I was shocked to hear the news. He was a class act and his passing saddens me. My best to his family.
Kirby connected with people so well because of his electric smile, his infectious personality and his "Is this really a pro athlete?" stature. Guys like Dave Winfield, who went into the HoF with him, were larger-than-life figures that you looked up to, but you could only wish you were built like him. An average guy could look at Kirby and think, "If he can do it, then so can I." And he went above and beyond the call of duty off the field representing what an athlete should be, signing autographs and interacting with people as though you were his best friend. I'm a lifelong Minnesotan, and I was crushed when I read Frank DeFord's columnn a few years ago. But as I listen to the stories people are telling about him today, from local people, national figures, and former teammates, I'm convinced Frank DeFord got the wrong guy. Goodbye, Kirby.
I loved him as a kid; I was born in Minnesota where he was the heart and soul of the team. Then, I got to experience first-hand his heart-breaking ability while I was rooting for my hometown Braves in the (I think) 91' World Series with that image of him stealing a home run imbedded in my head. He's still always been one of my favorite players.
Kirby Puckett while a terriffic baseball player was a wife beater. He was a lothsome individual off the field and abused his wife and children. That should not be swept under the rug.
Come on Vito...have a little class....the man just died. RIP Kirby you will be missed.
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Watching this man was always like watching a super hero. Being a Cubs fan, I never really spend too much time watching a team from a couple states northwest of me. But when Kirby was on, it was simply a treat. We have our great emassador to this great sport here in Ryne Sandburg. Over in the Twin Cities, there is/was no greater man to look up to than MR. PUCKETT. From every piece of my heart I can only say, THANK YOU SIR for making my younger years of being a baseball fan some of my favorite times in life. I can only hope that the next batch of pros can look at your legacy as well as other greats of the past and see what being GREAT is truly all about. Keep that wonderful smile up there to shine down on us here and REST IN PEACE. {By the way Vito, this is a baseball obituary here, not a personal one. Whether guilty or not of wife beating, it was him and the sport We are thinking of here. I have no love for any spousal abusers. My wife had this with her first husband so I know how this crap works! In this case, if you have nothing nice to say about someone, then say nothing and move on to the next story}
I have already posted my condolonces as was not going to add anything else, but after reading Vito's post, I had to. Vito, unless you have any evedence to the contrary, Kirby was cleared of those charges. And yes, the man just passed. Regardless of whathe may have been accused of doing after his career was tragically shortened, he was a consumate sportsman, competitor, and embassador for the game, not only while playing but afterwards as well.
Kirby, to me, best represented what makes baseball such an attractive game. The NFL and NBA always seemed to be poulated by the genetic anomolies of the world, but baseball was the other guys - the guys like you and I. They were the ordinary men doing extraordinary things. I never liked Kirby Puckett. Minnesota was one of the great teams in the best era of my team, and we couldn't beat them (them and the A's of the late 80s, early 90s). But he was a helluva ballplayer and a Minnesotan institution. So I respected the hell out of him. Much too early for anyone, let alone a guy who gave all baseball fans a lot of joy for all too short a time.
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I have been a fan of Kirby Puckett since his rookie year. My entire family bases the quality of any sports moment on how it compares with "the solo home run in game six." If you don't get it, you're not one of us. When he was forced to retire, I attended his final ceremonies so pregnant with my daughter that I couldn't even fit into the stadium seat. In addition, I had a severe eye infection that made it virtually impossible to see. My eyesight was permanently damaged at about the same time as Kirby's. Nevertheless, NOTHING was going to keep me from being at that ceremony. I spent the entire evening with tears streaming down my face, clapping until my fingers were numb. When my daughter was born several weeks later, the first outift I bought for her was a Twins jersey with number 34 on the back. She is now ten years old. Last night, before we heard the news, I was reminiscing with her about how she was there, invitro, when Kirby retired. What this man did for the game of baseball and the state of Minnesota is indefinable. Even kids who were not even born when he played are sad today. Those of us who saw him play are devastated. He was a living icon, a real person, like in the old days of baseball. A man who loved what he did and led everyone around him to believe that it never had to end. The final home run, my friend. Rest in peace.
