Twins Go Bananas

Banana Ball took over Target Field this weekend. I was a little sad that I wasn't able to attend a game going into the weekend. I was even sadder when I saw how many of my favorite former Twins showed up. It pretty much took over my Instagram feed over the weekend.

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The first (and only) inductee into The MLBoyfriend Hall of Fame, Joe Mauer threw out the first pitch.

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Brian Dozier, another past MLBoyfriend also showed up. Unfortunately, he struck out, but the fans still loved him.

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Trevor May fared much better, pitching a 1-2-3 inning. I was surprised that May had never been an MLBoyfriend since he had several good years with the Twins--but very few relief pitchers have won the award. I do recommend his YouTube channel for those interested in a behind-the-scenes look at Major League Baseball.

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Justin Morneau retired just as MLBoyfriend was starting up. The 2006 American League MVP and four-time All-Star certainly would have been an MLBoyfriend if the blog had started earlier.

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Last, but far from least, Tony Oliva made an appearance! Seeing one of my Mom's favorite players walk into the field brought back great childhood memories. The 88 year-old Hall of Famer didn't play, but it looks like he did provide a bit of coaching.

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Baseball purists pooh-pooh Banana Ball, but the final game at Target Field had a pretty exciting ending.

Byron Buxton

When one of my all-time favorite players has a very good week, the selection of MLBoyfriend is easy.

Six-time MLBoyfriend winner, Byron Buxton, was on fire last week. He had a .345 batting average and a 1.303 OPS with 6 runs and 7 RBIs. He hit 5 home runs--the most in all of Major League Baseball. He also had 2 stolen bases.

Those stats were enough to win him the American League Player of the Week award. As I've probably mentioned 6 times before, he also gets bonus points around here for being very handsome.

Congratulations, Byron Buxton! You are my MLBoyfriend of the week--for the 7th time!

Byron Buxton

Byron Buxton secured this week's MLBoyfriend title on Saturday, July 12, when he hit for the cycle on his bobblehead day. 

Buxton is an MLBoyfriend long-time favorite. I don' think there's anything another player could have done last week to keep him from his second win of this season after his performance on Saturday--especially after the Twins posted this pic of Buxton holding the home-run ball the completed the cycle:

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Going 5-for-5 and hitting for the cycle in one game can really bump up a player's stats for the week. Buxton had a .588 batting average and a 1.691 OPS for the week!

Congratulations, Byron Buxton! You are my MLBoyfriend of the week.

Byron Buxton

My hometown team, The Minnesota Twins, usually dominate my MLBoyfriend picks. This year, their mediocre start has kept them out of contention. However, they have turned things on in the past week--winning 8 straight games--so, it's finally time to give one of them the honor.

Byron Buxton really shined last week and reminded me why he has wound up on this blog so often. But, before I get to him, I'd like to mention Jhoan Duran was a strong runner-up for the title. The Twins' closer pitched in 4 games last week and scored 1 win and 3 saves. He struck out 6 batters and gave up only 1 hit and 1 walk. For the week, Duran had a 0.50 WHIP and a 0.00 ERA.

As great as Duran was, I think Buck was the catalyst that really got the Twins offense going.

Last week, Buxton had .286 batting average, a 0.880 OPS. Of his 6 hits, he had 1 double, 1 triple and 2 home runs. He scored 6 runs. All very respectable, but not the usual MLBoyfriend level of hitting stats. 

The number that won Buxton the title was that he had 8 RBI. For the 2025 season, the Twins have been in the lower-middle of the rankings for runs scored (18th) and RBI (17th). Last week, they were 8th in both stats. When a team starts batting in and scoring more runs, generally, they win more.

Congratulations, Byron Buxton! You are my MLBoyfriend of the week. It's nice to see you celebrating with your teammate and runner-up MLBoyfriend, Jhoan Duran.

Joe Mauer: MLB & MLBoyfriend Hall Of Fame

Yesterday, Joe Mauer became the first former MLBoyfriend to be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame. 

I was originally going to post the video of the induction ceremony, but, honestly, it's not that exciting. So, instead, let's look at this one I came across of some of Joe's greatest defensive plays. It's much more fun to watch.

Similarly, the pictures from Cooperstown didn't really catch my eye. Instead, here's a few of Joe looking super cute at various times in his career.

Congratulations, Joe Mauer! You are the first inductee into the MLBoyfriend Hall Of Fame!

José Miranda

If you couldn't have predicted that José Miranda was going to be my MLBoyfriend this week, you haven't been paying attention to baseball or this blog. ICYMI, let's go to the videotape.

That's right, Miranda had 12 hits in 12 consecutive at-bats. That ties an MLB record that only 3 other players have achieved--and the last time it was done was over 70 years ago (no offense to the mid-twentieth century, but pitching has gotten a lot better since then).

Not surprisingly, Miranda was named American League Player of the Week. That makes my job easier because they make this handy graphic with his stats for the week.

It goes without saying that a .700 batting average is really, really amazing.

Congratulations, José Miranda! You are my MLBoyfriend of the week.

Byron Buxton

After last week's post, I began to wonder if there are other players I've been sleeping on. Byron Buxton, that's your cue.

I chose Buxton as this week's MLBoyfriend, and then went to the blog to see when he was last featured. I was shocked to discover he's only won the title once and that was 7 years ago. That's a long drought for one of my favorite players on my favorite team.

Buxton put up stats last week that couldn't be overlooked. He went 8 for 19 at the plate for a .421 average. His OPS was a whopping 1.455 with 2 doubles and 3 home runs. He scored  7 runs and batted in 9. He had an especially good game on Saturday, June 29, when he went 2-for-4, homered and had 4 RBI.

Congratulations, Byron Buxton! You are my MLBoyfriend of the week.

PS: This week, another Twin won an honorable mention. Pablo López happened to be the starting pitcher in the only Twins game I was really able to pay attention to this week. On Saturday, June 29, López went 6 full innings, giving up just one earned run and 1 walk. He earned a win. It's always nice to have a reason to feature this cutie on the blog.

Carlos Correa

Before I get to this week's winner, Carlos Correa, I have to give a shout-out to the runner-up, Correa's teammate, Austin Martin. I was at the Twins game on Sunday, June 16, and Martin made the best catch I have ever seen in person.

It is officially the MLB Play Of The Week. Martin had a pretty solid game at the plate too. He went 2-for-4 with an RBI double. If it were MLBoyfriend of the day, Martin probably would have taken it. However, it's MLBoyfriend of the week, and Correa definitely deserves that honor. MLB agrees with me again, because it named him the AL Player Of The Week.

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The batting average in that graphic is not a typo. Correa had 17 hits in 31 at-bats last week for an incredible .548 average. That's bananas.

It's also worth noting that Correa looks really good in Minnesota's cool "Ripple Effect" City Connect uniforms that were debuted this week.

Congratulations, Carlos Correa! You are my MLBoyfriend of the week.