Minnesota was the home of the first All-Star Week Home Run Derby in 1985, as Tom Brunansky took second while mashing dingers in the Metrodome. In 2008, Justin Morneau also made it to the big stage of the derby. While he is largely forgotten because of Josh Hamilton’s performance, Morneau still gets to boast the hardware as the champion. Monday night, as a part of the 2025 All-Star break, it was Byron Buxton’s turn to see if he could add his name to the list of notable Minnesota Twins Home Run Derby participants.

As the derby was getting started, there were excellent shots of all the players getting ready. We got a glimpse of Joe Ryan sitting with the Buxton kids and flashing a truck horn motion to cheer on his teammate. Twins social media got in on the fun, wanting to make sure that the kids could be trusted with Ryan. 

There was also a great shot of Buxton getting geared up for the derby in the best way possible and taking down some Skittles. 

Round 1
Ahead of Buxton, Oneil Cruz and Junior Caminero put on a show to warm up the fans in Truist Park. Cruz, being the Statcast darling that he is, is nearly the perfect player for an event like the derby. Each hit seemed to have a screaming exit velocity, and then finally, he broke the theoretical tape measure by hitting a bomb 513 feet. Caminero may not have had the same distance and velocity as Cruz, but he was hitting home runs at an incredible pace. As Buxton was ready to step to the plate, Cruz and Caminero were tied for the lead at 21 home runs apiece. 

With the bar set, Buxton walked to the plate ready to perform in front of his hometown crowd. He started slow, with no home runs produced off the first four swings he took. He then hit three home runs in a row, the first of a couple streaks of home runs he would put together in his regular round swings. 

After 19 swings, Buxton took his timeout and his boys (most importantly Brixton, for whom it was such a point of emphasis) got their chance to meet their dad near the plate with a towel and Gatorade. Tommy Watkins and Buxton certainly had a pace to their round, which netted the Twins’ offensive leader 14 home runs before the bonus round. It also left five pitches on the board. 

Those five didn’t hurt Buxton, as the untimed bonus round proved to be the perfect pace for the Twins duo. Buxton was able to hit six additional home runs and put himself in second place with 20 home runs behind the duo of Cruz and Caminero. Buxton did not touch Cruz’s distance, but hit his longest home run of the night: 466 feet. 

Buxton finished out the 1st round in that third-place spot, proving that pace over volume was best for his strategy. A tenth of a foot decided the fourth spot, as Cal Raleigh just edged out old friend Brent Rooker. Atlanta Braves slugger Matt Olson was in great position out of the timed portion of his round with 15, but had nothing left in the tank to push past 17. 

Round 2
In the second round, Buxton was the leadoff batter and was matched up with Caminero. The round got off to a shaky start, as Watkins almost gave Buxton some of that sweet chin music with his first official pitch. Unfortunately, Buxton didn’t rebound with any grand heroics after that. Throughout the round, he struggled to access the same power he had in the first round. 

Buxton ended the timed portion of his round with six home runs and left three pitches on the board. He then moved on to the bonus round, which was his bread and butter the first time around, but he only added one more home run. 

Caminero came up and made short work of his round. He hit eight home runs in 11 pitches and was able to walk out of the batter’s box and begin thinking about the final. The question raised on the Statcast broadcast was whether Buxton’s swing, which generates great power, requires too much energy for an event like the derby. He certainly seemed to tire out toward the end. 

Finals
After squeaking into the semi-finals, Raleigh advanced past Cruz to face Caminero for the championship, $1 million, and the derby champion chain. While it may be debated for years to come on whether or not Raleigh should have even advanced out of the first round, he kept on strong into the finals. Those Big Dumper muscles seemed to fuel him into an incredible finals in which he hit 18 home runs, one better than his opening round number. Truly, his butt refuses to quit.

Caminero would put on his own show after plenty of rest from his shortened semi-final round. After collecting 14 home runs before the bonus round, however, the young right-hander was not able to generate enough power to put himself over the top and finished with 15. Instead, the first half home run champ also became the Home Run Derby champion. Congratulations, Cal Raleigh.