My Kirby Puckett Page

  Name: Kirby Puckett
  Position: Centerfield
  Team: Minnesota Twins
  Seasons: 12 (1984-1995)
  Birthdate: March 14th, 1960
  Birthplace: Chicago, IL
  College: Triton
  Height: 5'9''
  Weight: 223 lbs
  Died: March 6th, 2006
  in Phoenix, AZ

"Kirby follows through on one of his 2304 hits"

"I was a fan of Kirby Puckett and the Minnesota Twins from the very beginning. I remember watching a young, skinny centerfielder with an almost unbelievable amount of energy and joy for the game. His delight in playing the game made me a fan. Then he and the Twins did the unthinkable, they won the 1987 World Series over the Saint Louis Cardinals. I was hooked. And when Kirby single-handedly won game six of the 1991 World Series over the hated Atlanta Braves, I was in heaven. In 1995, his season and career was ended when he was struck in the face by a Dennis Martinez fastball. Kirby would never play another major league game, as he was diagnosed with a glaucoma problem that ended his baseball career. Kirby was elected into the Baseball Hall of Fame on the first ballot in 2001. He was a great ambassador for the game of baseball, and probably the best thing to ever happen to Minnesota baseball. I miss you, 34."

"Gotta love that Kirby Puckett smile."

Click here to see my list of Kirby Puckett Baseball cards

Complete Batting Record:
Year	Club	AVG	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	SB
1982	Elizabethton	.382	65	275	65	105	15	3	3	35	25	27	43
1983	Visalia	.314	138	548	105	172	29	7	9	97	46	62	48
1984	Toledo	.263	21	80	9	21	2	0	1	5	4	14	8
	Minnesota	.296	128	557	63	165	12	5	0	31	16	69	14
1985	Minnesota	.288	161	691	80	199	29	13	4	74	41	87	21
1986	Minnesota	.328	161	680	119	223	37	6	31	96	34	99	20
1987	Minnesota	.332	157	624	96	207	32	5	28	99	32	91	12
1988	Minnesota	.356	158	657	109	234	42	5	24	121	23	83	6
1989	Minnesota	.339	159	635	75	215	45	4	9	85	41	59	11
1990	Minnesota	.298	146	551	82	164	40	3	12	80	57	73	5
1991	Minnesota	.319	152	611	92	195	29	6	15	89	31	78	11
1992	Minnesota	.329	160	639	104	210	38	4	19	110	44	97	17
1993	Minnesota	.296	156	622	89	184	39	3	22	89	47	93	8
1994	Minnesota	.317	108	439	79	139	32	3	20	112	28	47	6
1995	Minnesota	.314	137	538	83	169	39	0	23	99	56	89	3
ML Totals		.318	1,783	7,244	1,071	2,304	414	57	207	1,085	450	965	134
LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES RECORD
Year/Opponent		AVG	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	SB
1987/Detroit		.208	5	24	3	5	1	0	1	3	0	5	1
1991/Toronto (MVP)		.429	5	21	4	9	1	0	2	6	1	4	0
Totals		.311	10	45	7	14	2	0	3	9	1	9	1
WORLD SERIES RECORD
Year/Opponent		AVG	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	SB
1987/St. Louis		.357	7	28	5	10	1	1	0	3	2	1	1
1991/Atlanta		.250	7	24	4	6	0	1	2	4	5	7	1
Totals		.308	14	52	9	16	1	2	2	7	7	8	2
ALL-STAR GAME RECORD
Year/Host		AVG	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	SB
1986/Houston		.333	1	3	0	1	0	0	0	0	1	0	1
1987/Oakland		.000	1	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	3	0
1988/Cincinnati		.000	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
1989/California		.333	1	3	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
1990/Chicago (NL)		1.000	1	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
1991/Toronto		.000	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
1992/San Diego		.333	1	3	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	1
1993/Baltimore (MVP)		.667	1	3	1	2	1	0	1	2	0	0	0
1994/Pittsburgh		.333	1	3	0	1	0	0	0	1	0	0	0
1995/Texas		.000	1	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
Totals		.292	10	24	3	7	1	0	1	3	1	5	2

Kirby also recorded 4392 put outs, and had 143 outfield assists for an awesome career fielding average of .989

Where does Kirby rank on the Minnesota Twins' All Time Career List?

At Bats - 1st
Hits - 1st
Runs Scored - 1st
Total Bases - 1st
Doubles - 1st
Batting Average - 2nd
Games - 2nd
Triples - 2nd
Runs Batted In - 3rd
Stolen Bases - 4th
Home Runs - 5th
Walks - 6th
Hustle and Attitude? - Definitely First

take my poll at:

htmlGEAR.com

Kirby's Career Achievements by Year:

1979:

High School All-American

1982:

Region IV Junior College Player of Year
Twins' first-round draft choice

1984:

Made his MLB debut on May 8, 1984
Ninth Player in MLB History to get 4 Hits in MLB Debut

1985:

Led American League in At Bats with a phenomenal 691 (9th most in MLB history)
Was ejected from a baseball game for the first (and only) time on July 31st

1986:

American League All-Star Team
Silver Slugger Award
Rawlings Golden Glove Award
Hits for the Cycle on August 1st

1987:

World Series Champions
American League All-Star Team
2nd straight Silver Slugger Award
Rawlings Golden Glove Award
Led American Leaugue in hits
Tied MLB record for hits in a nine-inning game with a 6-6 performance on August 30th
Tied MLB record for hits in back-to-back nine-inning games with Ten

1988:

American League All-Star Team
3rd straight Silver Slugger Award
Rawlings Golden Glove Award
Led American League in At Bats, Hits, Total Bases

