Kirby Puckett hit for the cycle, and Bert Blyleven struck out 15 batters in a 10-1 win over the Oakland Athletics on August 1, 1986. It was a good day in a lost season.
Tom Kelly took over for the final 23 games of the 1986 season. He went 12-11 after taking over for Ray Miller, and the Minnesota Twins won the World Series a year later. Still, despite having many of the star players from that ‘87 team, few remember the 1986 season.
Twelve players have hit for the cycle in Twins history. However, only four have hit a single, double, triple, and home run in a game between Puckett’s cycle in 1986 and Byron Buxton pulling off the feat on Saturday against the Pittsburgh Pirates.
Each represents a different era of the modern Twins. Carlos Gomez was a remnant of the ill-fated Johan Santana trade. Jason Kubel produced 3.6 WAR between 2004 and 2011 and received MVP votes in 2009. Michael Cuddyer was a 12.8 WAR player between 2001 and 2011, also received MVP votes in 2009, and was an All-Star in 2011.
Like with Kubel, Cuddyer’s departure in 2011 was a sign of decline for the organization. The Twins lost 92 or more games between 2011 and 2014. However, Polanco arrived in 2014 and became part of a core that helped turn Minnesota into a winner again.
That core was at its best in the 2019 Bomba Squad season, when the Twins teed off on a juiced ball, hitting a then-record 307 home runs. Miguel Sanó, Nelson Cruz, Max Kepler, Eddie Rosario, and Mitch Garver hit 30 homers, and Minnesota won 101 games in Rocco Baldelli’s first season as manager.
Polanco didn’t have those power numbers. Still, he hit .295/.356/.485 as a shortstop, making the All-Star team for the only time in his career.
Buxton bounced back in 2019 after a down season. He was a proven player in 2019 after debuting in 2015 and breaking out in 2017, hitting .253/.314/.413 in 140 games while earning a Gold Glove and MVP votes. However, in a sign of things to come, Buxton only played in 28 games in 2018.
In 2019, he hit .262/.314/.513 but only played in 87 games. Two years later, he had a .306/.358/.647 slash line and generated 4.9 WAR despite playing in only 61 games, his second-highest total since his 5.0 WAR in 2017.
Buxton made his first All-Star team in 2022. He had a worse slash line (.224/.306/.526) and lower WAR (3.9), but had a career-high 28 home runs. “There’s no better player in the world than him,” Baldelli proclaimed in April 2022. “He’s absolutely the best player in the world.”
Buxton was Superman. He may not have a cape, but he played like a superhero. However, while Clark Kent enters a phone booth to transform into Superman, Buxton’s injuries have always been his glass ceiling. Still, when he’s not trapped inside his body, the man can fly.
However, 2021 and 2022 were mostly forgettable seasons. The Twins lost 89 games in 2021, a year after winning back-to-back AL Central titles. A year later, they led the Central on August 4 and collapsed.
In 2023, the Twins won 87 games and their first playoff series since 2002. However, Buxton hit .207/.294/.438 in 85 games as a designated hitter. He slashed .297/.335/.524 in 102 games last year, close to his All-Star numbers this season, while returning to center field.
Buxton is Superman when healthy. He breaks baseball. No player should be able to run as fast as he does while hitting the ball that hard. Hitting for the cycle on Saturday was a culmination of his All-Star first half.
“Man, I was a put-it-on-the-ground-and-run guy,” Buxton said after hitting for the cycle, referring to how people viewed him at the beginning of his career. “It’s one of those things where it takes a little bit of experience to figure out who you are.”
“That was one of the great individual performances I’ve ever seen,” said Baldelli. “He’s playing like this every day, where you think almost anything’s possible.”
However, injuries have plagued his career. He’s only played 100 games twice, and aside from 2017, the Twins haven’t been good when he’s at his best.
The Twins are at risk of wasting another one of his best performances. At 47-49, they could be buyers or sellers at the July 31 trade deadline. They could surge and make the playoffs like they did in 2023, or they could fade away like in 2022 and 2024.
Nobody remembers the 1986 season. Will they remember 2025?
