I had a chance to talk to Paul Molitor before Thursday's Kernels game. We talked about his role with the Twins organization and, of course, the subject of Byron Buxton was raised.

 

“He’s just a rare individual with a skill set that’s off the charts,” Molitor said of Buxton. “I saw him last year in instructional ball for a little bit and you could see the rawness of a high school kid. But somehow this winter I think he put a lot of time into conditioning and preparation. He was much more advanced this spring than I expected him to be and he’s been able to carry it, undoubtedly, into the first nine or 10 weeks of the season.”

 

The link below will take you to the article on MSR.

 

Hall of Famer Molitor mentoring Kernels

I had a chance to talk to Paul Molitor before Thursday's Kernels game.

 

You are the winner!

Dedication to becoming better is important. Fort Myers, pronto.

You are the winner!

 

I'm not one to get "starstruck," but yes, having Paul Molitor agree to sit and talk baseball with me for a few minutes was pretty cool for a middle-aged rookie writer like me. I could have listened to him for hours.

 

The quotes in the linked article were some highlights of the interview, but I may try to post a transcript of the whole thing early next week here at TD and at Knuckleballs. Molitor will be in CR through Monday, so maybe I'll have another opportunity to talk to him before he leaves.

New to the board. And this is a great read to be welcomed to. Very cool that Molitor will be in a Kernels uniform all weekend.

 

Being from the CR listening area, I try to catch most Kernels games on the radio. Fun team to watch w/ the brand new affiliation. Stadium environment has been great this season as well.

New to the board. And this is a great read to be welcomed to. Very cool that Molitor will be in a Kernels uniform all weekend.

 

Being from the CR listening area, I try to catch most Kernels games on the radio. Fun team to watch w/ the brand new affiliation. Stadium environment has been great this season as well.

 

First, welcome to Twins Daily!

 

Second, not only will Molitor be in a Kernels uniform all weekend, but tonight (Friday) is one of the "special jersey" nights where all of the jerseys are auctioned off during the game for a charity (Salvation Army, tonight).

 

I would be surprised if Molitor isn't wearing one of the Salvation Army jerseys to be auctioned off. If that's the case, you might not only be able to SEE Molitor in a Kernels uniform, but BUY that jersey and probably get it autographed by him after the game.

Edited June 7, 201313 yr by Steven BUHR

Cool that you got to sit down with him. Even though I'm a Gardy apologist, I wouldn't especially mind seeing him fired if it means that Molitor is the one who steps in and takes over.

 

Speed is under- and overrated, simultaneously. You see some guys get drafted based off of it almost exclusively. To see Buxton's hit tool this advanced this early, and for Molitor (among others) to rave about his speed so highly, it's enough to make any member of the Twins Territory salivate. It's downright dangerous; to both the AL Central and baseball at large. I was high on Buxton to begin with, and even I wasn't expecting this much production/hype.

I get the impression that perhaps Molitor just loves teaching the game. That is why he moves around and doesn't care about managing or being an actual coach.

I don't think there is anyone in the organization whose opinion I take more seriously than Molitor's. So this is awesome to hear.