Sorry I haven't posted in a few days. Just busy with school. Anyway, today, I will be blogging about a great outfielder for the Twins in the '80s and '90s. He was known for his style of playing a game as if it was his last. Ladies and gentleman, I give you Kirby Puckett.
The Chicago native played for the Minnesota Twins for his entire 12-year career, from 1984-1995. He was a ten-time all-star, two-time World Series champion, six-time gold-glover, and just plain amazing. His career batting average of .318 is ranked 58th in history. He also had 2,304 hits, 207 homers, and 1,085 RBIs. One of his most legendary moments came in the 1991 World Series against the Braves. In the bottom of the 11th in Game 6, Kirby smacked a homer to win the game. In his previous at-bats he hit an RBI triple and a single with a stolen base. The Twins went on to win that World Series. They also won the World Series of '87, where the Cardinals just couldn't win in the raucous Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome. Puckett could have had much better stats and a longer career if he didn't get glaucoma during Spring training of 1996. If you don't know what that is, it's a disease that causes blindness. He died very young, March 6, 2006, because of a stroke. Yes, he is just another Hall of Famer, but the roly-poly, always smiling, enthusiastic outfielder who provided magical plays for Minnesota will always be remembered by the adoring fans of baseball.
If I remember correctly Matt, Puckett's career ended when he was hit in the face with a Dennis Martinez pitch...I think that was what messed up his eyesight.
ReplyDeleteGreat ballplayer, but he wasn't always a saint.
Thanks for the info, Kurt. I didn't know that.
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