Paul Molitor, Byron Buxton's first Twins manager, still shares lessons on overcoming injuries

Byron Buxton had finished a Wednesday news conference a few minutes earlier. Paul Molitor was among the former Twins in conversation 10 yards off to a side.

Buxton came over and stepped toward Molitor. Byron offered a "thank you'' to his first big-league manager and Molitor offered congratulations for the contract that guarantees the Twins center fielder $100 million over the next seven years.

"You deserve this,'' Molitor said.

Molitor was one year removed from the Gophers when he broke into the Milwaukee lineup in 1978. He played shortstop to start that season and second base when Robin Yount returned.

He turned 22 that August, batted .273 and finished second to Detroit's Lou Whitaker as Rookie of the Year.

"I talked with Byron last summer, when he had another injury,'' Molitor said. "He seemed kind of down. I said to him, 'Byron, I was on the disabled list 13 times early in my career, and only once in my 30s.'

"Some of that came from me becoming a designated hitter. Some of that was getting to know myself better as an athlete.

"I'm optimistic we're going to see the same thing with Byron, even though he's obviously not going to become a DH. Playing center field … that's a very big part of the equation with Byron.''

Molitor smiled at that one, then said: "He's had a lot of funky injuries happen to him. He's due to be lucky.''

For all of his time on what was then the disabled list, Molitor's most infamous injury came in 1987. He had played only 13 games in 1984, 140 in 1985 when he made his second All-Star team, and then 105 in 1986.

Molitor was batting a cool .395 after hitting a three-run home run off Oakland's Eric Plunk on April 29. He pulled a hamstring in the same game and didn't return to the lineup until late May.

He wasn't as hot as in April. Then, on July 16, he doubled off California's Kirk McCaskill and that started a 39-game hitting streak that didn't end until Aug. 25 against Cleveland. It remains the fourth-longest hitting streak in American League history.

Molitor was struck by injury once more in 1990. Then, in primarily DH duty for eight more seasons, he cruised into the Hall of Fame on the first ballot with 3,319 regular-season hits.

"I don't want to be used as an injury comparison for Byron,'' Molitor said. "I want to say that he's a very dedicated player who makes the Twins better in every area: hitting, fielding, running the bases … and the pitching.

"I know just from 2017, seeing him out there in center almost every day made all of our pitchers feel better. They knew that any ball hit in that direction would be caught.''