Kirby Puckett (Puck)

Position: Centerfielder
Bats: Right, Throws: Right
Height: 5' 8", Weight: 178 lb.

Born: March 14, 1960 in Chicago, IL
High School: Calumet City HS (Chicago, IL)
Schools: Triton College (River Grove, IL), Bradley University (Peoria, IL)
Drafted by the Minnesota Twins in the 1st round (3rd pick) of the 1982 amateur draft (January). (All Transactions)
Debut: May 8, 1984 (Age 24)   vs. CAL 5 AB, 4 H, 0 HR, 0 RBI, 1 SB
Team: Twins 1984-1995
Agents: Ron Shapiro [*]
Final Game: September 28, 1995 (Age 35)   vs. CLE 0 AB, 0 H, 0 HR, 0 RBI, 0 SB
Inducted into the Hall of Fame by BBWAA as Player in 2001 (423/515 ballots).
   View Kirby Puckett Page at the Baseball Hall of Fame (plaque, photos, videos).
Died: March 6, 2006 in Phoenix, AZ
Cremated
View Player Bio from the SABR BioProject
    About biographical information

• 5/19 Through The Fence Baseball: Oswaldo Arcia leads new trend in Twins baseball:   There’s a brand new slugger from Venezuela on the horizon these days, and he resides at, of all places, Target Field...
• 5/15 mlbreports.com : From the 2011 MLB Fancave Phenomenon: Ode To Ryan Wagner – ‘Thickish’ Players from 1986 – 2011:  In 2011, Ryan Wagner and Mike O ‘Hara were part of the 1st season of the MLB Fancave.  As part of their introduction...
• 5/7 Phillies Nation: PN Interview: RHP Prospect Seth Rosin: Last summer, as part of the Hunter Pence trade, the Phillies acquired righty hurler Seth Rosin (Roe-ZEEN). Originally drafted...
• 5/7 PhoulBallz.com: PhoulBallz Interview: RHP Prospect Seth Rosin: Last summer, as part of the Hunter Pence trade, the Phillies acquired righty hurler Seth Rosin (Roe-ZEEN). Originally drafted...
• 5/4 The Cardboard Examiner: 1993 TOPPS FINEST: #22 RICK AGUILERA: RANKS 16TH OVERALL IN SAVES.COMING OFF 83 SAVES COMBINED IN '91 AND '92.DEFINING THE PLAYERLike many standout closers, Rick Aguilera...

• 4/26 Phillies Nation: Writer’s Roundtable: Players Past and Present: Q: Who was your favorite non-Phillies player growing up? And who is your favorite non-Phillie today? Amanda Orr: Ken Griffey,...
• 4/22 More Than A Fan: Face of the Franchise- A.L. Central: As a member of the East Coast wing of More Than A Fan, it is with great trepidation that I select the franchise face for each...
• 4/20 Kevin Slowey Was Framed: Baseblol Cards: 1991 Score: When I close my eyes and think of baseball cards, I picture 1991 Score baseball cards.  I'm not sure why, but this is the...
• 4/19 WasWatching: What If Derek Jeter Has To Retire?: He would go out with the second most hits in a “last season” ever – trailing only Shoeless Joe: Rk Player H...
• 4/1 Kevin Slowey Was Framed: Baseblol Cards: 1989 Donruss: As a child, I was an avid baseball card collector.  I did not discriminate against any brand, style, year or price.  Well,...
• 4/1 Kevin Slowey Was Framed: Finding Fun Minnesota Twins Single Season Records: Baseball Reference made their play index free for about a month.  I have intended to play around with it for a couple weeks,...

• 3/20 Twins Rubes: Losing Patience With the Mullet: In an organization that preaches patience to it’s fans, there stands one particular player that is causing me to run out...
• 3/20 Twins Rubes: Kirby Puckett: 1960-2006: Seven years ago today, one of the greatest ballplayers to wear a Twins uniform died at the age of 45.  As a child growing up...
• 3/17 The Writer's Journey: Want some free baseball cards?: 30-Year Old Cardboard is giving away a nice stack of baseball cards chock full of superstars and Hall of Famers, including Rickey...
• 3/14 The Baseball Continuum: Picture of the day: Kirby in Cooperstown: Today would have been Kirby Puckett‘s 53rd birthday. In honor of that, here’s what his plaque in the Hall of Fame...
• 3/14 Puckett's Pond: Significant Moment in Twins’ History – Tom Brunansky is Traded: Tom Brunansky is the current Minnesota Twins hitting coach.  He is getting rave reviews for his work this Spring and many who...
• 3/4 Puckett's Pond: Twins **** 3/4/13: In last week’s Twins **** we looked at the only man to make it to The Show from short-lived Class E, second baseman George...

