In Memoriam: Kirby Puckett

I'm well aware that some potentially weightier personages have deceased in the same few recent days who may also deserve eulogies. Furthermore I admit that I have no standing as a sports fan to honestly convey what he meant to baseball. But I'm a proud and dutiful Minnesotan, and on those grounds alone I am obliged (and fully qualified) to address Kirby Puckett's passing.

I can still recall vividly the magic of both '87 and '91 World Series, how they swept up even those in the state who normally cared nothing for local teams. And I remember, from the vantage point of grad school well away from home, appraising the unfairness of a career ended by glaucoma, and a legacy tarnished by self-inflicted legal problems.

Nonetheless, as a representative of a state of sports also-rans and never-quites and as a symbol uniting many Minnesotans, I am proud Kirby called my state home, if only for those dozen or so seasons.