SOONER44EVER
3/6/2006, 07:25 AM
Man, he is just 1 year older than me. Scary stuff.
http://www.suntimes.com/output/baseball/cst-spt-kirby06.html
Hall of Famer Puckett, 44, suffers stroke
March 6, 2006
BY CHRIS DE LUCA Staff Reporter Advertisement
Hall of Fame center fielder Kirby Puckett, a 5-8 fireplug of a player who hit for average and power during an injury-shortened 12-year career with the Minnesota Twins, suffered a stroke Sunday morning at his home in Scottsdale, Ariz.
Puckett, 44 and a Chicago native, underwent brain surgery, but his condition was not released. The Minneapolis Star Tribune reported that Puckett was fighting for his life after surgery to drain blood and relieve pressure.
''The Minnesota Twins and Major League Baseball ask fans to keep Kirby and his family in their thoughts and prayers,'' the Twins said in a statement.
The news shook the Twins' training camp in Fort Myers, Fla.
''It's distressing,'' former Twins manager Tom Kelly told the Star Tribune. ''We had a doctor come in and try to explain to us what's going to happen. The last thing he said was that if he has good luck, things will hopefully work out.''
Puckett's appearance in Cooperstown, N.Y., for induction ceremonies last July prompted comments from friends and colleagues about the star's rapid weight gain in recent years. Cubs outfielder Jacque Jones, formerly of the Twins, said Puckett's weight was a topic among his close friends.
''We were all concerned, but you can't change what people do unless they want to change,'' Jones said. ''He enjoyed life. Hopefully, he will pull through, and it will be a wake-up call for him.''
Jones said he tried to contact Puckett's family Sunday.
''I talked to his fiancee,'' Jones said. ''He was always happy-go-lucky, even when he came down with glaucoma. He's the reason I play this game the way I play it. We all learned from him in Minnesota.''
The youngest of nine children, Puckett grew up in the Robert Taylor Homes and played his first baseball games using balls of rolled-up aluminum foil. The stocky Puckett was an All-American at Calumet High School but wasn't drafted.
''I don't blame anybody for that because I played at Calumet High School,'' Puckett said after being elected to the Hall of Fame. ''It's all black, and it's right in the heart of the ghetto in Chicago. I can't blame scouts for not coming to watch us play. If they'd have come in, they wouldn't have got out. That's the honest-to-God truth.''
Puckett originally played college baseball at Bradley. But after his father died during his freshman year, Puckett transferred to Triton College in west suburban River Grove and helped lead Triton to a national junior-college championship.
''Illinois is definitely known as a basketball or football state,'' Puckett told reporters after his Hall of Fame election in 2001. ''Isiah Thomas came out of Chicago. Doc Rivers. Ever since I was a kid, I loved baseball. I played other sports, but baseball, I just loved it.''
The Twins took Puckett with the third overall pick of the 1982 draft. After being promoted to the major-league club on May 8, 1984 -- getting four hits in his first game -- Puckett became a fixture in the Twins' lineup and led them to World Series titles in 1987 and 1991. He hit .309 with five home runs and 15 RBI in 24 postseason games. Puckett also won a batting title in 1989 with a .339 average.
Former Twins general manager Andy MacPhail, now president of the Cubs, made Puckett the first $3 million-a-year ballplayer in November 1989. The Twins retired his No. 34 in 1997.
Puckett, who kept a photo of stocky Cubs Hall of Famer Hack Wilson taped above his locker for inspiration, hit .318 in 12 major-league seasons, all with the Twins. When he retired, his career batting average was the highest for a right-handed hitter since Joe DiMaggio.
Puckett, a six-time Gold Glove outfielder and 10-time All-Star, retired before the 1996 season after suffering irreversible retina damage -- brought on by glaucoma -- that caused blindness in his right eye.
One of the most popular players in Twins history, Puckett kept a low profile after a stormy 2002 that followed his induction into the Hall of Fame. In February 2002, his wife, Tonya, filed for divorce. She had filed a report with Edina, Minn., police alleging domestic threats against her, but officials never charged Puckett. She also went public with Puckett's alleged infidelity. Kirby and Tonya Puckett have two children.
Later that year, a St. Louis Park, Minn., woman filed for an order for protection against Puckett, but the request was dropped before a judge could issue a ruling. In September 2002, Puckett was arrested for allegedly groping a woman in a bar restroom in Eden Prairie, Minn. A Minneapolis jury found Puckett not guilty on charges of false imprisonment, fifth-degree criminal sexual conduct and fifth-degree assault.
After his retirement, Puckett worked briefly in the Twins' front office but left the organization during the tumultuous period in 2002. He has been living quietly in Scottsdale and is planning to remarry in June. The Twins tried to persuade Puckett to return to their spring-training facility this month, but he had declined.
When he announced his retirement in 1996, Puckett described his against-the-odds climb to the majors.
''I was told I would never make it because I'm too short,'' he said then. ''Well, I'm still too short, but I've got 10 All-Star Games, two World Series championships and I'm a very happy and contented guy. It doesn't matter what your height is, it's what's in your heart.