• 2/24 Kevin Slowey Was Framed: Righting a Baseball Card Injustice: I went to Target this afternoon.  That alone is exciting enough for a new post, but there's more!  I was going to get...
• 2/19 Billy-Ball.com: The Changing Face of Baseball Stats: the disappearing 200-hit season: It seems that 200-hit seasons are becoming a feat of the past, being replaced by the 185-199 hits batter. 200-Hit Seasons Over...
• 2/11 MLB Dirt: By The Numbers: Just a few interesting numbers: In 1999, Paul Konerko had four triples.  From 2000-2012, he’s hit a total of four triples....
• 2/8 Kevin Slowey Was Framed: A Championship the Minnesota Twins can win.: The title is deliberately misleading, and I do apologize for that.  I'm not going to talk about how Joe Mauer and Josh ...
• 2/5 Puckett's Pond: Bright Futures: #3 – Aaron Hicks: My “Bright Futures” series is nearing an end, and as we wind down to the top spot in the Twins farm system, who will...
• 2/1 Puckett's Pond: An Open Letter to Twins Fans: I’m Ben Noble, and I’m the new editor at Puckett’s Pond. With less than two weeks before pitchers and catchers...

• 1/29 The Flagrant Fan: Ian Desmond - regression candidate?: I parti**** Sunday night in my first ever fantasy mock draft with the folks from MLB Dirt and others noted for their skills...
• 1/26 Kevin Slowey Was Framed: My Top 10 Minnesota Twins (with pictures!): I have received two complaints in my entire life.  1.  You don't illustrate enough.  2.  You haven't made...
• 1/24 Puckett's Pond: Down on the Pond: TwinsFest!: It’s almost 9am on Thursday morning and I’m sitting at the airport waiting on my flight from Seattle to Minneapolis...
• 1/22 Kevin Slowey Was Framed: Twin Season of the Past - Gary Gaetti's 1986: A couple months ago, a bunch of extremely talented baseball writers came together to write a book about players who are not Hall...
• 1/22 Kevin Slowey Was Framed: Twin Season of the Past - Shane Mack 1992: Shane Mack was my little brother's favorite player.  It was perfect because Kirby Puckett was my favorite and Mack was...
• 1/22 Blog Red Machine: Cincy Hosting ASG in 2015 Different from 1988: Tomorrow, MLB Commish Bud Selig will be in town. Those “sources inside baseball” state that Selig will announce that...
• 1/19 Puckett's Pond: What if Lonnie Smith had scored in Game 7 of the 1991 World Series?: What if Lonnie Smith ran the bases like a normal human? Every Twins fan remembers the 1991 World Series.  It was the second title...
• 1/18 More Than A Fan: ML what would B: What if the 1994 MLB Strike Never Happened?: Hey baseball fans! Matt Nadel here with another ML“what would”B! Today, I will answer the following question: WHAT IF THE...
• 1/13 Twinstrivia.com: They came to play: The major league baseball season is a real grind, you are scheduled to play 162 games in about 185 days give or take and that...
• 1/13 Did The Tribe Win Last Night?: Making Sense of the Hall of Fame Vote: By Bob Toth There were undoubtedly some surprises that stemmed from the announcement Wednesday afternoon that no players from...
• 1/12 Puckett's Pond: Minnesota Twins draft Kirby Puckett – January 12, 1982: For most Twins fans, the first player we think of is Kirby Puckett.  Kirby Puckett is arguably the most po**** player in Twins...
• 1/9 My Pinstripes: BBWAA Snubs MLB Eligibles For Hall: Everyone knew that this year's Baseball Hall of Fame vote would be an interesting one. Accused performance enhancing...
• 1/9 Full Spectrum Baseball: Let’s Talk About Feelings: Now statistics can be poured over, analyzed, compared, etcetera, etcetera, but when there is doubt you can always think about...
• 1/4 Radical Baseball: Hall of Fame: "integrity, sportsmanship, character".: That's the criteria that has media people tripping all over themselves, doing everything except what is needed: get together...

