Kirby Puckett

[ozzie]

no i am pretty sure he never pitched or played anywhere but the outfield!!!

[bigbucks]

I'm sure he played all of the infield positions & I believe that was in one game. I thought he pitched once too, not sure about catching though. He was a third baseman when he was drafted.

[nofishfisherman]

I remember Dan Gladden pitching one inning during a lop sided loss. I think Tom kelly was trying to save his bull pen for a game they could win.

[The Grebe]

Amen!

[hawkeye43]

I am sure glad my kids and I had the pleasure to watching him play ball. I heard him once say that he was thankful for everyday he could put on a Twins jersey because any day could be your last. Thanks Kirby, you will not be forgotten

[Mudcutter]

the catch in the 3rd inning of Ron Gant in game 6 was nuts. The HR of Liebrandt was legendary in the 11th inning.

The one thing I WILL NEVER forget is the wk-end he had in Milwaukee when he went 10-11 and 6-6 in one game. I still can hear GORDO's voice on the radio after that 6th hit (I think it was a HR). Puck always stressed, "no matter how bad you got it, someone else has got it worse." Words to live by in my OP.

I will never forget the "PUCK"!!!!!!

[bigbucks]

I remember that weekend series as well Mudcutter, it was awesome. When that bat finally broke it went immediately to Cooperstown at their request. (It broke sometime the next week I believe, Puck wouldn't give it up until then. Gee I wonder why?) The last hit in the 6-6 game was a two out opposite field homer in the top of the 9th. It was one of those you pretty much knew it was gone at the crack, which is really impressive going the other way. I believe Gagne reached on an error in front of him, if I remember correctly.

I know 4 of the 10 hits in 11 AB's were homers, 2 in each game. I'm sure the 6-6 was 2 singles, 2 doubles, & 2 dingers. I can't remember for sure in the 4-5 game, but what an awesome pair of games.

One of the coolest things I ever remember with Puck was one time when we were facing the Royals & Saberhagen was pitching & he was having a terrible time with Puck. He threw a horrible pitch, several pitches into an AB, I believe inside & like head high. Kirby ripped it into left field for a single. It wasn't even close to a strike, he had no business swinging at it. Saberhagen just about completely lost his composure. He wasn't mad at all, he was just laughing hard enough in disbelief that not only would he swing at such an awful pitch, but that he would hit it that hard. It really wasn't a key point in a big game or anything, it was just one of those things that showed you how great he was & how much he just loved to play.

He will definitely be missed, but all those great plays he made & big hits he got will live on in our memories forever.

[Mitty]

I work with a guy that used to fish with kirby quite a bit he told me a story at work today about one time they were in a wal-mart looking for fishing equipment when a little boy reconized who kirby was and asked for his autograph kirby kindly was about to make the little boys dream come true but when kirby asked what he wanted signed the little boy looked around and didnt have anything but his shirt,well you know what puck did he took the boy over to the hat rack and told him to pick out a hat and signed the hat and brought up to the cashier and proudly paid for the little boys hat, how cool is that so when you read some of the trash they want to print about his past just remember this story I thought it was pretty Puckett.

[not_nuf_time]

I hear you, Mitty. We've heard so many good stories the past few days about Kirby. Then you listen to the big wind on KQ and it made me turn the station, cause he's so down on Kirby the last couple years. I prefer to think of the good things he's done.

[buzzsaw]

If the boys at 92 were ripping him right after his untimely tragic death, that would show what kind of character they truly have... or in this case wouldn't have!

[rundrave]

another thing that sort of got to me the other day I was listening to PA and Dubay(yes we get it here is Sioux Falls, I love it) The day after kirby died the whole show was just phone call after phone call about stories of puck etc....It was great, and an even better way to sort of put a little tribute show for him. So we got to hear on a local level, and I was looking forward to hearing some more great stories, and what everyone else on a national level would be sharing about puck. Jim Rome, etc....

Unfortunately it somehow had to take a back seat to Baroid Bonds and the latest with him. So it went from a great few hours of radio to what I thought was a complete joke. Instead of paying tribute to a a hero and a great ball player and some truly awesome stories we had to listen to a bunch of garbage.

[PierBridge]

Quote:

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If the boys at 92 were ripping him right after his untimely tragic death, that would show what kind of character they truly have... or in this case wouldn't have!

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That sucks but does not suprise me he is a shock jock and I expect things like that out of him.

But when people in our fishing forum do it on multiple post it irks me.

[Rainydaze]

Hats off to Kirby! We all should be thankful for all of the memories. He will be sorely missed by baseball fans everywhere. Shame on some of us for for feeling so worthy to pick him apart without full knowledge. Puck was an absolute saint compared to our modern day sports heros. Puck was never outspoken and let his play speak for him. Not only did he give to us years of enjoyment, but he gave Minnesota fans somthing to be proud of. Somthing we have wandered so far away from in this day of self promotion, boat party's, hold outs,... What do you suppose Kirby's value as a player would demand if he were with us today? What do you suppose the value would be to a coaching staff whose greatest player was also a team leader? I didn't have the privelage of personally knowing the man, but had the privelege of watching him in the public spotlight work hard, run out each ground ball, make throws from centerfield to home plate, and flat out play the game. Even when his career ended probably from results of a baseball to the eye he showed the respect for the game. I think we should be thankful as a community and sportfans to have had the opportunity to claim him as a Minnesota sports hero as kids these days sure don't have the same kind of man he was to look up to and actually call a hero. I know I had the Kirby Hrbie life size poster in my room and so did most of my friends. God Bless Puck and his family!

[ellroy2]

Just thinking about Kibry the other day when I took his baseball card off of the fridge. Didn't realize its been since March. Plus I never got to post anything on here about him so I thought I'd give this thread some life and move it up to the top.