''Don't take anything for granted, because tomorrow is not promised to any of us.''
http://www.suntimes.com/output/baseball/cst-spt-kirby06.html
Hall of Famer Puckett, 44, suffers stroke
March 6, 2006
BY CHRIS DE LUCA Staff Reporter Advertisement
Hall of Fame center fielder Kirby Puckett, a 5-8 fireplug of a player who hit for average and power during an injury-shortened 12-year career with the Minnesota Twins, suffered a stroke Sunday morning at his home in Scottsdale, Ariz.
Puckett, 44 and a Chicago native, underwent brain surgery, but his condition was not released. The Minneapolis Star Tribune reported that Puckett was fighting for his life after surgery to drain blood and relieve pressure.
''The Minnesota Twins and Major League Baseball ask fans to keep Kirby and his family in their thoughts and prayers,'' the Twins said in a statement.
The news shook the Twins' training camp in Fort Myers, Fla.
''It's distressing,'' former Twins manager Tom Kelly told the Star Tribune. ''We had a doctor come in and try to explain to us what's going to happen. The last thing he said was that if he has good luck, things will hopefully work out.''
Puckett's appearance in Cooperstown, N.Y., for induction ceremonies last July prompted comments from friends and colleagues about the star's rapid weight gain in recent years. Cubs outfielder Jacque Jones, formerly of the Twins, said Puckett's weight was a topic among his close friends.
''We were all concerned, but you can't change what people do unless they want to change,'' Jones said. ''He enjoyed life. Hopefully, he will pull through, and it will be a wake-up call for him.''
Jones said he tried to contact Puckett's family Sunday.
''I talked to his fiancee,'' Jones said. ''He was always happy-go-lucky, even when he came down with glaucoma. He's the reason I play this game the way I play it. We all learned from him in Minnesota.''
The youngest of nine children, Puckett grew up in the Robert Taylor Homes and played his first baseball games using balls of rolled-up aluminum foil. The stocky Puckett was an All-American at Calumet High School but wasn't drafted.
''I don't blame anybody for that because I played at Calumet High School,'' Puckett said after being elected to the Hall of Fame. ''It's all black, and it's right in the heart of the ghetto in Chicago. I can't blame scouts for not coming to watch us play. If they'd have come in, they wouldn't have got out. That's the honest-to-God truth.''
Puckett originally played college baseball at Bradley. But after his father died during his freshman year, Puckett transferred to Triton College in west suburban River Grove and helped lead Triton to a national junior-college championship.
''Illinois is definitely known as a basketball or football state,'' Puckett told reporters after his Hall of Fame election in 2001. ''Isiah Thomas came out of Chicago. Doc Rivers. Ever since I was a kid, I loved baseball. I played other sports, but baseball, I just loved it.''
The Twins took Puckett with the third overall pick of the 1982 draft. After being promoted to the major-league club on May 8, 1984 -- getting four hits in his first game -- Puckett became a fixture in the Twins' lineup and led them to World Series titles in 1987 and 1991. He hit .309 with five home runs and 15 RBI in 24 postseason games. Puckett also won a batting title in 1989 with a .339 average.
Former Twins general manager Andy MacPhail, now president of the Cubs, made Puckett the first $3 million-a-year ballplayer in November 1989. The Twins retired his No. 34 in 1997.
Puckett, who kept a photo of stocky Cubs Hall of Famer Hack Wilson taped above his locker for inspiration, hit .318 in 12 major-league seasons, all with the Twins. When he retired, his career batting average was the highest for a right-handed hitter since Joe DiMaggio.
Puckett, a six-time Gold Glove outfielder and 10-time All-Star, retired before the 1996 season after suffering irreversible retina damage -- brought on by glaucoma -- that caused blindness in his right eye.
One of the most popular players in Twins history, Puckett kept a low profile after a stormy 2002 that followed his induction into the Hall of Fame. In February 2002, his wife, Tonya, filed for divorce. She had filed a report with Edina, Minn., police alleging domestic threats against her, but officials never charged Puckett. She also went public with Puckett's alleged infidelity. Kirby and Tonya Puckett have two children.
Later that year, a St. Louis Park, Minn., woman filed for an order for protection against Puckett, but the request was dropped before a judge could issue a ruling. In September 2002, Puckett was arrested for allegedly groping a woman in a bar restroom in Eden Prairie, Minn. A Minneapolis jury found Puckett not guilty on charges of false imprisonment, fifth-degree criminal sexual conduct and fifth-degree assault.
After his retirement, Puckett worked briefly in the Twins' front office but left the organization during the tumultuous period in 2002. He has been living quietly in Scottsdale and is planning to remarry in June. The Twins tried to persuade Puckett to return to their spring-training facility this month, but he had declined.
When he announced his retirement in 1996, Puckett described his against-the-odds climb to the majors.
''I was told I would never make it because I'm too short,'' he said then. ''Well, I'm still too short, but I've got 10 All-Star Games, two World Series championships and I'm a very happy and contented guy. It doesn't matter what your height is, it's what's in your heart.
''Don't take anything for granted, because tomorrow is not promised to any of us.''