Rembering Memorial Stadium

Editor's note: Riley Cole, a former high school journalist from West Delaware, will be a sophomore at Warburg and recently attended the Associated Collegiate Press' sports reporting workshop and spent a day with the Twins.

By Riley Cole, community contributor

Cedar Rapids has a population of 126,326, but the city's minor league baseball team has hosted two of the Minnesota Twins' most recognizable players - first baseman Joe Mauer and outfielder Byron Buxton - for different reasons.

Mauer, the Twins' all-star first baseman, said his experience with the Kernels gave him not only the opportunity to fulfill a rehab assignment, but to also share his knowledge with other members of the Kernels.

'I played for a rehab assignment last year,” said Mauer. whose brother, Jake, is the Kernels' manager.

Thinking about what makes the Kernels organization a special one, Mauer said he appreciated the geographic location of the team.

'It's close,” Mauer said. 'That's a huge thing for us - having an affiliate so close where guys can go down and get at bats and throw innings and whatever to get back to playing every day.”

Mauer said he liked the learning aspect his time with the Kernels gave him.

'It was a lot fun to go back and play with some younger guys and the young part of their careers,” Mauer said. 'It was a lot of fun to pass things along that I have learned along the years.”

Buxton's experience with the Kernels was different since he was able to go back to a community similar to his hometown roots.

'I come from a small town, and Iowa (Cedar Rapids) wasn't much bigger than my hometown, so I just tried to treat it like that,” Buxton said. 'I didn't want to try to overlook how big or small it may be. I just tried to picture myself that was my hometown and I think that helped me get more comfortable there.”

Being comfortable while playing in front of the crowd at Veteran's Memorial Stadium, Buxton attributed that feeling to two things - the people and the stadium.

'I love playing in that stadium, especially running balls down in the gaps and taking away base hits,” he said. 'All around, I had a great experience there. Great people, great fans.”

Buxton said his journey of getting on the Twins' active roster was a thrill.

'Even though I'm on the DL, just being able to get up here and help us win games has been amazing,” he said. 'I just want to try to get back out here and help us win games and play hard.”

Buxton said he enjoyed his time with the Kernels because of the atmosphere.

'It actually kind of felt like home,” he said.