#34

Kirby Puckett

Kirby Puckett dead at 45.

The guy had a whole lot of issues off the field that keep me from saying things like “a great man has died”, but damn was it fun to watch Puckett’s attitude while he was playing the game.

Sad, sad stuff.

ADDED 3/7/05:

I realized after I wrote this, that it wasn’t very personal. While the rest of the world remembers Kirby’s exploits from the 1991 World Series, it was 1987 that has much fonder memories for me. Growing up in Toledo, my dad and brother and I went to probably 35-40 Mud Hens games a year, so that 1987 Twins team that won the World Series was full of guys we had “gotten to know” in Toledo. Puckett was one of them. For a couple short weeks, he was a Mud Hen. I don’t remember seeing him play much in Toledo, but I do know that I met him long enough to get an autograph. (Which at that time in Toledo likely meant much more of a social exchange than getting an autograph today, with players either whizzing past the front row seats to the private tunnels back to the clubhouse, or waiting in line at an autograph show. What a shame the autograph game has turned into for the young baseball fans of America. But that’s another story.)

As I mentioned before, there is too much that came out after his playing days ended for me to really say that we’ve lost a great man, but seeing the images of the little round man with the mile-wide smile help me remember that we lost a unique ballplayer.

2 thoughts on “#34”

  1. Yeah, too much extortion. The guy was set up by some greedy broads looking to capitalize on being near a celebrity. They not only trashed his reputation, but also his marriage. Just remember, also, that Kirby Puckett was supposed to get married later this summer.

  2. It’s sad of Kirby’s passing and he created a lot of wonderful memories and help gave us 2 world series. I saw on the news yesterday a cool painting of Kirby is being made, I also saw the painting, its pretty big, its like he is realy there. It was sure great to watch him play always so excited and giving 100%, thanks Kirby for the memories.
    Life Size Painting of Kirby Puckett

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