I think the best way to sum up Kirby Puckett, what he meant to me and so many others, is to let the man speak for himself.The following is an excerpt from his Hall of Fame acceptance speech - by far the best I've ever heard, and one that left me in tears.
"There may be a few people out there who remember a time when the word on Kirby Puckett was that he was too short or didn't have enough power to make it to the big leagues. Well, despite the fact that I didn't get to play all the years that I wanted to, I did it.
To any young person out there: If anyone tells you you can't do what you want to do and be what you want to be, I want you to remember the guiding principles of my life. You can be what you want to be if you believe in yourself and you work hard because anything, and I'm telling you anything, is possible.
It doesn't matter if you're five foot eight like Kirby Puckett, or six foot six like my man Winnie (Dave Winfield). You can do it. And don't feel sorry for yourself if obstacles get in your way. Our great Twins World Series teams faced great odds and we beat them. Jackie Robinson faced odds and made this game truly the national game.
I faced odds when glaucoma took the bat out of my hands, but I didn't give in or feel sorry for myself. I've said it before and I'll say it again. It may be cloudy in my right eye, but the sun is shining very brightly in my left eye."
As the Twins played in the 1987 and 1991 World Series, the idea that the Twins could lose never even occured to me. I thought it was a fairy tale, and fairy tales always have happy endings, because they have heroes like Kirby Puckett.
When the Twins returned to the playoffs in 2002, I didn't have the unwavering confidence I had had as a youngster.
Maybe it was because I was 22 years old, old enough to realize that the Twins very well could lose, just like they could have lost back in 1987 and 1991.
Or maybe it was because Kirby Puckett wasn't in that Minnesota clubhouse, encouraging his teammates to jump on his back.
If he had been, maybe it would've gone back to being a fairy tale, just like it was back when I was a kid. Maybe I never would've dreamed that the Twins could lose, and maybe they would've won another championship.
Because with Kirby, fairy tales were real - something he proved every day he was in the big leagues.
He was Superman, Hercules, Santa Claus and Peter Pan rolled into one.
He was my hero.
5 comments:
Very good Zim, could say the same thing. Sad day for all of us that pretended we were Kirby on the little league diamond. Rusty.
Well written Zim. Love ya Kirby!
RIP KIRBY!!! Thanks for the memories and championships. If more people played the game like Kirby baseball would be a better game. Nate V.
Hey dude, sad day that's for sure... I know it's gotta be tough for ya bein the life long Twins fan that you are.
Zach S.
When I go to my happy place, I think of game six as I watched it at my grandparents' fiftieth anniversiery in Pipestone, Minnesota. I was seventeen and hanging out in the bar section of the legion hall with my older brother, feeling cool for being in the bar, but more importingly, watching the Twins game while the anniversary party was going on in the other room. NOTHING will give me goosebumps more than remembering the announcer say "we'll see you tomorrow night!" as Puck rounded second base.
That...is my happy place.
RIP Kirby
A career, and life, too short.
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