Jeremy: Here's To Number 34

Super Bowl XX, Chicago vs. New England, January 26, 1986, is my first memory of sports. That's the first time I remember sitting in front of the t.v. watching a sporting event with my dad.
But the first time that I remember what it felt like to be a sports fan, not just what it was like to watch, but what it really felt like, was the 1987 World Series, when the Twins played the St. Louis Cardinals. And that 1987 Twins season is my earliest memories of Kirby Puckett as well.
I was just shy of my tenth birthday when the Twins won that World Series over the Cardinals. I remember watching games during that season and paying special attention to Kirby. That season my dad took me to a Twins game at the Metrodome, my first ever major sporting event, and as we sat on the third base line and Kirby ran out to centerfield in the first inning, my dad leaned over to me and said "That guy, number 34, keep an eye on that guy. That's the guy you want to be like."
Growing up playing youth baseball all I ever wanted to do was play centerfield. Of course, I wasn't the only one. It was Kirby's position, he was the most popular athlete in Minnesota, and every kid my age wanted to play centerfield. And let me tell you, when I was a kid there was no equal opportunity when it came to playing positions in sports. Coach Snyder gave you your position, you played it every game, and there weren't any questions about it. I got stuck in leftfield. Dan Gladden was a pretty good role model too, but he was no Kirby.
Then of course, there was Kirby's number. 34. Not only did everyone want to play Kirby's position but everybody wanted to wear Kirby's number. Coach Snyder had a plan for that too... nobody got to wear number 34.
But there were a few things that Coach Snyder couldn't take away from us. He couldn't keep us from trying to play in the field like Kirby. He couldn't keep us from standing in the batter's box like Kirby. And he couldn't keep us from trying to flip our bats after a great hit like Kirby.
That bat flip. If you were a kid in Minnesota playing baseball, you knew that flip and you tried to mimick it every chance you got. That is one of the lasting images, one of the images burnt onto my brain about Kirby Puckett. Kirby would step up to the plate, take is practice swings, and wait for the pitch to come in. And Kirby wasn't one to take a pitch. If the first pitch came in and he liked it... CRACK!!! And as soon as it left his bat, he knew it was gone and on his follow through his bat would flip off his left hand, like a rocket, in such a perfect way, like only Kirby could flip it. The Kirby Flip.
The other lasting image that sticks in my head of Puck was the 1991 World Series against the Braves. In the 11th Inning Kirby hit a solo shot to win the game as Jack Buck yelled "We'll see ya tomorrow night!!!" I'll always remember how it felt when Kirby hit that ball and watching him round first base yelling and pumping his arms with excitement! That was the beginning of this home town team addiction that I suffer from... such a sweet first high!
Kirby was the kind of player that we should all tell our kids about. The guy who worked hard, didn't look the part, beat all the odds, who played the game because he loved the game, and ended up a World Series Champ and a Hall of Famer.
Baseball just hasn't seemed quite as much fun to watch since Puck had to leave the game because of glaucoma. He is already missed.