Byron Buxton, Leadership, and Cultivating Clubhouse Culture

2 hours ago, Blyleven2011 said:

IMO  , the last true leader the twins franchise has had is puckett  , he led on the field and off the field and was an ambassador for twins in all venues of the major leagues ...

I would say Nelson Cruz was a very good leader looking from the outside.

1 hour ago, Riverbrian said:

Clubhouse leadership? 

Some are quiet leaders... Some are vocal leaders. How that translates to the other players in the locker room is hard for those in the clubhouse to quantify and basically impossible for us outsiders to quantify. 

Does leadership mean good guy? I don't know if he is a good guy. I have no idea if he kicks puppies or feeds them the best puppy chow in the world. 

All I know... Byron Buxton is a Minnesota Twin. He's been a Twin for a long time with more to come. He plays for my team. I wish him health and everything that he wants to accomplish on the baseball field and in his personal life.

Hopefully he provides leadership and inspiration for his teammates along the way.

At the same time, I hope that (insert name of young player here) provides leadership and inspiration for his teammates along the way. 

Play Well... Play Hard... Put the work in. The leadership thing will take care of itself during the journey by helping the team win games regardless of experience.   

I would agree with this entirely.  We as fans don't really know all of the things that are going on inside the clubhouse and who people really look up to.  People require different types of leadership.  For some, the best leaders are fiery and public, but others respond better to the good friend or the quiet approach.  We also only know the outside things that are public, and sometimes, that's probably best. 

I do agree that Buxton has the accomplishments, seems like a good guy, and has seemingly bonded well with CC, which would certainly speak well to his potential as a leader.  I would be curious what the crossover is in leadership between the hitters and pitchers, or if they pretty much operate in their own worlds. 

4 hours ago, Mark G said:

What I noticed the most in recent years about Buck is that not only has he been a good man in the clubhouse, etc., but he formed a bond with CC when he first came, showing the younger guys how to build relationships.  He could have been cool to the superstar who waltzed in and took over the image as being the best player on the team, but he embraced CC and between them they have been a really positive influence all around.  Shows a lot of class and professionalism, and I salute him for it.  

38 minutes ago, Rod Carews Birthday said:

I would agree with this entirely.  We as fans don't really know all of the things that are going on inside the clubhouse and who people really look up to.  People require different types of leadership.  For some, the best leaders are fiery and public, but others respond better to the good friend or the quiet approach.  We also only know the outside things that are public, and sometimes, that's probably best. 

I do agree that Buxton has the accomplishments, seems like a good guy, and has seemingly bonded well with CC, which would certainly speak well to his potential as a leader.  I would be curious what the crossover is in leadership between the hitters and pitchers, or if they pretty much operate in their own worlds. 

As others have noted, it's hard to get a read on this outside the clubhouse, but these comments seem on target. As RCB notes, different people need different types of leadership. Significant in what MG says is that Buxton and Correa don't seem to have fought for the "Team Leader" title. Rather, their leadership styles seem to complement each other and they accept that in each other. In a group of 25-40 people, that's important. On MG's hitter/pitcher question, one gets the sense that Lopez is the cerebral leader of that group, bringing another dimension.