12 Days of Twinsmas: #1 Kirby Puckett

Being 15 years old in 1987 and 19 in 1991, Kirby couldn't have made a bigger impression on me as a baseball crazed teenager. I'd give tens of thousands of dollars today to go back in time to that Metrodome and hear the "Kirbeeeeee Puckett" on the PA and see those championship teams again. 

6 hours ago, David Youngs said:

From his World Series heroics to jubilant personality, Kirby Puckett is regarded by most as the greatest player to ever don a Twins uniform. 

 

Kirby is my all-time favorite baseball player. But I do not regard him as the greatest player to ever play for the Twins and I highly doubt that most do.

Kirby's impact on pivotal Game 6 in the 1991 World Series homering in extra innings. "We'll see you tomorrow night." is likely the most iconic moment in the history of the Twins. Kirby  was special.

When Kirby was forced to retire, I lost my love of baseball for some time.  Luckily, Tori Hunter, Joe Mauer and Justin Morneau brought some of it back for me, but there will never be another Kirby.

You forgot to mention that it always looked like he was having fun. That's what always struck me, dude was having fun playing baseball. 

Due to my age, Carew was my first favorite Twin.  He got me interested in baseball at a fairly early age.

Then Kirby came along and my love of baseball exploded.  I remember being in college when he came up. He had 4 hits in his first game against the Angels on the West Coast.  Reggie Jackson called him "another slap hitter".  Obviously he became much more than that.  I liked Kirby so much that I ended up with a massive Kirby baseball card collection - nearly a thousand different cards at one point.

I was heartbroken when Kirby had to retire too soon and again when he passed way too soon.

For all the heartbreak that Minnesota sports fans have had to endure over the years, Kirby helped deliver the greatest highs.  He was, in my mind, the greatest professional athlete to don a Minnesota uniform.

15 hours ago, Nine of twelve said:

Kirby is my all-time favorite baseball player. But I do not regard him as the greatest player to ever play for the Twins and I highly doubt that most do.

Maybe if you only go by the book and focus on longevity. Again, just maybe. I will always take Kirby as the #1 greatest Twins player ever along with the two World Series championships. 

Well I guess we know who your favorite Twin was when you were younger. 

As a 1997 baby I never had the chance to watch Kirby Puckett play in person. 

Got my first chuckle of the day.  Then got a little depressed thinking of how old it made me feel.  Then how lucky I felt having been able to see Harmon play, and Tony O' play, and Carew play, and Herbie, and Sweet Music, Johann, and Roy, and Kirby, and Joe and even Laudner, Larkin, Gladden, Bostock, and all the others.  Gotta say, I've had a good Twins life.  Thanks for the articles.

I'll still go with Harmon as greatest overall but I'm sure glad we have several players that are great enough to argue over!

Will always remember going to that spring training game with my son and his friend who were both in their early teens.  Was puzzling when it was announced that Kirby was a scratch.  Little did we know that the game we saw the day before was his last. 

His career, like his life, ended way too early.  

7 hours ago, roger said:

His career, like his life, ended way too early.  

As we all know, Kirby had several health and other personal problems between the end of his playing career and the end of his life. In spite of his generally very positive public persona the unexpected premature end to his career had to have been devastating to him on a personal level, especially considering the self-blame that must have resulted from knowing his loss of vision would have been prevented by having a routine eye exam done that off-season. I strongly believe he would still be alive today if he had been able to continue his career until retiring on his own terms.

Fun memories.  

I like Harmon #1, Kirby #2, and Rod #3.  But, that is personal.  I cannot fault your order.

Again it is personal but I would remove Knobloch and add Morneau to my list. 

After his concussion, he was not able to return to the same level.  I would project his dominance in placing him on my list.

I have had two concussions in my life, in both instances I only was hospitalized overnight, but my family has described how disconnected I was during my outage.  Some funny remarks they tell me I made to the doctor..  With my experiences, I do not penalize Morneau 

Ditto on the Morneau over Knobloch.