• 12/11 The Cardinal Nation Blog: Former Cardinals: Where are they now? Gary GaettiA former St. Louis Cardinals third baseman is living in the Houston area and managing a nearby independent league club....

• 11/29 Venom Strikes: Former AZ D’Back Curt Schilling is on the Hall of Fame Ballot: The ballot for the 2013 Hall of Fame candidates has been released and while much of the talk has centered on “steroid guys”...
• 11/27 Puckett's Pond: Bright Futures: #8 – Max(imilian) Kepler: The Minnesota Twins have been known for years as having one the top minor league systems in all of baseball. Developing talent...
• 11/3 Puckett's Pond: Would you Rather? Gene Larkin or Torii Hunter?: It’s an age old debate!  Would you Rather?  One of my favorite comedy podcasts, Comedy Bang Bang, often ends with a game...

• 10/27 Puckett's Pond: Midday Memories: Twins 1991 World Series Game 7: The 1991 World Series was named the #1 Fall Classic of all time by ESPN.  Relive the memories this postseason by celebrating...
• 10/26 Puckett's Pond: Midday Memories: Twins 1991 World Series Game 6: The 1991 World Series was named the #1 Fall Classic of all time by ESPN.  Relive the memories this postseason by celebrating...
• 10/22 Puckett's Pond: Midday Memories: Twins 1991 World Series Game 3: The 1991 World Series was named the #1 Fall Classic of all time by ESPN.  Relive the memories this postseason by celebrating...
• 10/20 Puckett's Pond: Midday Memories: Twins 1991 World Series Game 2: The 1991 World Series was named the #1 Fall Classic of all time by ESPN.  Relive the memories this postseason by celebrating...
• 10/19 Baseball With Matt: A Minnesota Miracle 10/19/12: Hey baseball fans!Sorry I haven't posted in a few days. Just busy with school. Anyway, today, I will be blogging about a great...

• 9/7 Puckett's Pond: Twins Weekly Web Wrap: Essential online updates of the Minnesota Twins and MLB: Twins Weekly Web Wrap is a digest of essential Minnesota Twins and MLB links for the savvy fan. MINNESOTA TWINS NEWS & NOTES...
• 9/5 The Baseball Page: Baseball's Hall of Shame: Here's photos of some of your favorite baseball players. They're members...

• 7/12 The Baseball Page: Kirby Puckett Retires and Disco Night on This Day in Baseball: On July 12, 1996, longtime Minnesota Twins star and future Hall of Famer Kirby Puckett announces his retirement due to glaucoma...
• 7/12 The Baseball Page: Disco Night and Kirby Puckett retires on This Day in Baseball: On July 12, 1996, longtime Minnesota Twins star and future Hall of Famer...
• 7/10 Bleeding Yankee Blue: REGGIE STIRRED THE WRONG DRINK: It appears the New York Yankees did what they had to do, tell the great Reggie Jackson that he needed to stay away from...
• 7/10 The Writer's Journey: What makes a Hall of Famer?: Fortunately, not Reggie Jackson‘s opinion. I’m not talking about players involved with the steroid scandal, but guys...
• 7/10 PaulLebowitz.com: Reggie In Time-Out: One amazing thing you’ll find about Reggie Jackson is how little he’s evolved from his playing days. When looking for a Thurman...
• 7/7 High Heat Stats: “Compile” this!: In any discussion of Hall of Famers or HOF candidates, you’ll usually hear the term “compiler,” a mild pejorative meaning...

• 6/30 Did The Tribe Win Last Night?: The Greatest Summer Ever: Paul Sorrento: Each week through the 26 weeks of the 2012 regular season, DTTWLN  will profile and break down the roster of arguably the most...
• 6/26 High Heat Stats: Tuesday teasers (from Monday’s games): As if crafting the first double-complete-game in almost a calendar year wasn’t enough, Luke Hochevar and Alex Cobb enhanced...
• 6/12 High Heat Stats: The Mount Rushmore of the Minnesota Twins: The Twins began life in MLB as the Washington Senators, joining the AL in 1901 along with a bunch of other teams. It took until...