I wish more players today carried themselves with the same level of class that Kirby showed throughout his career. RIP
How big was Puckett getting? Here's a photo from just one year ago. From Deadspin
I was always a Puckett fan from afar, the most amazing memory I have of him is the leaping catch up against the plexiglass. That was sick...he was practically throwing the ball back in before his feet hit the ground. That pic from Dusted is really telling though, wonder how his weight might have affected his health. RIP to one of the great ones.
Didn't he have diabetes or something? I think thats why he lost his vision and started getting so puffy.
Didn't he have diabetes or something? I think thats why he lost his vision and started getting so puffy. He lost vision in one eye due to glaucoma. As well, he suffered a nasty bean ball incident to the same eye. I'm not sure if the beanball incident was the cause of the glaucoma.
He lost vision in one eye due to glaucoma. ahh, he should've asked Ricky Williams for some "medicine".
Condolences to the Puckett family. R.I.P. Kirby!
grum, I had always thought Kirby's career was ended by that ball he took to the face, but his Wikipedia entry treats it as separate from the glaucoma, which set in the following spring. It's hard to believe the beanball, glaucoma, and untimely stroke are all unrelated though, isn't it?
It's hard to believe the beanball, glaucoma, and untimely stroke are all unrelated though, isn't it? I was thinking that also. Isn't glaucoma related to pressure on the optic nerve? If you've got pressure building up in your cranium (behind the eyeballs), doesn't it stand to reason that it could lead to things like stroke? I don't know enough about medicine to say for sure...is there a doctor in the house?
Well glaucoma is a disease so doubtful it was related to the bean ball. I understand he had gained quite a lot fo weight so that along with the bean ball may have contributed to his stroke. I was in high school when Kirby broke in the bigs. He made me have hope that a short chubby kid who had a little speed and a quick bat could actually play pro ball. Of course that's only if you are Kirby. He was just a step above in all respects.
Touch 'em all Kirby Puckett. Touch 'em all.
his life was great, but unfortunately, things happen. I feel for the Twins and his family. God bless him
I'm truly amazed at all the feel good comments about Kirby, yet no mention of the accusations - Wife caught him in an affair with a mistress he had for 18 years (including other affairs as well) - put a cocked gun to her head as she held their then-2-year-old daughter - tried to strangle her with an electrical cord - locked her in the basement - threatened his mistress - accused of sexual assualt in a bathroom I mean there are 64 posts of what a good man this guy is, with all of these other accusations over his head. Yet Barry Bonds has his picture on the front of CNN as I type this with 5 linked articles and a full BOOK written by journalists about his steroid use. Ahh the media bias, and the sheeple that follow it.
is there a doctor in the house? posted by The_Black_Hand at 1:52 PM CST on March 7 . posted by DrJohnEvans at 10:12 AM CST on March 7
The allegations were discussed here when he was originally stricken.
bdaddy, you dont know what he meant to MN sports fan - he was truly a beloved hero. When the accusations came out, I was very disappointed, and I don't know how much truth there is to them, but he will always be beloved to me for what he did on the field. RIP Kirby.
and I don't know how much truth there is to them There are police reports to back up some of the accusations, so there is little chance that all of them are simply the revengeful blubberings of a wife/mistress/random-woman.
The man has passed and this is (supposedly) a thread of condolence to his fans and possibly aquaintances to pause and remember the positives that Kirby brought into the sporting world. Judge not lest ye be judged. Or whatever you're going to do anyway. 2 cents
"There are police reports to back up some of the accusations, so there is little chance that all of them are simply the revengeful blubberings of a wife/mistress/random-woman." True. "I'm truly amazed at all the feel good comments about Kirby, yet no mention of the accusations... mean there are 64 posts of what a good man this guy is, with all of these other accusations over his head. Yet Barry Bonds has his picture on the front of CNN as I type this with 5 linked articles and a full BOOK written by journalists about his steroid use." This is probably because of 2 things: Bonds's transgressions effected the game. Puckett's did not. That may not matter to you or me, but a lot of sports fans consider themselves "purists", and for whatever reason, they don't care about what happens off the field so much as what happens on it.Bonds is a polarizing figure, personality wise. Puckett was not.I'm sure whenever Bonds passes away you'll see similar comments in terms of "He was one of the greats" vs. "He was a rotten stinky liar". YMMV.
