I am still in shock from this one. No matter what happened in the man's private life, I will always view Kirby Puckett as the greatest Minnesota Twin ever, and one of the top five players I saw play in person. No man or woman who grew up in the Upper Midwest in the late 80's or early 90's was not a Kirby Puckett fan at some point. I feel like I aged about 10 years when I heard that Kirby had died. My god, was it really 10 years ago that he retired? I used to get mad that Kirby couldn't have retired on his own terms, couldn't get that 3,000th hit like Ripken or Gwynn. And now, hes gone. None of that matters.
The only thing that I can think about right now was the 1991 World Series. How great that Game 6 was. Sitting in my basement on 81st and Dupont with all my grade school friends, trading baseball cards, praying that the Twins would play on Sunday. That game was one of the best moments of my life, the best moment up until then. I get chills when I hear Jack Buck say "We'll see you tomorrow night." Then the next night, when I got to sneak out into the living room and see Gene Larkin's hit. I am pretty sure we didn't do anything in class the next day. I remember my teacher high fiving everyone who walked through the class door, and how we watched the parade on TV a week later.
My brother Zach was the big Puckett fan in the family. I think that he collected over 1,000 Kirby Puckett cards, and he has numerous things signed. All of the Eickholt boys had a favorite player. Mine was Ken Griffey, Jordans was Cal Ripken. Zach got to name the puppy we got three years ago. Kirby, like my friend from grade school had done. I guess a lot of people named their pets Kirby. That says something about the outgoing nature of the man that people would name a family member after him.
The only other deaths of celebrities I have ever taken to heart were those of Kurt Cobain and Owen Hart, the wrestler. This one is way worse. Going to the Dome this Summer isn't going to be the same. And I know when I look at the portraits on the white wall in center field for the first time this year, I will probably start to cry a little. My prayers go out to all Twins fans, and more importantly, all of the mans loved ones.
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