Remembering an idol

I didn't have an opportunity to post this on March 6th, but I thought it was important to write that it was the two year anniversary of our beloved Twin, Kirby Puckett's death. I still cannot believe that He is gone. I can remember on three different occasions having personal interactions with the man that I would like to share here.

First was a very long time ago. My dad and I were at a Twins game very early. The team was still in the outfield doing some light throwing and stretching. About an hour later, the guys started to run back into the infield as the game was getting closer to the first pitch. My dad and I were standing right above the Twins dugout in the Dome, and as Kirby was running in, my dad yelled, "Yo Kirby, pass it here" and Kirby looked up and passed the authentic baseball to him. To this day, this baseball sits in my living room and is one of my prized possessions that I own.

The second time was at Twins Fest, (don't ask me the year) but I brought my 'M' fitted Twins cap that my dad purchased for me at the 1987 World Series. It was my very first fitted cap, and I kept it all those years. It was and is to this day, not fitting and very tired, but it was still something that had sentimental value for me. So my mission was to get Kirby, my all time favorite player to sign the brim of the cap. I waited in line at Twins Fest for 2.5 hours, as I was finally getting up to my idol he had this big smile on his face, even after signing autographs for the past 2.5 hours. Trust me, I was not even towards the end of the line, so the man had a lot more work ahead of him, but to me, as a young boy, idolizing this great hall of famer, to see him willing to sign all these autograph's with a smile on his face, proved to me that this man was not just an ordinary ball player, he was an amazing man too. I got the cap signed in a silver sharpie fat tip pen, and it is sitting in my daughters room right next to an 8x10 photograph of Kirby after he hit the game winning home run in game 6 of the 1991 World Series.

The third and final occasion was totally random. I was at a grocery store in Minnetonka, Minnesota and I was walking out the door. Then suddenly right in front of me walking towards the entrance was Puckett. I could tell it was him from almost 20 feet away. The guy just had this radiance from his face. He just looked like a great guy. As I was walking toward him, my jaw wide open, I'm sure, Kirby looked me in the eye and said, "good morning, how are you?" I said stumbling through my words, "Uh, I'm great sir, how are you?" And that was it.

Kirby was my idol growing up, and is still to this day my all time favorite baseball player. I still miss him two years later.