Crackin' Wax

It all started with card no. 329. On a typical summer day in Southeast Minnesota, a young mom brought her oldest boy, an impressionable blue-eyed nine-year-old, to the local grocery store. We only made stops at that particular location if we needed one or two items. Typically, our family would do our weekly grocery shopping at the larger grocer a few towns over. For those shopping trips, the entire family would tag along. This time, it was just a young mom and her oldest boy. Image courtesy of 1986 Topps Kirby Puckett Card no. 329 It all started with card no. 329. On a typical summer day in Southeast Minnesota, a young mom brought her oldest boy, an impressionable blue-eyed nine-year-old, to the local grocery store. We only made stops at that particular location if we needed one or two items. Typically, our family would do our weekly grocery shopping at the larger grocer a few towns over. For those shopping trips, the entire family would tag along. This time, it was just a young mom and her oldest boy. It was 1986 and, I, the nine-year-old boy, didn’t know much about his home team Minnesota Twins. I was vaguely aware of the neighboring rivals, the Milwaukee Brewers, but had not formed any particular allegiance to them. I did love the game of baseball; I had been playing the sport since I was old enough for tee ball. On that summer day, I must have been particularly well-behaved. I was rewarded with something I had never even heard of before. My mom gave me my first pack of baseball cards. I was so excited about my gift that I was already cracking that freshly sealed wax pack as we slowly rolled up our driveway. Out of that beautiful blue wax pack of 1986 Topps baseball cards came the very first card I had ever owned. Card no. 329. It was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen in my young life. Not having followed the Twins to that point, I had no idea who Kirby Puckett was. I was all too eager to flip that card over and learn. Kirby had made his debut just two years prior and had already made an impact. The back of his card also revealed to me that he spent three years marching his way through the Twins’ minor league system, moving up on the ladder as each season progressed. Although this was not his coveted rookie card, it was my very first baseball card. That made this card all the more valuable to me. Kirby Puckett being the first baseball card I ever pulled helped to shape me both as a card collector and as a Twins fan. Had my first card have been Robin Yount‘s, perhaps I would be devoted to the neighboring team which has yet to win a World Series. My excitement over card no. 329 forged a loyalty to the Twins that lasts to this day. My connection to the team has become so much more personal over the years due to collecting Twins baseball cards. I can flip through binders and relive World Championship seasons and playoff heartbreaks. I can display cards that were personally autographed for me by greats like Rod Carew, Tony Oliva, Harmon Killebrew, Jim Thome, and Joe Mauer; and I can tell a story for each. This story, however, is the one with the most significance. Had I not been so well-behaved that summer day, there’s a chance I would have never become interested in the Twins and baseball cards. If my mom had instead chosen to reward me with a candy bar, I might have never fallen in love with that gorgeous 1986 Topps eyesore. While my opinions on Kirby Puckett may have changed over the years, his card came to me at the right place at the right time. The rest is cardboard history. Check out Crackin’ Wax to keep up to date on their charity case breaks or follow along on Twitter or YouTube. View full article

UPDATE: I was in the Minnetonka area today and decided to stop by the Twins Pro Shop there. I asked the employee (possibly manager), Aaron, why I never see any Puckett items in the Pro Shops. He explained that Kirby's ex-wife/widow, Tonya Puckett (now Tonya Miller), is not allowing licensing of his likeness in any manner. As for why Puckett jerseys are not on shelves and racks but are on fans' backs, the Pro Shops can create those Puckett items via a legal technicality. Upon request, they can design a jersey or shirt with any number and name the customer chooses. The idea is that the customer would use their favorite number and their last name. There is nothing stopping someone from using the name "Puckett" and using the number "34" to create these custom items. A point that I brought up to Aaron at the 'Tonka shop is that it's a shame that the former Mrs. Puckett does not set up a charitable organization to which proceeds of any Puckett licensed materials would go. This would encompass licensing from clothing manufacturers such as Majestic and trading card companies such as Topps. While I feel that there is more to this story, this may be the closest I'm going to get to the real answer short of hearing it from Tonya herself.