• 5/11 High Heat Stats: Is Brett Lawrie one of the greatest fielders ever?: This post was suggested by reader Paul E who remarked on the defensive accomplishments of Brett Lawrie of the Blue Jays. Toronto...

• 4/27 The Daily Catch: Scott Rolen, Immortal?: This article is courtesy of our friends at Red Reporter Written by: riverfront76 Let’s start with a quantifiable piece of...
• 4/26 Bus League Baseball: The Bizarro Hall of Fame: The Class of 1999: The Bizarro Hall of Fame was a series I ran on my old blog, One More Dying Quail, in 2007. It consists of players who appeared...
• 4/12 High Heat Stats: The Imperfect Trifecta or Singles Only, Please: Blogger Paul E pointed out that Jimmy Rollins and Juan Pierre are leading the Phillies attack this year with identical batting...

• 3/23 New York Mets Report: Chipper Jones – Mets Killer – to retire.: Some opponents you loathe. You watch with venom in your heart for how they destroy your team. Or you despise their arrogance and...
• 3/20 High Heat Stats: All-time HR leaders by team among single-franchise players (prepare to be amazed!): I started tweeting some of this last night and realized it would make a pretty awesome post. Among players who played their entire...
• 3/14 Through The Fence Baseball: Remembering a Chicago Hall of Famer: Kirby Puckett: The best World Series I’ve ever seen — before 2011, that is — happened back in 1991. The Twins beat the Braves...
• 3/6 Bleeding Yankee Blue: WHY "DOING WHAT I SAY" IS BETTER THAN "DOING WHAT I DO": On February 15th, current SDSU coach, former Padre, and a childhood idol of mine Tony Gwynn underwent a second surgery to remove...

• 2/28 Classic Minnesota Twins: Kent Hrbek On David Letterman: Oct. 28, 1987: Kent did Kirby proud.Kent Hrbek was his usual, unvarnished self in this segment following the Twins first World Series victory. He...
• 2/28 Ramblings of Baseball: What To Wear XXV: The Twins started out in Washington as the Senators. Following the 1960 season they left our nation’s capitol and set out for...
• 2/24 Bleeding Yankee Blue: WHY MATTINGLY BELONGS IN THE HALL OF FAME: The New York Yankees certainly have their share of plaques in the MLB Hall of Fame and, with the likes of Derek Jeter and Mariano...
• 2/21 PaulLebowitz.com: Cameron vs Puckett—*Wink Wink*: Following his retirement, I saw it repeated ad nauseam that Mike Cameron has a higher career WAR (Wins Above Replacement) than...
• 2/2 High Heat Stats: Brad Hawpe and the worst defensive seasons of all time: Recently (you know, on the only other real post I’ve written on the new blog so far) a couple of readers mentioned Brad...

• 1/30 Classic Minnesota Twins: Chuck Knoblauch & The Dollar Dog Rebellion: May 2, 2001: The Odd Couple: Kelly and Knoblauch  face down rowdiesI was there to see the whole, mustard-slathered spectacle. Wednesday...
• 1/27 Mets360.com: Will Carlos Beltran wear Mets hat when elected to Hall of Fame?: Once again Carlos Beltran is being discussed in regards to the Mets. This latest activity is due to comments that Beltran gave...
• 1/13 The Captain's Blog: A Closer Look at First Ballot Hall of Famers: Although the reasons have varied over the years, the BBWAA has long placed importance on the notion of a first ballot Hall of...
• 1/13 High Heat Stats: The 10 most under-appreciated players of the 1980s: #1 Dwayne Murphy: Oakland Athletics outfielder Dwayne Murphy tops our countdown of the most under-appreciated players of the 1980s. If you're disappointed,...
• 1/12 High Heat Stats: WAAS Experiment #1: Adjusted WAAS: In a long exchange on the original WAAS post, reader Robert proposed adjusting the WAAS method to account for partial seasons.Basic...
• 1/10 High Heat Stats: WAAS: Wins Above All-Star Level: (Errors in the HOF list in an earlier version of this post have been corrected.)In two recent columns (insider),...

