Kirby Puckett

Kirby Puckett
Puckett with the Minnesota Twins in 1987
Center fielder
Born: (1960-03-14)March 14, 1960
Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
Died: March 6, 2006(2006-03-06) (aged 45)
Phoenix, Arizona, U.S.
Batted: Right
Threw: Right
MLB debut
May 8, 1984, for the Minnesota Twins
Last MLB appearance
September 28, 1995, for the Minnesota Twins
MLB statistics
Batting average.318
Hits2,304
Home runs207
Runs batted in1,085
Teams
Career highlights and awards
Member of the National
Baseball Hall of Fame
Induction2001
Vote82.1% (first ballot)

Kirby Puckett (March 14, 1960 – March 6, 2006) was an American professional baseball player. He played his entire 12-year Major League Baseball (MLB) career for the Minnesota Twins (1984–1995).[1] Puckett was instrumental in helping the Twins to win World Series championships in 1987 and 1991.[2] Puckett generally played center field, although he was shifted to right field later in his career.

Puckett was a popular player due to his charisma and his passion for the game as well as his skills. He is known for having hit a dramatic game-winning home run in Game Six of the 1991 World Series. Puckett led the American League in batting with a .339 average in 1989 and led the league with 112 runs batted in in 1994. Overall, he won six Silver Slugger Awards and six Gold Gloves during his playing career and was named to the AL All-Star Team 10 times. He finished his career with a .318 batting average, 207 home runs, and 1085 runs batted in.

After being forced to retire in 1996 at age 36 due to loss of vision in one eye from a central retinal vein occlusion,[3] Puckett was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2001, his first year of eligibility.

  1. ^ Hogg, Kevin (December 9, 2014). "What made Kirby Puckett one of the best Twins of all time". MinnPost.
  2. ^ Meehan, Tim (March 18, 2012). "Minnesota Twins: Who Are the Top 15 Players in Twins History?". Bleacher Report.
  3. ^ Souhan, Jim (March 27, 1998). "Kirby says goodbye". Minnesota Star Tribune. Archived from the original on October 17, 2012. Retrieved July 17, 2011.