The two sides of Kirby
March 7th, 2006
Filed Under: Sports Junk
Minnesota Twins legend Kirby Puckett passed on today after suffering a stroke the other day in his Arizona home. He won two World Series championships in 1987 and 1991 with the only ballclub he ever played for in the majors. He was inducted into the baseball Hall of Fame in 2001. He was 45 years of age when he died.
As a kid, I vividly remember watching the 1991 World Series when the Twins played against the Atlanta Braves, and it was quite possibly the best World Series ever played. And there was Kirby lifting his team up in game 6 to send the series back to Minneapolis for the final decisive game which the Twins won 1-0 in 10 innings. Kirby had an infectious smile and always played his heart out when on the field. He virtually represented the face of Minnesota sports.
However there was another side of Kirby Puckett that didn’t come to light until after his career ending glaucoma forced him to retire in 1995. Apparently, though spectacular on the baseball diamond, he was very flawed as a human being off of it. Most athlete’s private lives rarely do live up to the expectations their on-field personas generate. But with #34 it was harder to swallow the revelations of his abuse to his wife, and the other subsequent acts of mis-conduct towards women in general. It was like innocence lost among his adoring fans that found this other side of Kirby to hard fathom. Some have gone as far as to call him a charlatan.
For me, though of course I didn’t know the man at all personally, I think his private life was a disappointing contrast to his accomplishments as a professional athlete. But the only Kirby Puckett I ever knew was on the baseball field and, as a ball-player I feel he has earned his spot in the baseball hall of fame.
I just wouldn’t induct him into the human being hall of fame.
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2 Responses to “The two sides of Kirby”
Ryan Simonson
Might I remind you that Puck was acquitted of any wrongdoing in the bogus “sexual assault” case that SI jumped all over, licking their lips at the thought of selling magazines via character assasination.
Regarding the “abuse” of his wife. It’s she said, he denied. There’s nothing else to it. It’s between them, and doesn’t belong in the public forum in the first place.
Kirby was one of the nicest, most generous individuals to ever put on a uniform and represent a sports team in america. Every member of the press here in Minnesota has been on the radio and in the papers all day sharing their stories about Kirby. On the field, off the field, in the clubhouse, in spring training, etc. Fans have been lining up to place mementos and messages outside the metrodome at an informal shrine to Kirby.
If you want to know what kind of a person Kirby Puckett was, look here, not in the pages of some shitty national gossip rag like Sports Illustrated.
..:JJP
Don’t get me wrong Ryan, I’m not trying to vilify Kirby at all here. We all have our flaws. And like a million other fans I enjoyed watching him play the game of baseball, and I’m glad to hear people are paying their respects to the former Twins star.
It’s tough being an athlete these days, with all of the pressures, high expectations, being under a microscope in the press and criticism for every mis-step on & off the field. I just think it’s sucky how his personal life decisions puts a damper on his athletic accomplishments. And it does.
If only a little.
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