I like Kirby Puckett

[tryAgainNO000]

I was told to read the book:
Puck! Kirby Puckett: Baseball's Last Warrior
I am a fan of Kirby Puckett,,I never saw him dog it down the line on a groundout... ever.
I find a deal for the book:

..It looks good..I plan to enjoy reading..

[Bill Burgess]

Kirby Puckett, Twins' CF, 1987-95----------------------------------------------------1990-95---BB Reference--------------1987-95


Kirby's Relative Stats:

--Rel.BA-----Rel.Onbase-----Rel.Slg.---------OPS+--------Rel.ISO----PA
---1.19-----------1.07----------1.16-------124(t 239th)------1.12-----7,831

Home/Away Breakdown splits---BA-----Onbase----Slg.
Home:---------------------.344-----.388------.521
Road:----------------------.291-----.331------.430
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
leecemark; December 3, 2004, 06:58 AM
Cobb Wins
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-Congratulations to Tyrus Raymond Cobb and his supporters for his victory over an extremely competitive field. I'd like to thank everyone who particiapated in the discussions on this thread. This has been easily the best of the series so far. Whether we're getting better as we go along or this was a result of the deep field of truely great players, we had some excellent debates on the merits of several players and some good side issues as well.

1) Ty Cobb 259
2) Willie Mays 253
3) Mickey Mantle 209
4) Tris Speaker 196
5) Joe DiMaggio 182
6) Oscar Charleston 108
7) Ken Griffey Jr 91
8) Duke Snider 70
9) Cool Papa Bell 36
10) Billy Hamilton 26
-------------------------
11) Richie Ashburn 25
12) Lary Doby 23
13) Kirby Puckett 20
--Nobody else reached double figures
-----------------------------------------------------------------
538280; December 17, 2005, 08:44 AM
Poll Results
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We had 24 ballots submitted, and it was a very close race for #1. In the end, Ty Cobb claimed his spot as the BBF #1 CFer by a slight margin over Willie Mays. Here's everyone who received 10 or more votes (first place votes in parenthesis):

1. Ty Cobb-253 (14)
2. Willie Mays-242 (10)
3. Tris Speaker-175
4. Mickey Mantle-169
5. Joe DiMaggio-147
6. Oscar Charleston-114
7. Ken Griffey Jr.-82
8. Duke Snider-55
9. Billy Hamilton-45
10. Cool Papa Bell-33
11. Richie Ashburn-15
12. Christobal Torriente-14
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Bill Burgess; May 27, 2007, 10:59 PM 29 voters

1.) Ty Cobb - 266(15)
2.) Willie Mays - 244(12)
3.) Mickey Mantle - 213
4.) Tris Speaker - 197(1)
5.) Joe Dimaggio - 166(1)
6.) Oscar Charleston - 119
7.) Ken Griffey Jr. - 109
8.) Duke Snider - 70
9.) Billy Hamilton - 50
10.) Cool Papa Bell - 28
--------------------------
11.) Kirby Puckett - 11
12.) Spot Poles - 8
13.) Martin Dihigo - 7
14.) Jimmy Wynn - 7
15.) Christobal Torriente - 5
16.) Richie Ashburn - 5
17.) Lary Doby - 5
18.) Jim Edmonds - 4
19.) Fred Lynn - 4
20.) Hugh Duffy - 3
21.) Paul Hines - 2
22.) Turkey Stearns - 2
23.) Cesar Cedeno - 1
24.) Dale Murphy - 1

[GiambiJuice]

I don't like Kirby Puckett. People who sexually assault young women aren't my cup of tea.

[Minstrel]

The only thing I can say about Puckett, the ballplayer, was that he had an absolutely lovely swing. It was one of the prettiest swings I saw in the '80s and early-'90s.

[sturg1dj]

I don't like Kirby Puckett. People who sexually assault young women aren't my cup of tea.

loved Kirby Puckett...but after that happened I couldn't anymore. questions about that though

1) was it sexual assault...I thought is was more abuse and false imprisonment...I remember he dragged a women in a bathroom and wouldn't let her go

2) was he let off the hook or did he die before the verdict?

[KCGHOST]

Kirby was a fine player but the call him baseball's last gladiator is simply ridiculous.

[Herr28]

loved Kirby Puckett...but after that happened I couldn't anymore. questions about that though

1) was it sexual assault...I thought is was more abuse and false imprisonment...I remember he dragged a women in a bathroom and wouldn't let her go

2) was he let off the hook or did he die before the verdict?

I hate that these things happen in any society, but especially when connected to the heroes of little kids. I was living in downtown Minneapolis when this happened, and I recently asked the same 2 questions as this poster did over 5 years ago.

Anyway, I see GiambiJuice hated Puckett back then too, as I looked for a thread on the Twins fine CFer to see what we had. Sure enough, here is GJ proclaiming his dislike back then in one of the first posts! Hilarious! Way to stay consistent, my friend!

