Unhappy Birthday

Today would have been Kirby Puckett's 46th birthday. I was really sad to hear the news of his stroke and to see how he struggled to adjust to life after baseball. He was my favorite player growing up because of his enthusiasm and perhaps his size as well. He always seemed to be enjoying himself. His autobiography (one of the few books I've read more than once) is called "I Love This Game." I'll never forget how great he was in 1987 and 1991 in leading the Twins to the World Series. I'll never forget that every year I was granted Puckett in the annual Strat-o-matic All-Star team draft and I always batted him third. I'll never forget how I bought a Twins hat, and a Twins starter jacket because of him. While my brother had posters of several different athletes I used my space on the walls for 3 Puckett posters. I have a couple plaques, tons of baseball cards, pictures and a Starting Lineup figure. Of course when I started getting throwbacks I had to buy his 1984 Twins jersey. I'm really sad about the way his life and career turned out over the last ten years. I'm getting misty just writing this.