CEDAR RAPIDS — Come a time in the not-so-distant future, people will brag about how they saw Byron Buxton play baseball in Cedar Rapids before he began tearing it up in the majors with the Minnesota Twins. The Cedar Rapids Kernels have provided more good baseball in the first six weeks of this year’s Midwest [...]

CEDAR RAPIDS – His first grand slam, his first walk-off hit, his first postgame shaving cream pie. Yet another step out the door here in Cedar Rapids and toward Fort Myers. Honestly, there’s probably not much more Byron Buxton can do at the low-Class A level. The 19-year-old phenom sent Veterans Memorial Stadium into a tizzy [...]

That question was posed Tuesday to Minnesota Twins farm director Brad Steil. He was non-commital about his prized outfield prospect, as you’d expect. “Good question,” Steil said. “I understand it. He’s playing very well. There are still some things I think he can learn here. We’ll just continue to evaluate it as we go.” Buxton, 19, [...]

CEDAR RAPIDS – Brad Steil was one cold man Thursday night, sitting in the elements at Veterans Memorial Stadium for a laborious three-hour and 20-minute baseball game. But the Minnesota Twins farm director was surely one happy man, too. Watching Byron Buxton do his considerable thing had to make him that way. “He has a lot of talent,” Steil [...]

  Every now and then I’ll cover a story that just makes me happy, not just while I’m shooting, but for hours afterward. Covering this percussion group in Columbus Junction definitely fell into that category. I’m still kicking myself for leaving my audio kit behind when I hopped into the company car. These kids are [...]