View Full Version : Kirby Puckett Dies
SoCalBronco
03-06-2006, 06:15 PM
Breaking.
Just saw it on ESPNNEWS.
RIP. :(
Clockwork Orange
03-06-2006, 06:15 PM
RIP Kirby.
ludo21
03-06-2006, 06:16 PM
man, i grew up in Minnesota watching Kirby :(
RIP
Damn. It gets sad and scary to see players of my youth pass way. No matter what happened with his wife. Kirby was a great player and support the comunnity and baseball.
God Bless.
rbackfactory80
03-06-2006, 06:22 PM
Shocking, RIP
Rocket 7
03-06-2006, 06:23 PM
Aw man terrible
Sassy
03-06-2006, 06:30 PM
They just broke into local news with this...:(
Ray Finkle
03-06-2006, 06:31 PM
Classy Player.....was built like a DH and played a great outfield....RIP
Atlas
03-06-2006, 06:33 PM
He was the Twins during their world title years.
alanm
03-06-2006, 06:35 PM
Damn, That's a shame. I liked him.
You know, I was headed home from school not a half hr ago and espn radio was still saying he was in critical condition. Guess they're a little slow getting the news.
Hogan11
03-06-2006, 06:37 PM
So long Kirby...thanks for helping keep The Braves down....I'll always be grateful for that.
Bronco LB 59
03-06-2006, 06:38 PM
What a tragic loss for baseball and the citizens of Minnesota.
I remember during the 1995 All-Star Game in Arlington, the American League team was engaging in pregame warmups and the trainer told the squad that it was time to stretch.
Puckett responded, "Stretch? I haven't stretched this body in years."
FantomForce
03-06-2006, 06:39 PM
What a loss
Rocket 7
03-06-2006, 06:40 PM
http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=2357158
Kirby Puckett died Monday, a day after the Hall of Fame outfielder had a stroke at his Arizona home, a hospital spokeswoman said. He was 44.
Puckett died at St. Joseph's Hospital and Medical Center in Scottsdale, Ariz., Kimberly Lodge said. He had been in intensive care since having surgery at another hospital following his stroke Sunday morning.
"This is a sad day for the Minnesota Twins, Major League Baseball and baseball fans everywhere," Twins owner Carl Pohlad said. "Kirby's impact on the Twins organization, state of Minnesota and the Upper Midwest is significant and goes well beyond his role in helping the Twins win two world championships."
Puckett carried the Twins to World Series titles in 1987 and 1991 before his career was cut short by glaucoma. His family, friends and former teammates gathered at the hospital throughout Monday.
"On behalf of Major League Baseball, I am terribly saddened by the sudden passing of Kirby Puckett," baseball commissioner Bud Selig said. "He was a Hall of Famer in every sense of the term.
"He played his entire career with the Twins and was an icon in Minnesota. But he was revered throughout the country and will be remembered wherever the game is played. Kirby was taken from us much too soon -- and too quickly," he said.
Information from The Associated Press and SportsTicker was used in this report.
Taco John
03-06-2006, 06:44 PM
That's too bad.
44 years old.
Wow.
TheManeMan
03-06-2006, 06:45 PM
http://www.startribune.com/stonline/images/news39/1puck91.l.jpg
RIP Kirby Puckett...
If there is a baseball field in your afterlife...We all know you'll be on playing hard as you used to, with all your heart...
Bronco LB 59
03-06-2006, 06:52 PM
In late September of 1995, the Cleveland Indians were playing the Twins and Kirby Puckett was at the plate facing "El Presidente" Dennis Martinez. Martinez's pitch sailed inside and struck Puckett in the left side of the face, fracturing his jaw and produced a deep cut inside his mouth.
Next spring, Puckett found out he had glaucoma and that was his last at-bat in the big leagues.
Puckett said at his retirement press conference concerning Martinez's errant pitch, "I just want to say I love you. He didn't do it on purpose. I was hanging out over the plate cheating."
Hogan11
03-06-2006, 07:03 PM
"El Presidente" was one bad mofo....that guy threw inside and just didn't care who the batter was. I was very bummed when he left Montreal.
watermock
03-06-2006, 07:12 PM
As a long time Twins fan, I'm very saddened. I guess he had put on alot of weight. Altho it's a team sport, you could almost say Kirby carried the Twins on his back for 2 titles.
When we are reminded of our own mortality it's creepy.
RIP
So long Kirby...thanks for helping keep The Braves down....I'll always be grateful for that.
That's a lame statement "keeping the Braves down" ... both the Twins and Braves were "worst to first" teams the year they met in the World Series ...
ro_50
03-06-2006, 09:22 PM
RIP Kirby.
anthonypacino
03-06-2006, 09:28 PM
Sad, I really looked up to him as a player when I was a kid. RIP Kirby
Merlin
03-06-2006, 09:30 PM
It is amazing that a body could be so fined tuned to be an excellent athlete, yet it fails him at such a young age; i.e. glaucoma and a stroke. He was fun to watch. Ditto about DM.
Hogan11
03-06-2006, 09:37 PM
That's a lame statement "keeping the Braves down" ... both the Twins and Braves were "worst to first" teams the year they met in the World Series ...
A lame statement? The only team that failed to keep The Braves from winning a WS was the Indians. The Twins were the first to keep them from it and Kirby was a large part of that win. This is not a lame statement at all.
and F The Braves...for the record, I can't stand them....only the Marlins and Nats are more dispicable organizations in NL as far as I'm concerned.
