The rise and quick fall of Kirby Puckett.: Kirby, who was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2001, quietly stashed away many mistresses through out his baseball career. With the onset of glaucoma, he allegedly got worse, and more violent. Now he is being charged with sexually assulting a woman.
posted by jasonspaceman to baseball at 08:54 PM - 7 comments
Wow...such mixed emotions!!! I hail originally from Minnesota, so The Pucker has always been a favorite of mine! But, I also lived in Atlanta for the past 17 years, so there is quite a conflict of interest there, slamming catch right against the plexiglass and all that pretty much killed the Braves. So many great memories of the man playing the sport who was revered in Minn like none other. This truly is sad, yet once again shows you can't judge a book by its cover (Of course, the same is true in the anti-Puckett...Badass in the game who gives it a bad name, but an ideal person outside the game).
posted by jmd82 at 10:29 PM on March 11, 2003
His nickname is The Pucker?!? I think he's suffered enough.
posted by kirkaracha at 11:24 PM on March 11, 2003
Time for kirby to come out with his side of the story, (damage control) though I doubt we'll hear anything from him until after the charges are settled.
posted by justgary at 11:26 PM on March 11, 2003
kirk- I honestly don't know how widespread it was, but back in the day when i traveled to Minnesota, people called him by that. Of course, it may have only been my family but it kinda' stuck w/ me.
posted by jmd82 at 11:30 PM on March 11, 2003
For the record, I live in MN and have never heard of the nickname 'Pucker'! With a first name like Kirby, he didn't really need a nickname! Either way, it doesn't look good for Kirby.
posted by emoeby at 07:10 AM on March 12, 2003
I'm surprised to hear Puckett's such a bastard in private life (though, of course, some of these accusations from his exes may be overblown). It's too bad he didn't participate in the article; Puckett's overnight transition from the big leagues to retirement had to be one of the hardest in sport.
posted by rcade at 11:39 AM on March 12, 2003
While I hope that evidence at his trial will exonerate him, it doesn't look too good for Kirby. Too much of a pattern of misbehavior to simply dismiss this as the allegations of a jilted ex. Oh Kirby, dammit, you could have run for governor of that state. Remember that catch slamming up against the plexiglass in the World Series? That was the defining Kirby moment. Say it ain't so...
posted by vito90 at 10:17 PM on March 11, 2003