Sports Week: Page 1

It just so happens that this week, there were a number of sports stories that caught my eye. I've decided that I want to write about all of them. So tune in all week...I'll have something new each day.

On the front page, I want to address the passing of Kirby Puckett. Puckett died yesterday at the age of 45 after suffering a stroke. Sure, he may have had issues off the field after his career was over, but I'm not going to get into that.

For those that don't know, Puckett spent his entire 12 year major league career in Minnesota and won 2 World Series titles. He won 6 Gold Gloves and was on 10 All-Star teams in a row. He was elected to the Hall of Fame in 2001. Sure, he was a great player...but that's not why people liked him.

He was an everyman. He was 5'8" and pudgy. But damn he could play ball. He ran faster than he should have. He made plays he shouldn't have. He had more hits than anyone thought was possible. And he had so much fun doing it, you couldn't help but have fun right along with him.

My grandparents' names were Frank and Viola, so when my family found out that Frank Viola was a pitcher for the Twins, we always rooted for the Twins (after the Sox, of course). That's when I first remember seeing Kirby. Build more like a football player (or a weeble-wobble) than a baseball player, it was amazing to see just how much of the outfield he could cover, and how fast he could do it. It was a sad day when he retired due to his having glaucoma, but not nearly as sad as yesterday.

Kirby, we'll miss you and your enthusiam of the game. Even though you were here for a short while, thanks for what you did during the time that you were here.