• 12/20 The Writer's Journey: Retired Numbers: #34: Three players, all Hall of Famers, honored by five teams make up the retired #34′s. Kirby Puckett, Minnesota Twins While...
• 12/20 Crashburn Alley: Active Phillies and Future Hall of Famers: Over at The Book blog, Tango looks at the PA threshold for Hall of Famers: Of players born since 1924, here are the least number...
• 12/19 WasWatching: Best Defensive Seasons By A Modern Outfielder: Here’s one way to look at it - Rk Player Rfield G Year Age Tm Pos 1 Darin Erstad 39 150 2002 28 ANA *8/3D 2 Jose Cruz 38...
• 12/13 High Heat Stats: Metsclusive: The Best Single Franchise Players for Each Team: Jose Reyes's  departure for South Florida makes him the latest Mets star to get away. In fact, very few players of any value...

• 11/14 Classic Minnesota Twins: Remembering Kirby Puckett's Game 6 of the 1991 World Series: October 26, 1991. It was twenty years ago today...It was the day that defined the legacy and history of Kirby Puckett's...
• 11/14 Classic Minnesota Twins: Game Of The Week: When Doves and Gary Gaetti Cried - Fri., Sept. 28, 1984: I shall stab at thee from **** Quirk.1984 ToppsThese tickets you see below were printed in anti**** of the Twins reaching...
• 11/14 Classic Minnesota Twins: Classic Twins Game of the Week: Dave Winfield's 3,000th Hit Game: Sept. 16, 1993:                 Winfield squares up pitch  from Dennis Eckersley  for his...
• 11/14 Classic Minnesota Twins: Ben Again! Revere Evokes Images of Kirby Puckett & Bo Jackson, August 22, 2010: Sometimes I think Ben is just a cartoon character like Bugs Bunny, who can defy the law of physics with otherworldly prowess....
• 11/10 NY Baseball Digest: Lenny Dykstra’s Odd Twitter Plea: Just when you think Lenny Dykstra‘s life has hit rock bottom there is another story that takes the cake. You know by now the...

• 10/28 Puckett's Pond: David Freese: Puckett’s Pond Fan: David Freese is obviously a dedicated Puckett’s Pond reader. That’s my only explanation for what he did last night....
• 10/7 AndyPatton.net: Dale Murphy and the Hall of Fame: I am doing a series on different major league baseball players and their case for induction into the Major League baseball hall...

• 9/28 WSJ Daily Fix: Reyes Bunts and Sits His Way to Glory: The Count: The Mets star extended his lead in batting average in the NL with a bunt single in his final at bat of the season....
• 9/26 B-R Blog: Most homers in final season: Loyal reader Andy P. writes in to ask which players hit the most homers in their final season in the majors. He noticed that Jermaine...
• 9/18 B-R Blog: Scattered thoughts on select games of Saturday, 9/17/11: Tampa 4, Boston 3; The gap's back down to 3 games, with David Price facing Tim Wakefield in Sunday's finale. -- Jeff Niemann gets...
• 9/9 Through The Fence Baseball: Mike Trout or Bryce Harper: Who would you take?: So who do you want to start a franchise with? A top-of-the-order hitter with extraordinarily elite speed, plays Gold Glove defense,...

• 8/22 B-R Blog: Melky Cabrera and players who bloom at age 26: Melky Cabrera is having a career year for the Royals. After looking "on the cusp" for several season with the Yankees and Braves,...
• 8/18 B-R Blog: Jacoby Ellsbury’s historically amazing season: Jacoby Ellsbury is just killing it this year. He's already got 22 HR, 78 RBI, and 87 runs. Here the only leadoff hitters (minimum...
• 8/7 B-R Blog: Teammates with simultaneous 20-game hitting streaks: Dan Uggla and Freddie Freeman both extended their hitting streaks Saturday, to 27 games and 20 games, respectively. It's the first...

• 7/26 NY Baseball Digest: Carlos Beltran & HOF, Historic Losing Streak, RBI is the Most Important Stat: I called Carlos Beltran a “potential Hall of Famer” in an article yesterday. That brought some questions that I...
• 7/21 B-R Blog: Most Career Post-Season Triples: How many players have 2 or more triples in the post-season? Here is the list - Rk Player #Matching   PA AB H 2B 3B 6 HR RBI...

