Drop the Puckett

Or
The Puckett Stops Here
Kirby Puckett, who gave short, barrel-bodied center fielders everywhere reason to hope, died yesterday after suffering a stroke on Sunday at the age of 44. In the course of a Hall of Fame career, Puckett led the Minnesota Twins to World Series titles in 1987 and 1991. In 1987 a team that finished the regular season barely over .500 topped the Detroit Tigers and St. Louis Cardinals. In 1991 Puckett earned ALCS MVP honors as he notched the game-winning hit in game 5 over the Blue Jays. In an epic World Series, after a crushing loss in Game 5, Puckett told his teammates to climb on his back, then hit a game-winning sayonara shot to tie the series at 3 games to set the stage for Jack Morris’ Game 7 masterpiece, and starting the Atlanta Braves on their course to the emptiest dynasty ever. Along the way, Puckett made 10 All-Star teams and won six Gold Gloves while becoming a SportsCenter fixture in robbing homer after homer in front of the garbage bags in the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome. On and off the field, Puckett earned a following, and a namesake in Bob Costas’ son after winning a bet with the 1989 AL batting title, for his unbridled enthusiasm for the game and life. All of which let him get away with nailing anything that moved during his marriage, threatening to kill his then-wife and sexually assaulting a woman at a restaurant.