Merlin
03-06-2006, 09:43 PM
....only the Marlins and Nats are more dispicable organizations in NL as far as I'm concerned.
Lets see. The Marlins plundered the Expos right before they won their WS, and the Nats stole the Expos. You wouldn't happen to be an Expos fan ;)
Hogan11
03-06-2006, 09:46 PM
Lets see. The Marlins plundered the Expos right before they won their WS, and the Nats stole the Expos. You wouldn't happen to be an Expos fan ;)
Was...for many years...it's a long story. When they left town, they left me behind also.
Rocket 7
03-06-2006, 09:48 PM
It is amazing that a body could be so fined tuned to be an excellent athlete, yet it fails him at such a young age; i.e. glaucoma and a stroke. He was fun to watch. Ditto about DM.
Yea! I keep thinking back to Walter Payton and how he would run those hills. But lost his life at such a young age. I have an Uncle who has never been hungover in his life. Hes drunk everyday. Hes outlived them both by 20 years. I'm an atheist so I can't say it's a higher power. Sad sad day for the sports nation.
-Slap-
03-06-2006, 09:51 PM
Very sad. I found him to be a very inspirational athlete. To say he got the maximum out of his abilities would be a huge understatement. He really overcame a lot off the field, too. He grew up in Cabrini Green in Chicago, arguably the most dangerous and crime ridden housing project in the country. He wound up in Minnesota, home to very few African Americans, and the Twins and Major League Baseball were very eager to market him in a specific way. I think he probably felt a lot of pressure to behave in in a certain manner and I can't even imagine how terrible it would be to go blind in one eye.
Orange_Beard
03-06-2006, 09:56 PM
Wow, RIP.
A lame statement? The only team that failed to keep The Braves from winning a WS was the Indians. The Twins were the first to keep them from it and Kirby was a large part of that win. This is not a lame statement at all.
and F The Braves...for the record, I can't stand them....only the Marlins and Nats are more dispicable organizations in NL as far as I'm concerned.
Just curious ... did you despise the Braves during their decade of inetpness throughout most of the 1980s when they had over 100 losses 5 of 6 seasons and we drawing an average of 5000 fans/game?
SteveTensi13
03-07-2006, 08:19 AM
I remember serving in the USAF in North Dakota. I'm not a big Baseball fan but I wtched the world series when the Twins went in i think 1985-86? He was fun to watch, he was the polar opposite of Barry Bonds and other prima donna types. RIP Kirby, we hardly knew ya.
Smiling Assassin27
03-07-2006, 08:19 AM
Don Mattingly was my hero growing up and I saw few who could hit like Donny Baseball. Kirby, Boggs, and Gwynn were the guys who could do it. Boggs had a reputation as a self-centered prick, Gwynn was all class but played on a losing team most of the time, but Puckett was on a winner and ALWAYS had a smile on his face. Watching that little fat dude climb the wall to steal a sure extra base hit in the Series still defies understanding. He'll be missed.
PatsWin2002
03-07-2006, 08:44 AM
Bummer about Kirby. He played pro baseball like he was in a fat guy, beer-laden softball league. He always had fun out there.
That 1991 WS was in the top five - #1 to me that didn't involve Boston...... or NY losing. ;)
Bob's your Information Minister
03-07-2006, 09:06 AM
Baseball needs more guys like Kirby Puckett.
Hogan11
03-07-2006, 09:30 PM
Just curious ... did you despise the Braves during their decade of inetpness throughout most of the 1980s when they had over 100 losses 5 of 6 seasons and we drawing an average of 5000 fans/game?
Yes.
Never liked that team and probably never will...outside of Ted Turner, Bobby Cox and the team itself, you can blame creeps like Joe Simpson, Don Sutton and the insufferable Skip Carey for cementing that hatred over the years.
A pox on them.
-Slap-
03-07-2006, 09:47 PM
Don Sutton is actually a pretty nice guy. That doesn't excuse the perm, though.
Wes Mantooth
03-07-2006, 11:10 PM
Have a hard time praisin a guy who beats his wife. Probably an unpopular opinion, but it shouldn't be ignored or forgotten when discussing how wonderful he was.
Disco Dave
03-07-2006, 11:50 PM
R.I.P. Kirby
Smiling Assassin27
03-08-2006, 08:05 AM
Have a hard time praisin a guy who beats his wife. Probably an unpopular opinion, but it shouldn't be ignored or forgotten when discussing how wonderful he was.
Rod Smith beat his wife too. Do you hold Kirby to a different standard than Rod?
Jason in LA
03-08-2006, 08:17 AM
Rod Smith beat his wife too. Do you hold Kirby to a different standard than Rod?
Rod Smith had one case where him and his wife got into a shouting match, from what I remember. I think they might have gotten into a shoving match. It was never said that he beat his wife, and that was the only reported incedent.
Smiling Assassin27
03-08-2006, 08:25 AM
Rod pled guilty to a domestic violence charge. Kirby pled innocent and was acquitted.
Jason in LA
03-08-2006, 09:22 AM
You are totally insane if you think what Rod did was anywhere near as bad, or worse, than what Puckett did. Puckett was never charged for what he did to his wife. That doesn't mean he didn't do those things.
I really don't have a problem with what Rod did. From what I read on the case, it wasn't anywhere near wife beating.