Kirby Puckett was a professional baseball player for the Minnesota Twins of the Major Baseball League. He was born on March 14, 1960 in Chicago, Illinois and raised in a public housing project in Chicago. He attended and graduated from Calumet High School, where he played baseball. Due to his short stature, a mere 5 feet and 8 inches, Puckett received no scholarships from universities, much to his disappointment. He therefore decided to work as an assembly line worker at Ford Motor Company. He then went back to school and attended Bradley University, and a year later, transferred to Triton College. In 1982, he was selected by the Minnesota Twins in the first Major League Baseball draft that year. He first played for a few minor leagues such as the Appalachian League and the California League, where he showed great prowess. In 1984, 21 games into the season, he was brought into the major leagues.

He made his major league debut on May 8 against the California Angels. His average during the first year was .296, ranking fourth in the American League in singles. The next year, his average was .288 hits, which made him fourth in the league in hits, third in triples, second in plate appearances, and first in at bats. In 1986, he was selected to his first All-Star game, and also earned his first Golden Glove Award. He began to make a name for himself as more than just a hitter, and began to improve his statistics for total runs scored, bases, at bats and assists.

The Minnesota Twins reached the post-season in 1987, which was the first time they had done so since 1970. Puckett helped his team to win the 1987 World Series title, which was only the fifth time that they had done so in the history of the franchise. Statistically, Puckett’s best season was 1988, where he hit an average of .356, scored 24 home runs, and 121 Runs Batted In. He finished third in the Most Valuable Player voting, same as the year before that. However, the Twins’ performance deteriorated, as did Puckett’s, and the team slipped into last place in