Great, great, great player. (I apologize for what follows) But I can't help but think that Kirby is exhibit A in the case of Image versus Reality. He was a cute, lovable imp who appeared to play with a child's joy. Off the field, there was apparently a very dark side. Maybe this came from being out of the sport before his time. Maybe it came from getting beaned in the head. Maybe it was there all along. If Jose Canseco died tomorrow, there wouldn't be too many glowing tributes to him. But I fear that it's only because his image isn't as cute and cuddly as Kirby's. Sorry for that, but it's gotten a little too sugary, given the reality of the situation. May he find peace.

The poster of Kirby making a leaping grab against the plexiglass is still on the wall in my room at my parents house. Don't really care what he did after he was done playing, he was awesome.

I don't know Roy, we all make mistakes. Are Kirby's any worse than Warren Moon's? Chipper Jones's? I think people make more out of his infidelity *because* he had such a built-up image. It goes both ways, I think. Aside from that, I have no words. Having had the joy of watching him in person more times than I can count, all I can say is that he gave a ton of great baseball memories to Twins fans over the years, and I hope he's remembered best for that. If I had a Puck jersey I'd be wearing it today with a tie over it at work. (I have a Luis Rivas jersey, but I don't think that'd convey the same sentiment.) As it is my own very small tribute is tucked into the front page of my site...

You're right, Alex. Infidelity, in my opinion, is not a sufficient enough offense to point out at the death of a great baseball player. Putting a gun to your wife's head as she holds your baby, however, is enough for me. Sorry.

I felt like I got punched in the stomach last night. Yeah, Kirby was a human being. We all are. But when he was playing baseball, he represented everything good about sports -- the shear joy and enthusiasm that he played with was infectious. He and the rest of the '87 Twins are the reason I first loved sports. I have so many amazing memories of watching that season with family and friends, and last night brought it all back. As cynical as I am about sports today, remembering Puck reminds me of why I first loved sports. He taught us about the pleasure of playing for the joy of the game, and in doing so, provided some amazing and wonderful memories for Twins fans. And to me, that's worth something, no matter what happened after his playing days. I think it's a tragedy that he died so young -- I had always hoped he would change his mind and come back to the organization, perhaps with an apology or explanation for the last few years. Unfortunately, that wasn't meant to be. I will miss him greatly. Thanks, Kirby.

Who cares about Kirby Puckett's life off the field? The only context in which I was ever interested in him is on the baseball field. It would have been nice if he'd been a "better person," but as long as he's not a criminal, then, well, whatever. In addition to All-Star quality play and a few highlights we will all remember, Puckett cemented his appeal to those of us who wish we were professional baseball players with something else: he not only appeared to enjoy being a major leaguer, but he was also willing to show us that it was in fact as much fun as it looks like it should be. I don't think one can ask much more from one's sources of vicarious pleasure.

Man, I used to hate Kirby Puckett. Of course, I hated him because I was 12 or 13 and some people actually thought he was a better centerfielder than Ken Griffey, Jr. I think Puckett started an All-Star Game in center over Griffey, and that infuriated me. Plus he always killed the Mariners. So it wasn't a rational dislike, just the sort of hatred that comes from being young and loving one team unconditionally. Now, on top of feeling bad for Minnesota's (and baseball's) loss, I realize that I missed the prime of a special player during my prime as a baseball fan.

MRM, I think your sentiment (expressed by many, I'm not trying to single you out) is a little disingenuous. If you truly don't care at all about a player's life off the field, then that player's death is meaningless. All that matters is the retirement, at which point the player becomes dead to you. The very fact that we're saddened by a player's death proves that we don't completely separate the player from the man. And for that reason, we can't be expected to entirely ignore the man's off-the-field life. RIP, Puck.

Everybody's talking about Kirby being a "flawed man" today, and I think we need to stop with the euphemisms. There's a big difference between being "flawed" and being a jerk. I agree with Roy Keane, we can't sugarcoat it. The dude abused women, but will always remembered in a more positive light than guys like Barry Bonds and Mark McGwire, who as far as we know only abused steroids. Kirby was a great baseball player, I loved watching him as a kid, but he's not someone I would've wanted to meet, nor someone I would want my own child looking up to. My uncle abused women. When he died, my family wasn't exactly devastated to see him go. I don't wish death upon anyone, but I don't know why I should feel any differently about Kirby than I do about someone else just because he was good at baseball.

