A sad day for Minnesota...


I’m sad that Kirby Puckett is gone. He provided me with so many good memories during ’87 and ’91. I’ll never forget watching him in game 6 of the ’91 series, the miraculous catch off the wall to keep the game tied and then the walk-off home run in the bottom of the 11th. As for the controversy, I tend to focus on his playing days and gloss over all the scandal that surrounded him after he retired. Like most of my fellow Minnesotans, denial is a powerful tool that helps us focus on the good in people.

I think one of the reasons that Kirby was so popular was because he was a regular guy who just loved the game. He was short (only 5’8”) and on the chunky side – but he loved playing the game and had a great smile. Unlike some athletes these days he didn’t come off as a thug (Ray Lewis), a sociopath (Randy Moss), a spoiled brat (Kobe Bryant), or an asshole (Barry Bonds). He just played ball and we kids loved him for it.

So Kirby, presuming they have internet access in heaven and you read my blog regularly, thanks for everything. I’ll tell stories about that ’91 walk-off home run to my grandkids.

UPDATE: Oh crap, I just found out that Rio died this morning. Rio was one of two Bottlenosed Dolphins that lived at the Minnesota Zoo when I was in elementary school. Every time I went to the Zoo Rio was there, swimming around - usually with one of her babies (she had four). Oh man that's depressing...it's like when your folks call to tell you beloved family pet or the Easter Bunny died.

UPDATE #2: Now I'm worried that everyone living in or formerly affiliated with Minnesota are all dead - possibly of bird flu*. Id' be just like us to lie in bed coughing up our lungs, saying "Don't worry about me, I'll be just fine. It's just that 24-hour flu bug that's been going around. I just need some saltine crackers, some 7-up and a nap and I'll be fine." I'd better call my brother and make sure he' hasn't been infected yet...

* I know that the H1N5 virus doesn't cause strokes, but maybe that's the mutation that all the bird-flu doomsday scientists have been predicting all along! Just like those devious viruses to disguise themselves as blood clots...

Comments

Stacey Pelika said…
I'm still here! But had the same "Who's next?!?!" thought. Is Alan Page still judging away? Is Gretchen Carlson still doing something somewhere? How about Paul Westerberg - maybe we should keep him in a protective sheath of some kind?
J.Po said…
My advisor at OAM named his dog after Kirby. That's all I have to share.