Atlanta – Almost all the kids who swung a bat in the Georgia in the 1990s, idolize Jones. The SWITCH MVP, with smooth effort and to do everything braves of the era dynasty, inspired a generation of young ball players. Most continued to careers in finance, real estate, car sales or anything that the old legends of the small league are.
But a young fan of Chipper set up his fandom brave to the major leagues … and back here in Atlanta. Byron BUSTON – An All -Star in 2025 for the twins of Minnesota and the competitor of the Monday derby, grew up in Baxley, a few hundred kilometers south of Atlanta, Idolatrant Jones, Rafael Furcal and other brave from the 90s.
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“I played the inner field a little more … I always thought that I was going to grow up and to change as they did,” Buxton told Yahoo Sports on Monday during the media day of the stars, then laughed. “I sort of realized once I arrived in high school, I was not going to be one of these two.”
Instead, Buxton moved to the outside field and completely swayed on the right side of the plate, and things have worked fairly well since then. One of the most appreciated perspectives of his time leaving high school, Buxton was drafted second in the general classification by Minnesota in 2012. Since then, he has an electrified baseball with his rare combination of speed, power and athletics … when he is on the ground.
The blow on Buxton – and it is difficult, because it is largely out of control – is that it simply cannot remain in the alignment. During his first 10 MLB seasons before 2025, he reached the brand of 100 games in just two of them.
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When he is in the game, Buxton still plays in the stars, but he had trouble staying in the game. He wasted time due to a concussion, a wounded wrist, a wounded toe, migraines, a thumbs up, two knee surgeries … It is almost easier to list the parts of the body he did not injure.
“I have not been in good health in the past two years,” he said. “My biggest goal was to be able to go to the stadium and tell the manager that I want to play at the Field Center every day, and the only way to do it was for me to be healthy.”
Byron BUSTON is healthy and is developing in the moment while he is preparing to participate in the Home Run Derby and in the stars match in his original state. (Hassan Ahmad / Yahoo Sports)
(Hassan Ahmad / Yahoo Sports)
Fortunately, this year, everything clicks. Buxton stole his 100th career base in May against the Guardians, making him the third player in the history of the Twins franchise – after Kirby Puckett and Torii Hunter – with 100 interceptions and 100 circuits. He castigated a circuit of 479 feet in June against the Rangers, the second longer of the season. And on Saturday, he hit the cycle against Pittsburgh – The day of Byron Buxton Bobblehead, nothing less.
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Naturally, it’s Buxton, everything did not go well. He took ground in his hand during the first round on Wednesday, which forced the manager Rocco Baldelli to withdraw him from the game and put his participation in this week’s stars festivities in momentary doubt. But the radiographs were negative, and Buxton arrived in Atlanta healthy and ready to embrace the moment.
“Just to be able to grind the last two years and to be myself this year, and have the game of stars here in the original state,” he said, “it’s a great special moment, not only for me, but also for my family.”
He has a family in town of Baxley, and his children will also be there, bringing him towels and Gatorade in the Monday evening derby. From there, it is simply a question of swinging and letting the ball go where it will.
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“You are not too worried about the technique,” he said with a smile. “You just try to get into the groove and hit them. Do not go out there and don’t think too much.”
It is a good philosophy. After all the work he did to get to this point, Buxton won the right – and freedom – simply swing for fences.
