Kirby Puckett doesn't know if he's going to be voted into the Hall of Fame next month. This is his first year on the ballot, after all. But Puckett does know what it would mean for the short kid from Chicago's Taylor Homes to join the ranks of baseball immortals.
"It will be a victory for all the short little kids who have been told all their lives, 'You can't do this. You can't do that,' " Puckett said. "To persevere and ultimately become a winner and a champion, that's what it's all about."
|  | | Kirby Puckett won two World Series titles during his storied 12-year career with the Twins. |
Because his career ended prematurely, the former Minnesota Twins center fielder isn't sure he will receive enough support to join childhood heroes Ernie Banks, Billy Williams and Willie Mays in making it to Cooperstown, at least not on the first ballot. But he is sure of one thing: If he can make it, anyone can.
Puckett remains one of the greatest triumphs of spirit in sports. You're going to be hearing a lot about him before Jan. 16, when the Hall of Fame announces the Class of 2001. Puckett joins former Minnesota Twins teammate Dave Winfield, Don Mattingly, Kirk Gibson and Dave Stewart among the players eligible for induction for the first time.
Winfield is an automatic, based on his 3,110 hits and 465 home runs. Puckett should make it as well, but his cause is more complicated. Glaucoma, diagnosed too late for effective treatment, forced him from the game in 1996, when he was 35 and still going strong.
Puckett is the rare player who not only elevated his performance for the biggest games but also helped his teammates raise their level. It's barely an oversimplification to say that's how the Twins came from nowhere to win the World Series in 1987 and '91.
Puckett knows his two Series rings are rare treasures. He feels fortunate to have had the chance to play on a stage that eluded his childhood heroes, Banks and Williams.
"Those guys never had the opportunity to play in a World Series," Puckett said. "When I see Ernie Banks, he says, 'I'll give you my Hall of Fame credentials for one of those World Series.' I say, 'No way.' I got to play in two, and not just two but two of the best ever."
Puckett hit .357 and scored a Series-high five runs in '87, helping the Twins overcome a three games-to-two deficit to beat the St. Louis Cardinals. They followed the same win-at-home formula to beat the Atlanta Braves in '91. Puckett's gamw-winning homer and leaping catch at the Metrodome wall in Game 6 set the stage for Jack Morris' 1-0, 10-inning victory in Game 7.
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“ |
In
my mind, Kirby Puckett is a certain Hall of Famer.
But that's not going to be an easy case to make
because of his statistics and his career ended
prematurely. But for those of us who lived
through times that were sometimes tumultuous,
the one beacon of brightness and greatness was
Kirby Puckett. ” |
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— Andy MacPhail |
Puckett's enthusiasm on the field was contagious. "I always played with a smile," Puckett said. "I always ran to my position. I never lollygagged down the line on a ground ball ... If I gave it my best every day, for a 12-year career, I could know I did all I could. Everything comes to an end."
He had just completed a prolific season for Minnesota in 1995, hitting .314 with 23 homers and 99 RBI, when he began to see spots in his right eye. He never stepped back into the batter's box after the spring of '96, ending his career with a .318 batting average, 207 home runs, 1,085 RBI and six Gold Gloves.
Those are impressive numbers under any condition. They are Hall of Fame numbers only under special circumstances -- and everything about the youngest of the late William and Catherine Puckett's nine children is special.
"In my mind, Kirby Puckett is a certain Hall of Famer," said Andy MacPhail, the Cubs' current executive who was the Twins' general manager from 1985 through '94. "But that's not going to be an easy case to make because of his statistics and his career ended prematurely. But for those of us who lived through times that were sometimes tumultuous, the one beacon of brightness and greatness was Kirby Puckett."
What did glaucoma cost Puckett? There's no way to quantify the hardships associated with any such loss, but researcher Pete Palmer of Total Baseball did his best to project Puckett's performance if he had continued to play through 2001.
Palmer factored in an annual reduction in at-bats, based on wear and tear, and still wound up with staggering totals -- a .314 average, 3,091 hits, 317 homers, 1,584 RBI and 1,473 runs scored. There wouldn't have been an argument then.
It does a disservice to reduce Puckett to a study of numbers. His story is more about spirit than production.
Puckett's unbreakable spirit showed in how he soared above his surroundings in the high rise at 4444 South State. It was there in how he responded to the irreversible retinal damage that has left him legally blind in one eye.
Instead of becoming bitter, Puckett came out fighting. In addition to his job as an executive vice president with the Twins, he has been a national spokesman for the Glaucoma Foundation. He calls his forced retirement a "blessing" because it has given him time with his wife, Tonya, and their two children in Edina, Minn. Catherine is a 9-year-old hooked on gymnastics; Kirby Jr. is a 7-year-old with a good jump shot and a strong passing arm.
"When I found out I couldn't play any more, I was worried to death about what my wife and kids were going to think about having me around all the time," Puckett said. "They had their routine, and I didn't want to get in the way. But Dad's pretty nimble. He can still move fast."
Because his playing career had ended, Puckett has been able to be around for some memorable moments at home. Among those was Kirby Jr.'s first flag football game. "He tackled about three kids out there," Puckett said. "I was so embarrassed. I was telling the other parents, 'Don't worry, he'll catch on.' "
Kirby Sr. certainly did.
Puckett stands 5-foot-8 now. He remembers being the last to be picked for playground basketball because of his height. He never saw a white baseball scout when his Calumet High team played games at 81st and May on Chicago's South Side. But he wouldn't be denied a career.
That's because he never forgot the example of his father, who worked an extra job after his shift ended at the post office on Van Buren, or the lessons taught by his mother.
"She told me we could be whatever we wanted to be," Puckett said. "She said, 'Don't let anybody else tell you that you can't be.' I tell my kids the same thing. You can be whatever you want to be."
Puckett is living proof.
Phil Rogers is the national baseball writer for the Chicago Tribune, which has a web site at www.chicagosports.com. | |
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Kirby Puckett's Career Statistics
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