Kirby Puckett

• Born: March 14, 1960, Chicago, Illinois
• Died: March 6, 2006, Phoenix, Arizona
• Bats: right
• Throws: right
• Played for: Minnesota Twins (1984-1995)
• Elected to Hall of Fame by BBWAA: 2001
• 423 votes of 515 ballots cast: 82.14%

Kirby Puckett, the roly-poly center fielder whose exuberant love of the game made him one of the best-loved players in baseball history, batted .318 over his 12-year career and led the Minnesota Twins to two unlikely World Championships.

Kirby Puckett was born on March 14, 1960, in Chicago, Illinois. The youngest of nine children, Puckett grew up in the housing projects of Chicago's South Side, playing baseball with makeshift balls of rolled-up aluminum foil. After graduating from high school, Puckett worked on an auto assembly line at the Ford Motor Company, then got another job as a census taker. While playing baseball in a recreational league, he attended a Kansas City Royals tryout camp. The Royals weren't interested, but the baseball coach from Bradley University was, and Puckett signed to play college baseball. He played one year at Bradley before transferring to Triton College near Chicago to be closer to home. The Minnesota Twins made Puckett the third pick of the January 1982 draft, and after batting .472 with 16 homers in his final season at Triton, he signed a minor league contract...more about Puckett's career...