1989:

American League All-Star
Had 1,064 hits in 1st 5 seasons, 2 short of the major league record
Tied major league record of 4 doubles in a game on May 13th
Tied Twins' mark of 4 extra-base hits in a game and club record for doubles
Tied major league record for most doubles in 2 consecutive games
AL Batting Champion (.339)
Led American League in hits, multi-hit games, total chances and putouts (tied AL record)
1st righthanded batter to lead majors in hits in 2 consecutive seasons
2nd right-handed batter to get 200 hits in 4 straight seasons
3rd person to lead AL in hits 3 straight years
Calvin R. Griffith Award
Named Baseball's Best Player (USA Today)
League's Best Hitter (Baseball America)
Most Dangerous Hitter (Toronto Star)
4th straight Silver Slugger Award
Rawlings Golden Glove Award
1st player to be elected to the AP's Major League All-Star Team four straight seasons
Named to his 4th straight The Sporting News All-Star Team
3rd straight UPI AL All-Star Team
Baseball America's AL West Division Squad

1990:

American league All-Star
Named League's Best Hitter
Rated 3rd Best Defensive Outfielder & Most Exciting Player by league managers
Named to Chicago Tribune's All-Time Illinois team

1991:

American League All-Star
American League Championship Series MVP
9th Player to end World Series game with a home run on the final pitch
World Series Champions
Rated second-best hitter in league by Baseball America
Rawlings Gold Glove Award

1992:

American League All-Star
WCCO's Radio's Distinguished Good Neighbor
American League Player of the Month for May
Co-American League Player of the Week (June 1-7)
American League Player of the Month for June (2nd player ever to win award back-to-back)
1st Twin to score 100 runs 3 times in a career & have 300 total bases four times
Led American League in hits, grand slams and total bases
1st Twin to hit .300, get 200 hits, score 100 runs & drive in 100 runs twice in a career
2nd Twin to lead club in batting, home runs & RBI in same season
Named Best Hitter & Most Exciting Player by Baseball America
Rawlings Gold Glove Award
5th Silver Slugger Award
Named to The Sporting News' All-Star Team
Score Man of the Year

1993:

Inducted into Triton College Hall of Fame
Branch Rickey Award
American League All-Star
All-Star Game MVP (1st Twin)
Became all-time Twins' doubles leader
Voted Baseball's Best Role Model
Voted Baseball's Friendliest Player

1994:

American League All-Star
2,040 hits (2nd most number of hits ever in first 10 seasons)
Fastest Twin ever to reach 50 RBIs
Became all-time Twins' hits leader, at-bats leader
Led American League in Runs Batted In
Tied for league lead in outfield assists
Calvin R. Griffith Award
Rated 9th greatest center fielder in history by Baseball Digest
Had 7 RBI in two separate games May 20th and August 10th

1995:

American League All-Star
Carl R. Pohlad Award
Twins' all-time runs leader & total bases leader
Scored his 1000th career Run on May 7th
1000th career Run Batted In on May 26th
Hit his 200th career Home Run on August 20th
Suffered a broken jaw and a burst artery in his mouth from a wild pitch from Dennis Martinez on September 28th

1996:

Retired July 12 with Glaucoma in his right eye
Major League Baseball's Roberto Clemente Man of the Year Award

1997:

The Twins retire Kirby's #34 on May 25th

1999:

Named 86th Greatest Player in Baseball History by The Sporting News

2001:

Elected to the MLB Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility
Named Honorary All-Star Game Captain for the American League Team

"Kirby jogs home after winning game 6 of the 1991 World Series"

Books by or about Kirby Puckett

Puck! : Kirby Puckett : Baseball's Last Warrior by Chuck Carlson, George Brett, Steve Cameron (Editor) (April 1997, Adax Publishing Group)
Kirby Puckett's Baseball Games by Kirby Puckett, Paul Meisel (Illustrator), Andrew Gutelle (May 1996, Workman Publishing Company)
I Love This Game! : My Life and Baseball by Kirby Puckett(1994, Mass Market)
Sports Great Kirby Puckett (Sports Great Books) by Nathan Aaseng (June 1993, Enslow Publishers, Inc.)
Be the Best You Can Be by Kirby Puckett, Tim Houle (Illustrator) (May 1993, Waldman House)
Kirby Puckett : Fan Favorite (The Achievers) by Ann Bauleke (April 1993, Lerner Publications Company)
Kirby Puckett : Sports Superstars Series by Richard Rambeck (August 1992, Childs World)
Kirby Puckett (M.V.P., Most Valuable Player) by Bob Italia (1992)
Kirby Puckett World Champions Minnesota Twins (1987 World Series) by Paul Deegan (January 1988, Abdo Publishing Company)

Kirby Puckett Charity Activities

Charity Review Council
Kirby Puckett/8-Ball Tourney
Kirby Puckett's "Don't Be Blindsided!" Campaign
Kirby Puckett Scholarship Information

Important Links

Baseball Hall of Fame
The Baseball Page
"Top Ten Ways to Mispronounce Kirby Puckett" From the Late Show with David Letterman
Twins Baseball!
Kirby34's Puckett Page
Kirby Puckett Retires (from the Star Tribune)
Kirby Puckett head a list of Minnesota's 100 Most Important Sports Figures
Kirby makes the Hall of Fame
Baseball Reference.com statistics

Go to the top of this page

The opinions expressed on these pages belong to the author and are not necessarily shared by Kirby Puckett or the Minnesota Twins. The material on my pages is taken from printed materials, movies, television, and the world wide web. If you see any material on this page that belongs to you, please let me know and I will remove it or give you rightful credit.