I am definitely not opposed to being the person to write this post, however it would have been done much earlier if a certain brother would have stepped up to the plate.

Anyway, this is a far over due tribute to Kirby Puckett. I grew up in Minneapolis right in the middle of Puckett’s best years. Of course I was a huge fan, who wasn’t. This guy would take homeruns away from three rows back. My parents have countless pictures of me trying to catch “home run balls” like Kirby. Call me a dork if you want but it’s true, when I was a kid I lived the Twins. My summers were completely consumed by playing baseball and nothing else. My brother and I would wake up, and as soon as my parents would let us out of the house we would go start a game, play until lunch, leave our gloves on the field, have lunch, play some more, have supper, play some more and repeat it the next day. Yeah, I know, it’s pathetic but it’s what we knew.

The highlight of my childhood at that time was definitely going to the Metrodome and watching the Twins play. If you had the opportunity to see them play while Puckett was on the team the place went crazy every time Kirby did anything, especially when he came up to the plate. The Twins announcer, Bob Casey, did his best to make this special for everyone, his announcement went something like this “Batting third for the Twins…number 34…the center fielder…Kirbyyyyyyyyyy Puckett.” You really have to hear it to completely understand what it was like.

As a player Puckett did everything: he stole homeruns like no one else, he sped around the bases, and he seemed to be able to hit anything. All of this from a chubby short guy from inner city Chicago, awesome. When asked how he is able to hit so well, his response was, I just get up there and swing as hard as I can and hope I hit something. With this strategy he managed to have a batting average of over 300 for his career. Kirby also won 6 gold gloves over his career along with leading the Twins to their only World Series victories in 1987 and 1991.

On top of his on the field abilities, Kirby was a leader in the clubhouse. Teammates talk constantly of his cheerfulness and infectious smile and laugh. In game six of the 1991 World Series the Twins were at home and also one loss away from loosing the Series. He told his teammates before the game “Jump on my back boys, I’ll carry you home” he definitely did. He had an amazing game, and topped it off with the game winning homerun in the bottom of the 11^th inning. My favorite quote of all time is definitely from that moment. In the words of Jack Buck, “And we’ll see you tomorrow night.”

Kirby was one of those players that everyone loved, he will be remembered as one of, if not the greatest Twins player. He will always be at the top of my list.