All Things Considered baseball analyst Kevin Hennessy provides a commentary on former baseball star Kirby Puckett, who played his entire career with the Twins. Puckett's attitude and his love for the game won him the admiration of countless fans…including Hennessy.
Thousands of Minnesota Twins fans are heading to Cooperstown, New York, to watch the induction of former Twins great Kirby Puckett and St. Paul native Dave Winfield into the Baseball Hall of Fame. Both were elected to the Hall on their first ballot. Winfield will be inducted as a San Diego Padre, his first major league team. He played for six clubs in all, including two seasons with the Twins.
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SPEAKER: When Kirby Puckett took over center field for the Minnesota Twins in 1984, it was like a gift from God to Twins fans. He was exciting to watch. Bunting singles, stealing bases, and scooting that fireplug body of his around the bases with amazing speed.
The readily accessible Puckett quickly became a fan favorite. He often appeared at card shops and at Twins fest, always willing to sign autographs for anyone. Kirby, quietly and with a smile, signed a small black and white glossy, I had taken of him during the previous year's Camera Day at Twins Fest 1995.
Despite my ribbing him about not looking directly into the camera, he was shy, modest, and smiled a lot, seemingly awed by the whole experience of big league baseball. In return, fans were awed by his abilities. Puckett helped lead the Twins to two world championships. There were many highlights along the way to those two titles, of course.
But one I'll never forget came in the sixth game of the 1991 World Series. Playing the favored Braves, the Twins were down three games to two. Kirby drove in two of the first three runs, and later retreated to the plexiglass wall and soared high into the air, miraculously pulling down a long fly ball and hurriedly throwing it back to the infield as if the catch itself was just an afterthought.
To top it off, he hit a dramatic game-winning homer just a few yards deeper to the same spot where he had made the catch to put an exclamation point on the fact that the Twins were back home, had tied the series, and were showing their determination to win Game 7 right then and there.
It took some time to file out of the Metrodome that night, as most of the fans were content to adore Puckett for as long as he might be able to stand the praise. Even toward the end of his career, Puckett still exhibited that trademark drive and determination on an everyday basis.
In one of his last games in center field, late in the 1993 season, I watched a play where he had to race from deep center on a short pop. He ran for what seemed like miles. And then at the last moment, snatched the ball at his ankles, just before it would have made contact with the turf. Everyone knew his range wasn't what it used to be, and that he was destined to be shifted to right field soon. But it seemed odd to contemplate life without Kirby in center. He was the captain, the main attraction, the star of the show.
Just before the Twins were to break spring training camp in 1996, Kirby awoke with a dot in his field of vision, baffling team doctors. It turned out to be glaucoma. And later that year, it ended Kirby's career. It was difficult to accept that there would be no third championship with him in the field.
With Kirby, hope always sprung eternal in the breasts of Twins fans. It is quite fitting that in a year, where the Twins have shown their first inclinations at having a winning team since 1992, Kirby Puckett will also be inducted into the Hall of Fame.
Kirby was always able to inspire others with his work ethic and attitude. He always strove to be the best he could be on the field, and in the clubhouse. And in doing so, became one of the best to ever play the game of baseball.