I'm truly amazed at all the feel good comments about Kirby, yet no mention of the accusations. I'm truly amazed that making a nice comment about somebody who just died could possibly be interpreted as excusing all of that person's transgressions. Whatever you feel about Kirby's well-documented failings, it's not out of line to let them go in this particular forum. Nobody's ignoring them, we're just choosing to focus on the positives in the wake of his death. There are police reports to back up some of the accusations, so there is little chance that all of them are simply the revengeful blubberings of a wife/mistress/random-woman. A police report is filed any time the police are called to a scene. Their existence indicates only that a call was made, and do not imply any degree of guilt in and of themselves. It is conceivable that a revengeful person could make such a call to cast a shadow on another -- I'm not saying this was the case in this instance, but Kirby was never convicted of anything that I'm aware of.
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I have no doubt some of the accusations against puckett are true, simply because he was human. We love to build our athletes up to gods and then tear them down. I'm sure puckett was a guy with good and bad attributes, but he was gold on the field, and the sporting side is the only side we really have access to. Although I must say this: The world will truly miss his presence is so over the top to almost be comical.
Hyperbolic notions of loss as an expression of grief are not new, uncommon or novel. Openly mocking them, though, takes a certain kind of character. What the hell kind of website is this? The same people that seem to embrace the notion of crying at a sports movie have nothing more than shrugs, eye rolls, and scorn for expressions of rememberance, and in some cases real grief, at the DEATH of a beloved Hall of Fame ballplayer? And I'm not just looking at you, justgary.
It is conceivable that a revengeful person could make such a call to cast a shadow on another -- I'm not saying this was the case in this instance, but Kirby was never convicted of anything that I'm aware of. True. If I'm going to take issue with some wild accusations made in other threads, I've got to be held to the same standard in this one.
What the hell kind of website is this? The same people that seem to embrace the notion of crying at a sports movie have nothing more than shrugs, eye rolls, and scorn for expressions of rememberance, and in some cases real grief, at the DEATH of a beloved Hall of Fame ballplayer? He was a human being. Any number of people fitting that description dropped dead yesterday. If you try to get suitably worked up about each of them, you'll go nuts. Youve said that you knew Puckett in some regard. I'm sorry for your loss and his family's loss, but what are you expecting from people who didn't know him? He was a celebrity. His death is fodder for discussion for a few days. That's about it. It ain't necessarily right, but it is so. I'm not sure what you would have us do. It's the Internet, not a church.
What the hell kind of website is this? One in which people are free to grieve for Puckett, remember Puckett's career, mention encounters with Puckett, talk about allegations against Puckett, and make comments on all of the above. I'm with the grievers, mostly, even though the SI story makes me wonder whether his good-guy image was manufactured. Puckett was one of the greats -- pure joy on the field.
And I'm not just looking at you, justgary. I have no problem with the critical eye. Even though I love sports (obviously) I try to keep it in perspective. Many, many people will miss puckett. I love hearing from those people. To say the WORLD will miss puckett is almost meaningless. Sure, you hear that regarding a lot of deaths, and I feel the same about most. Friends will miss pucket, family, baseball, fans... And I feel the same way about pucketts shortcomings, whatever they may be. Mourn the man, the whole man. Does it mean more to pay respect to puckett both good and bad or some myth? I'll take the former. I'll take real over hyperbole. It's just my opinion. It's a huge loss for many, and I probably shouldn't have used the word comical. For that I apologize.
the SI story makes me wonder whether his good-guy image was manufactured I don't think so: Dave Winfield was on WEEI in Boston this afternoon and he could not hide the grin in his voice when he thought back to his years playing with Puckett. I listened for 5 or 10 minutes and you would have been hard pressed to know he was talking about someone who passed away, such was the delight in his voice just to have known Puckett at all.