• 6/27 11th and Washington: I think I would've liked the man they called 'Killer': My exposure to Harmon Killebrew was minimal. His final game came a year before I was born, and I can't recall him ever appearing...
• 6/14 NY Baseball Digest: Aguilera’s Odd Trade Experience: On Sunday, I played an interview I conducted with Rick Aguilera during his visit to Citi Field a couple of weeks ago. We all...
• 6/13 B-R Blog: Active players who have played for just one franchise: Check out the top 25 active players for most PAs with just one team in the majors: Rk Player PA From To Age G Pos Tm 1 Derek Jeter...

• 5/26 NY Baseball Digest: What Could Lenny Dykstra Have Been?: Lenny Dykstra once promised to be the best leadoff hitter in baseball. Now, 25 years since he hit two memorable postseason homeruns...
• 5/21 FanSided: The Winning Teams: 1991: This is part five in a series examining every Twins team that has made the playoffs. Whether the current version of the Twins...
• 5/19 NY Baseball Digest: Don Mattingly the Second Baseman?: Don Mattingly is arguably one of the best defensive first baseman in the history of baseball. His production from 1984-1989 is...

• 4/3 PaulLebowitz.com: Donnieball: There is not one player on the entire Los Angeles Dodger roster that can make a claim to having been better than an in-his-prime...

• 3/6 MLBTradeRumors: Highest Paid Players Of The Last Three Decades: It's no secret that baseball player salaries have exploded over the last two decades, but just how much? With some help from...

• 1/20 B-R Blog: 200+ Hits & 80 Runs Scored Or Less: Since 1876, how many players have scored 80 runs or less in a season where they had 200+ hits that year? Here's the list - Rk...
• 1/12 PaulLebowitz.com: Muddled: Trevor Hoffman retired yesterday and the Hall of Fame argument as to his worthiness has already begun. While he was playing there...
• 1/8 NY Baseball Digest: Does Kirby Puckett Open up the HOF for Bernie Williams?: NYBD reader “Russ” posted a comment the other day comparing Bernie Williams to other Hall of Fame centerfielders,...
• 1/5 Subjective Baseball: Ranking: World Series of the 1990s: A random list to herald HoF day.  Because, you know, why not?  Also, congrats to Roberto Alomar and Bert Blyleven....

• 12/31 SocraticGadfly: Larry Walker: Another non-HOFer getting fluffed: Once again, it's an ESPN columnist fluffing somebody who is a definite for the Hall of the Very Good, but NOT the Hall of Fame.Jim...

• 11/29 B-R Blog: Most hits, homers, strikeouts, etc, first 10 seasons: Ichiro, Pujols, and Dunn: Here's more stuff from reader Joseph T. about numerous records set in the 2010 season for totals in the first 10 years of a playing...

• 8/9 B-R Blog: Perfect Games – For Batters: How many batters, since 1920, have had 12+ "perfect days" at the plate in games where they had 4+ At Bats? By this, I mean, going...
• 8/3 B-R Blog: POLL: Larry Walker and the Hall of Fame: Larry Walker was one of the great young players with the early 1990s Expos and then became a star playing in numbers-inflating...

• 5/19 B-R Blog: WAR Data: Best Position Players Not In the Hall of Fame: Here's a post concept that's sure to be a lightning rod for discussion: who are the best position players not to be inducted into...
• 5/17 B-R Blog: Oddibe Mike Young: A simple list via Baseball-Reference.com's Play Index Batting Season Finder - most seasons in a career with 200+ hits. Here are...
• 5/3 B-R Blog: Pinky Whitney: Today, on the radio, I heard about Robinson Cano having so many hits in the first five years of his career. So, I wanted to see...
• 5/3 B-R Blog: Four hits in a major-league debut: Yesterday, Wilson Ramos of the Twins appeared in his first career game and had four hits. Here are all the guys in history to...
• 5/1 B-R Blog: Austin Jackson’s Hot Start: Via Baseball-Reference.com's Play Index Batting Game Finder - players since 1952 with 11+ games of 2+ hits within the first 25...