Honestly, in my opinion, it was only a matter of time for Robertson. If his ineffectiveness was even too much for the Twins to overlook, there was no saving him.

Assuming he'd have TJ, he'd be a perfect fit for the Twins next year!

Heh. I've heard some very public radio guys mention that as a major possibility.

How would Plouffe be at 1B? Ya know... once the hitting side of his brain clicks on again, that is.

To me, the "Twins Way" of hitting absolutely benefits weak hitters and base runners. Hit the ball in a gap the other way and run like hell. It's as if the Twins fully expect that they will never EVER be a power hitting team (with the exception of '09 and '10, apparently) and are in a constant state of trying to recapture the piranha magic of nearly a decade ago. Power hitters are expensive, weak hitters are a dime a dozen and the Pohlads and Ryan aren't exactly known as big spenders. Trying to take advantage of Gomez' speed on the base paths as opposed to tapping into his potential power was, to me, the smart thing to do. Trying to teach younger hitters how to be professional hitters and not try to rip the cover off the ball in each at bat also seems smart. However, properly scouting and profiling ALL of your players instead of forcing to do something they are unable to do is even smarter.

My wife was just saying during last night's game "is he drunk?"

That fits into the time frame when the last officially licensed Puckett items were legally produced. Is there a manufacturing date/year on any tags that you're aware of?

Do you happen to remember how long ago that was?

Good point, but who ever said I was cool?

Hello again fellow Twins fans! After becoming a member of these forums, I was overcome with a sense of nostalgia which prompted me to scour through my blog, "Crackin' Wax," for some older Twins posts I had written. One of my favorite Twins posts of the past have to do with Kirby Puckett and the lack of merchandise bearing his name and/or likeness since his passing. "You can make a great case that it would be a rare sight to see a brand new baseball card of a man that has not only been retired from the game but who has also been deceased for six years. You could make another great case that it would be a typical sight to see a brand new baseball card of a man that was one of the biggest contributors to baseball in the late 80s and early 90s, was a two-time World Champion, has made ten All-Star appearances, has won six gold gloves, has won six silver sluggers, has won a batting title, has had his number retired, and was a first ballot Hall of Famer. Topps features former players of this caliber throughout nearly every single one of their products, so it would not at all be uncalled for or strange to see Kirby cardboard each year. But when was the last time you saw a brand new Kirby Puckett baseball card?" READ MORE... Of course, it's not all about baseball cards. When was the last time you saw so much as a jersey with his name on it? Sure, you can find a Twins shirt with "34" on it, but not "PUCKETT." "The hunt was on for any licensed Puckett shirts or jerseys. There were plenty of old, used and beaten mesh tops and replica jerseys from the early 00s floating around the ‘bay. What I found strange, however, was how very little the official online Twins shop carried in the way of Puckett memorabilia and clothing. In fact, the only licensed item they carried was a Hair-itage t-shirt produced by Nike." I'm curious to read your thoughts on this subject and perhaps some of you will be able to shed a little light on this case for Kirby. Please remember, the original piece was written in late June of last year so things may have changed since. Thank you all for your time and, of course, GO TWINS!

There's also no reason to think that Hendriks will ever succeed with the Twins. Perhaps he'll find success at the Major League level elsewhere but, in my opinion, Hendriks' chances of making a positive difference in the Twins starting rotation is very slim. As a side note, for Gibson's sake, I almost hope he never gets called up to the Twins for fear that he may end up like many other pitchers that have journeyed through Minneapolis. I'm not pointing any fingers here but there has to be a reason why Minnesota seems to be a black hole for pitchers.

Good point on Hendriks. He and Worley aren't the first Twins pitchers to have success in Rochester only to melt down in Minnesota. Not to be a "Negative Nate" but it makes me wonder what's happening on the Twins side that affects guys like Hendriks and Worley so much that isn't happening in the Minors.