Hang in There, Puck

I'm not going to try and say something overly profound or dramatic about Kirby Puckett as he fights for his life after suffering a stroke early Sunday morning. I'm just hoping he makes it.
Few, check that zero, celebrity/athletes were as significant to my adolescence than Kirby Puckett, a guy who could make a groundout to short entertaining.
As great as he was, though, it wasn't his .318 average or even his Game 6 performance in the '91 series that I think of first when I hear his name.
It was his smile, his bald head, his beer belly, his short, choppy, Babe Ruth-like steps as he burned around the bases. All the things that made him a real-life superhero.
Kirby's off-field problems in retirement have done little to sour my memories of him. His nice-guy persona may have been phony, but the way he played the game and inspired millions was very real.