I live in Minnesota and I have my entire life and I know that this guy was bigger than life up here in Minnesota. The Chicago Bulls had Michael Jordan, well the state of Minnesota had their own Michael Jordan and that man was Kirby Puckett.
I was pretty young when Kirby was playing but I do remember watching him ride around the field in 1996 on the old covertable corvette waving goodbye to the fans. You guys have Miguel Cabrera and Dontrelle Willis and I don't know how big they are in that state but I am guessing that they are not even close in popularity as Kirby Puckett was. He was a great athlete and a great human being in this state.
He was shaped like a bowling ball who always gave 100 percent on every play. He once went 10 for 11 with four home runs in a weekend series in old county stadium that is remarkable. My older brother always looked up to two players growing up, Tim Laudner (because he was a catcher and my brother was a young catcher in little league ball) and of course kirby Puckett. Everyone in Minnesota knew who Kirny Puckett whether they were a huge baseball fan or wether they had never watched a game of baseball in their life, he was that much of an impact to the state of Minnesota. It is truely sad, no doubt. I was a pretty young when he was playing and my idol growing up was always Cris Carter but I know every kid growing up in Minnesota during the playing days of Kirby Puckett could tell you who their role model or idol was and it was number 34 Kirbeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee Puckett. RIP (I hope your up their with your good friend Bob Casey)