I think Kirby Puckett had a very fine career. He was never a favorite of mine (he was to my Minnesotan wife and millions of other kids up there, unfortunately), and I absolutely despised him far more than GiambiJuice could ever imagine when he torched the Cardinals staff in the 1987 World Series. They guy looked like a bat boy, or a guy that sold beer and pretzels at games, not an All Star and future Hall of Fame center fielder! But there he was, always in the conversation as one of the best hitters in his league, year after year. Here are some numbers from his career:

Kirby Puckett, Minnesota Twins, CF, 1984-1996 (age 24-35)

.318/.360/.477
1783 Games
7831 PA
7244 AB
2304 Hits
414 2B
57 3B
207 HR
1085 RBI
134 SB (76 CS)
124 OPS+
3453 TB
50.8 WAR (baseball-reference)

Awards etc
Hall of Fame 2001 (82.1%)
10 time AL All Star
1989 AL Batting Title
1991 ALCS MVP
1993 ASG MVP
1993 Branch Rickey Award
1996 Roberto Clemente Award
6 Gold Gloves
6 Silver Sluggers

Some categories he led the AL
WAR Position Players (1992)
Batting Average (1989)
Hits (1987, 1988, 1989, 1992)
RBI (1994)
Singles (1988)
PO in CF (1985, 1988, 1989)
A in CF (1984, 1985, 1989)
DP in CF (1984, 1985, 1988, 1991)
A in RF (1994, 1995)
PO in OF (1985, 1988, 1989)
A in OF (1984, 1994)

Postseason Stats
Series ----BA/OBP/SLG---G---PA----AB--R---H---2B-3B-HR-RBI-SB-CS-BB--K--TB
ALCS - .311/.319/.556---10----47---45--7---14--2---0--3--8---1---0---1-9--25
WS - - .308/.393/.508---14----62---52---9--16--1---2--2--7---2---1---7-8---27
Total--.309/.361/.536---24---109---97--16--30--3---2--5--15--3---1---8-17--52

2 World Series Rings (1987, 1991)

[Second Base Coach]

I briefly met Kirby Puckett at the Little League World Series. I was covering the event for my television station. Earlier that day I spent a long time with Carney Lansford. I got to see his World Series ring up close. It was larger than I imagined.

Anyway, when Kirby arrived I made the introductions.

It went this way, of course:

Kirby, Carney. Carney, Kirby.

And by the way, Carney was a down to earth guy. There was not really a sense of celebrity. Just another guy enjoying the series with his son who was the same age of the players that year.

Kirby on the other hand was aloof and did not make lot of time for the little people. He also did not look good. At the time he was almost completely round and shorter than his listed height on BBR. Just a snapshot for you…

[Herr28]

I briefly met Kirby Puckett at the Little League World Series. I was covering the event for my television station. Earlier that day I spent a long time with Carney Lansford. I got to see his World Series ring up close. It was larger than I imagined.

Anyway, when Kirby arrived I made the introductions.

It went this way, of course:

Kirby, Carney. Carney, Kirby.

And by the way, Carney was a down to earth guy. There was not really a sense of celebrity. Just another guy enjoying the series with his son who was the same age of the players that year.

Kirby on the other hand was aloof and did not make lot of time for the little people. Just a snapshot for you…

That's awesome, the Carney Lansford part that is. I was a much bigger Lansford fan than a Kirby one while growing up. I liked Lansford for his sweet hitting as the Red Sox 3Bman, and later for his role on those great A's teams. Such a fine hitter, had some pop (decent for the 1980s) and later relied more on his base stealing speed in the #2 hole behind Rickey Henderson on LaRussa's awesome A's dynasty.

That isn't too swell on Puckett's part. As I know from growing up in the Midwest not far from Minneapolis that a lot of kids really liked Kirby Puckett. I don't know what it was about him. I mean he was obviously a fine hitter in his day, and an all star every year. But maybe he just looked like a big kid out there? Sure didn't look like a lot of other center fielders that I remember (Willie McGee, Willie Wilson, Dave Henderson, Tony Armas, Gary Pettis, Devon White, etc.)!

[White Knight]

I love Kirby. Wish he would have played for my team instead of Bernie.

[JR Hart]

I briefly met Kirby Puckett at the Little League World Series. I was covering the event for my television station. Earlier that day I spent a long time with Carney Lansford. I got to see his World Series ring up close. It was larger than I imagined.

Anyway, when Kirby arrived I made the introductions.

It went this way, of course:

Kirby, Carney. Carney, Kirby.

And by the way, Carney was a down to earth guy. There was not really a sense of celebrity. Just another guy enjoying the series with his son who was the same age of the players that year.

Kirby on the other hand was aloof and did not make lot of time for the little people. He also did not look good. At the time he was almost completely round and shorter than his listed height on BBR. Just a snapshot for you…

They come in all kinds, just like people in general. As a radio announcer, I've interviewed Tommy Frazier and Chuck Foreman and they were jerks. On the other hand, When I interviewed John Randle, Mike Rozier, Dennis Leonard, and Eric Crouch, they couldn't have been nicer.

[Blue387]

A good short video on Kirby Puckett on YouTube:

[Herr28]

They come in all kinds, just like people in general. As a radio announcer, I've interviewed Tommy Frazier and Chuck Foreman and they were jerks. On the other hand, When I interviewed John Randle, Mike Rozier, Dennis Leonard, and Eric Crouch, they couldn't have been nicer.

One of my favorite pitchers in his era, I'm glad to see this. Thanks for sharing JR!

[Senor Octobre]

I love Kirby. Wish he would have played for my team instead of Bernie.

Considering Williams was 26 in 1995, Puckett's final year, this statement really doesn't make any sense. I mean, if their careers were essentially concurrent I could see it, but...

[Herr28]

Considering Williams was 26 in 1995, Puckett's final year, this statement really doesn't make any sense. I mean, if their careers were essentially concurrent I could see it, but...

I bet the Twins would have loved to have had a Bernie Williams coming in after Puck was finished! Not that it really would've helped them in those years. They did a very fine job developing and finding good young players to compete in the 2000s though. They had the "Soul Patrol" with Matt Lawton, Torii Hunter, and Jacque Jones in the OF, David Ortiz (when not hurt), excellent fielding 1Bman Doug Mientkiewicz, SS and triple-swatter Christian Guuuuuuuuuuzman (as the announcer at the Dome would say), and my favorite Corey Koskie!

Of course, none of those guys have anything to do with Kirby Puckett I guess. Oops.