On this day - 2006...

[Twins_Fan_in_NJ]

Kirby Puckett passed away. And I was gutted. Growing up in New Jersey being a Minnesota Twins fan in the 1980's - it wasn't the norm. But that was the Kirby Puckett effect. Back then, the only time I got to watch the Twins on television where the 6-7 times they played the Yankees or the rare appearance on ESPN Sunday Night baseball. Starting in the late 80's, I begged my parents to subscribe to the Daily News so that I could check the box scores every morning and see how Kirby did. Every Christmas and birthday, my parents were in a mad dash to call up the Minnesota Twins team store and ask for a catalog so I could pick out more Kirby memorabilia. His performance in game 6 of the 1991 World Series is still a vivid memory. Nearly brought my house down with the jumping and screaming after he hit the homer off of Liebrandt. And the day he retired, I cried like a baby. He was truly one of a kind and he'll always be my all-time favorite athlete. My dad and I went to Cooperstown to see him enshrined in the HOF. I lost my dad in August and hold that trip near to my heart - it's the quintessential father - son trip. Life wasn't necessarily kind or fair to Kirby post-baseball and I tend to not pay much mind to the rumors and gossip. I chose to remember the big grinned, fire hydrant body patrolling centerfield in the Metrodome and getting goose bumps when I heard Bob Casey say, 'Kirrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrby Puckett'.

 

RIP in Kirby.

[CRF]

"...and we'll see you tomorrow night!" I also prefer to remember Puckett for what he did on the field, not off it...and I was here when all the questionable stuff happened. It's a shame he got robbed of the end of his career. Truly, a special ballplayer. 

[strumdatjag]

Kirby was my favorite Twins player of all-time, and I’ve watched them since 1961 (at age of 6).   There were other greats (most notably for me Killebrew, Oliva, and Carew) but none are the most important cog in the machinery that brought two World Series Championships to Minnesota.   Continue to RIP - Kirby Puckett!!!