QUOTE(Mplssoxfan @ Mar 6, 2006 -> 10:28 PM)
Wow. I've lived in Minneapolis for a long time, so I've gotten to see a lot of Puckett. The man always hustled; it didn't matter if the playoffs were out of reach or it was the heat of the race, he never cheated the game or the fans.
He was a funny guy, too. He bet Bob Costas that if he was hitting .350 when Costas' kid was born, he had to name him Kirby. Costas' son is named Keith Michael Kirby Costas.
As for his post-career life, I would add to Rex's comments that Kirby not only had the issues of adjusting to life after baseball, but he had the last 4 or 5 seasons of his career stolen from him by a cruel twist of fate. That had to be doubly hard to deal with.
RIP, man.
I remember watching that game against the Indians, poor Dennis Martinez hit him. I now wonder what Kirby would've been like had he played a whole career instead of his 12 years.