Byron Buxton Joins Twinkie Town to Talk about the 2023 Season and Blizzards

Mar 27, 2023 - 1:00 PM

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Hello everyone, exciting news! To kick off the first week of the season, Byron Buxton was kind enough to join me for a brief interview.

Read below, or subscribe to our new podcast, Twins Talk, where we’ll be featuring weekly recaps and rotating roundtable of Twinkie Town writers, other Twins media members, and a few other players throughout the season. We have exciting things planned for the new podcast, so please subscribe. If you want to listen to the interview with Byron, the links below will take you to your podcast platform of choice where you can hear it in his own words. Without any further ado, let’s get to the Twins All-Star.

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This interview has been lightly edited for clarity.

Ben Jones: We are thrilled to be joined today by Twins All Star center fielder. Byron Buxton. Byron, thanks so much for being here. How are you doing?

Byron Buxton: I’m good. Thanks for having me. I’m doing very well. How about yourself?

Ben: We’re doing great over here. John, why don’t you take it away with the first question?

John Ke: So obviously, there’s the new season coming up everyone wants to know what the team is going to be looking like? We’ve got Carlos Correa and Pablo Lopez coming over in the offseason again, and then Jose Miranda, Joe Ryan, and Jhoan Duran all looking great to build on the rookie seasons, what’s your personal outlook on the 2023 season?

Byron: Ah, you know, for us it’s all about winning. That was the goal that we put since day one that was the goal coming in and we got the pieces to compete with any and everybody in MLB. So for for us it’s just going out there, doing what we’re supposed to do and just playing good baseball and everything else to take care of itself. We’ve got a great group of guys in that clubhouse that bonds well and have the chemistry. When you’ve got that, it gels us together on the field to go out there day in and day out . . . It’s easy to pick each other up after those those bad games and you just keep that train moving. So for me, it’s all about picking each other up and just going out there and playing solid baseball.

Ben: What would you say are your own personal goals for 2023?

Byron: My goal is to definitely play at least 130 games, whatever form or fashion that comes in, but that’s my goal. I want to be out there, I want to play, I want to be there for the team and pick my teammates up. However that is for me to stay out of there, whether that’s in center or DH or whatever, I’m just trying to get get to that 130 mark and see what happens.

John: Yeah, I think we all would love to see that from you. Byron, you mentioned this team, a lot of it is about gelling together and a lot of that comes from the guys up top. Obviously the big move this offseason was Carlos Correa re-signing for the next six years, and a lot has been said about the friendship that you two were able to build last season what would you say is your favorite part about being on a team with a guy like Correa?

Byron: The funnest part about being on a team with Correa is how much better he made not just me, but made the team. He’s such a smart player with the analytics, with defensive purposes, with whatever situation may be. He’s got that that say-so to help us build off of what he’s learned throughout his career, through the playoffs, through the World Series and things like that. He brings in different pieces that most of the team hasn’t experienced and it’s something that we gravitate to and we build off of. Like I said, the bond in the clubhouse is pretty exceptional, so we try to take in everything we can to learn and be the best we can.

Ben: So there’s a lot of rule changes coming this next year with the pitch clock, the bigger bases, everything like that. How do you see any of those affecting your game, if at all?

Byron: Honestly, I’m just here to talk about the partnership with Dairy Queen. It’s an exciting time to go out and get a Blizzard for 85 cents, only though if you have the DQ app. So go download that DQ app so we can get them Blizzards for 85 cents. (Editor’s note: Shout out to Byron for being the consummate company man. Elite promo work)

John: What’s your favorite Blizzard?

Byron: Oreo Cookie Blizzard. Gotta go with that, maybe even with extra cookies.

John: So going back to baseball a little bit, although I do enjoy the Blizzard talk, part of Spring Training is being with young guys as well. Any young guys that have impressed you this Spring?

Byron: We got quite a bit of young guys that I actually had the honor to just hang out with. Didn’t get to play with them yet, but I had the honor to have them over Spring Training and hang out with the guys and speak with them. So for me, it was the relationship I built, to king of get to know who they were. I don’t want to single nobody out, but our farm system has got to be extremely, extremely good. From top to bottom, we have the guys that we know can contribute to the big league club if you stuck them in there today. That’s something that we didn’t have . . . When you have that, it makes that competition here in Spring Training a lot of fun and competitive because those guys are just as hungry as we are to go out there and also show the coaches what they can do. So for me, seeing all of those guys, it’s gonna be a fun time to stay in Minnesota, that’s for sure.

Ben: I think we’ve got one last question for you here. Obviously everybody knows how great you are at baseball. What are your top hobbies you like to do outside of baseball in the offseason?

Byron: I’m low key. I like to go out, I like to hunt and fish. Big family guy, I like to hang out with my boys, hang out with my wife for the most part. We’re blessed enough we’ve got Dairy Queen so I get Dairy Queen quite a bit, to be honest with you.

Ben: Makes sense you fit so well in Minnesota then!

Byron: Aw man, no kidding.

Ben: Anything else you want to say about Dairy Queen and your partnership with them?

Byron: Make sure you have the DQ app. If you don’t got the DQ app, you can’t get the Oreo Blizzard for 85 cents! You might see me one day up there, you might be in the line behind me, never know! But make sure you have the app because I gotta have my Blizzard.

Ben: I know I’ll definitely be getting mine. Byron, thank you for so much for coming on and for telling us about Dairy Queen. Really appreciate your time.

Byron: Thanks for having me.

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Thank you once again to Byron Buxton for joining us and to Dairy Queen for helping us facilitate the interview. As a reminder, fans can enjoy a Blizzard Treat for $0.85, only available in the DQ mobile app from April 10-23.

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