2015. But he's had a checkered career. He's been constantly injured. And this season, though, that has not been the narrative. He's played in 78 of the Twins' 96 games, and he's been outstanding. 21 home runs, 56 RBI. He's fantastic with the glove in center field. And as Wally said, he hit for the cycle against Pittsburgh, first time ever at Target Field. The ballpark's been around since 2010. That's how rare it is to get a single, a double, a triple, and a home run in the same game. So those bobbleheads that people got before the game--
NINA MOINI: Yeah.
ERIC NELSON: And there's always a value to bobbleheads. The Royce Lewis one is $40, I was told, on eBay.
NINA MOINI: Oh!
ERIC NELSON: The value of the Byron Buxton bobblehead has gone up after the cycle. If he wins the Home Run Derby, it will go up even more. And if he has a big night tomorrow in Atlanta, that bobblehead might be worth a couple hundred bucks.
NINA MOINI: Yeah. Hopefully, it's tater time for Byron. We'll see.
ERIC NELSON: [LAUGHS]
NINA MOINI: So, Wally, when we talk about the Twins, your vibes are kind of like, womp-womp. But the Lynx also lost Saturday in Chicago. They're supposed to be our reliable winners. They lost against Hopkins native Paige Bueckers. I mean, what happened there? What's been going on in the WNBA?
WALLY LANGFELLOW: Well, let's start with the Lynx. As you said, on Saturday, they lost to Chicago. So they lost their last couple of games. They also lost to Phoenix earlier in the week. And the players are a little bit disgusted. I know, Cheryl Reeve, the head coach, mentioned it as well. They had a really difficult schedule as far as number of games in a short amount of time. They played 11 games in 21 days, which is a lot.
And so coming off of that, again, they lost those two. But they're still 18 and 4. They still have the best record in the WNBA, which as they head into the All-Star break, which is this coming weekend, they're in really good shape. I don't think that that's anything to be concerned about at this point. But I think that the fact that they have some time off during the All-Star break, that'll definitely help them. Now, you mentioned Paige Bueckers.
NINA MOINI: Yeah, I said that wrong. So Paige Bueckers and Caitlin Clark are heroes. They faced off.
[LAUGHS]
WALLY LANGFELLOW: Yes. Well, while they played against each other yesterday. And Paige Bueckers got the better of it as far as scoring goes. She had 21 points. She plays for Dallas. Caitlin Clark plays for Indiana. But Caitlin Clark and Indiana won the basketball game in front of over 17,000 people in Indianapolis. And Caitlin Clark had a tremendous game, 14 points and 13 assists, which is outstanding.
NINA MOINI: Wow.
WALLY LANGFELLOW: So, yeah, fun stuff. And as I said, the All-Star game coming up. And they'll both be playing in it. And of course, Napheesa Collier from the Lynx will also be playing in it as well. And they go into the break, the Lynx do, with the best record in the WNBA. I think they can hang their hats on that.
NINA MOINI: Sure. So, Eric, the Target USA Cup soccer tournament is underway in Blaine this week. Will you be there?
ERIC NELSON: Yes, I will. I'm going to go out on Wednesday. And, boy, this is a global gathering for youth sports.
NINA MOINI: Yes, I've been.
ERIC NELSON: --National Sports Center in Blaine. Literally, Blaine is the center of the soccer universe for about nine days.
NINA MOINI: Yeah.
ERIC NELSON: And this is a milestone, 40th annual USA Cup. So you have over 1,250 teams competing-- that's a record-- representing 17 countries and 27 states. Now, I did talk to a person connected with the Cup about a week and a half ago. Some countries are not coming because of the current circumstances regarding immigration in the US. So they're not coming.
But still, it's going to be a record turnout. Also, 525 referees from all over the world will be at this tournament. And you go back four decades ago, this USA Cup-- I believe it was the Schwan's tournament back then-- very humble beginnings. They had a small tournament, just a few fields. Now the National Sports Center has over 60 fields.
NINA MOINI: Wow.
ERIC NELSON: And they're going to have the opening ceremonies tomorrow night. And I've been to this. My kid played in it many years ago. This is equivalent to what you see at the World Cup or the Olympics. If you have a chance to get into Blaine tomorrow and the parking is free, it is a great scene. It's cultural. It's colorful. There's pomp, there's circumstance. It's youth sports. It's not quite the pro level yet, where they're trying to gouge you for a bunch of money. It's a great scene. Tomorrow night, opening ceremonies at the Target USA Cup.
NINA MOINI: Yeah. And if you think about just how much soccer here has grown in the last 40 years or so, it's a really cool event. I've actually covered it before, believe it or not. Well, I wish we had more time, you guys. But I appreciate you coming by, as always. Hope you have a great week.
WALLY LANGFELLOW: All right--
ERIC NELSON: You too, Nina.
NINA MOINI: Thank you. Take care. That was Wally Langfellow, who's the founder of Minnesota Score Sports Magazine and cohost of the sports talk show 10,000 Takes. And of course, Eric Nelson is the other host of that show and Minnesota Vikings NFL reporter for CBS's Eye on Football on Sirius XM.
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