Posted on 03/06/2006 6:00:54 PM PST by Fedupwithit
MINNEAPOLIS -- Kirby Puckett died Monday, a day after the Hall of Fame outfielder had a stroke at his Arizona home, a hospital spokeswoman said. He was 44.
Puckett died at St. Joseph's Hospital and Medical Center in Phoenix, Kimberly Lodge said. He had been in intensive care since having surgery at another hospital following his stroke Sunday morning.
Puckett carried the Twins to World Series titles in 1987 and 1991 before his career was cut short by glaucoma. His family, friends and former teammates gathered at the hospital throughout Monday.
The hospital said Puckett was given last rites and died in the afternoon.
"On behalf of Major League Baseball, I am terribly saddened by the sudden passing of Kirby Puckett," baseball commissioner Bud Selig said. "He was a Hall of Famer in every sense of the term.
"He played his entire career with the Twins and was an icon in Minnesota. But he was revered throughout the country and will be remembered wherever the game is played. Kirby was taken from us much too soon -- and too quickly," he said.
The buoyant, barrel-shaped Puckett broke into the majors in 1984 and had a career batting average of .318. Glaucoma forced the six-time Gold Glove center fielder and 10-time All-Star to retire when he went blind in his right eye.
"This is a sad day for the Minnesota Twins, Major League Baseball and baseball fans everywhere," Twins owner Carl Pohlad said.
And every square inch of his musclar frame was genuine. No steroids within that frame of his. He was the real deal.
That's an old, nasty, spiteful story written by Frank DeFord. A cake-eating leftist, and a downright dirty jackoff. DeFord aint fit to wash Kirby's jock.
I know, from first-hand experience, that Kirby was a real class act. DeFord was just looking for a chink in Puckett's armor when he poison-penned that column. He interviewed a PROVEN scam artist trying to milk Kirby for money, and a bitter ex-spouse. DeFord should be ashamed of that article.
If you asked ANY Minnesota kid during the 1980s and 1990s who their favorite sport star was, it was 100% Kirby. Kirby was the hero to many, and rightfully so.
You can post that garbage all night and still won't even dent the memory almost all Minnesotans have for Kirby Puckett. You just don't know.
Kirby ranks with Harmon Killebrew with us.
You just read some crap and posted it without knowing what the hell you ar spouting. Nice job.
It took you that long. Turning 40 makes you think LOL
I noticed too most of the stuff was hearsay from an ex-wife and a miffed mistress. And I imagine pro ball-players aren't always on their PC behaviour around the cute new gal in the club office (the lawsuit settled our of court "against Puckett and other Twins players").
The article never did say if he was ever charged with anything. Not that it matters now. RIP
Yes, he died too young. But he certainly wasn't some "class act" or "humanitarian". Just ask his wife who he tried to strangle and his "girlfriend" of 17 years.
"She told of Kirby putting a cocked gun to her head as she held their then-2-year-old daughter.
She told of Kirby trying to strangle her with an electrical cord.
She told of Kirby locking her in the basement.
She told of Kirby using a power saw to cut through a door."
http://www.twincities.com/mld/twincities/news/local/4754100.htm?template=contentModules/printstory.jsp
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