I lived abroad when the Twinks played the Jays in the Series, which meant that in order to watch the games, you'd have to go to the one bar in town that showed the game... at 3am. But solely because of Kirby I made my father take me there so I could root for him... even though I wasnt a Twins fan then or now. RIP Kirby. Daoust: Excellent points all around.

Dirty off the field, maybe. But he was also playing against how many hundreds of players that were cheating on the field? And he was better than all of them. The only player on his level from the mid 80's to mid 90's was Rickey Henderson. Cal Ripken, yawn. Kirby never hit 30 homers in the steroid era, which makes me respect his game more. Yeah, off the field not so great. But let's not turn him into Ty Cobb or Vince Coleman.

How do we know he didn't cheat? Eye pressure can be a result of using roids or greenies

oh, and alex sanchez used steroids too...I don't see him hitting 30 homers

I'm mourning the passing of Kirby Puckett not because I was a Twins fan or because he was (might have been?) a great guy or any of that. I'm mourning his death because when I was a little kid, playing baseball in the side yard at my parents' house, Puckett was one of only a handful of players I ever pretended I was. Any time an imaginary catch needed to be made at the fence, I was Kirby Puckett making that catch. Think about it for yourselves -- there was probably a relatively small number of players you ever pretended to be. For me some of the other ones were Nolan Ryan, Ryne Sandberg, Julio Franco, and of course the Bash Brothers. Who were yours?

Kirby's boobs were natural. Unlike Barry boy. I thought he got gloucoma cause someone hit him in the face with a pitch.

I totally agree with secho. I will miss Kirby for the baseball player he was, but not for who he was off the field.

No doubt in my mind his stroke had something to do with his size...

Sam - I don't know if anyone ever came out and said it because Dennis Martinez and Puckett were good friends, but yeah the glaucoma was suspected to be a result of that beaning from Martinez. Roy - yeah, I can agree with your point, I think I'd blocked that particular detail from my brain.

Alex, I'm no doctor so I don't know if this is conclusive of the matter, but Kirby had glaucoma in his right eye while he got hit over the left eye with that pitch (recall that he hit righthanded). Maybe it was nerve damage, I don't know.

I don't remember all of the specifics, but I'm convinced that Keith Olbermann wrote a piece for ESPN.com, back when he still worked there and his salient thoughts on Suzy Kolber's ineptness still mattered. In it, he includes a quote from Puckett himself that linked the Martinez beaning to his glaucoma. Now, this was in the '96 or '97 timeframe and I don't have any more proof than my memory, but I definitely remember reading this.

Gah, this isn't my day for commenting - you're right of course about left eye vs. right eye. And I went and did a quick google search and found a NYT article saying the doctors thought it was more than likely unrelated. So yeah, just consider me crazier than normal today. On the plus side, I'm at work and have the Venezuela/DR game on, so I got that going for me.

Coming of age as a Yankee fan in the late 80's/early 90's the only poster in my room that wasn't of Mattingly was Puckett - actually I have been trying all day to think of a player in any sport that was universally liked as much as he was when he was playing - not universally regarded as a talented player - that can be said of a lot of guys. But universally liked. Big difference. But I also remember reading Deford's article and hearing about all the other stuff later and being profoundly let down, perhaps as much as any sports hero has ever let me down. Its almost impossible to reconcile the on the field persona with the guy that acted the way he did off the field. But it also is impossible to think of one without the other. All I know is that when he was playing, the Twins were one of the only teams besides the Red Sox whom I wanted to go see every year when they were at the Stadium, and it was because of Kirby.

My best friend from high school emailed me today... "I can't stop thinking about Game 6 of the 1991 World Series. Always grateful you talked me into going." To which I replied: I keep reading the Kirby stuff on the web and getting a little emotional. It's kind of weird how the stuff from childhood gets cemented into your head and your emotions. Since Kirby the athlete was always larger than life for me, all the real life "Kirby the not so good guy" revalations didn't have any real impact on any of those memories and emotions. I mean for christs sake, who else could make you feel nostalgic about the dome? The weird way sound echoed just made the whole Kirbyyyyyyy Pucket sound cool. Or those stupid stretched hefty bags which he would rubberband off of as he would rob a homer.