when i heard about kirby puckett's death last night, i was sad, but a little apathetic too. I loved him when he was a Twin, I was crushed when he had to leave the game because of his eyes, but the issues with his private life just seemed to dominate everything else since then, and I do tend to put a lot of emphasis on that type of information when deciding what I think of a person. I think that no matter what your talent, if you're a jerk, then you're just not so hot. So I'll admit, that's what I ended up thinking of Kirby lately.

I watched the news last night when they were recounting his life, his years with the Twins, and also some of the many things that he did in and for the community. Today running thru the normal "checking of the blogs" at lunch, it struck me how many people are really pained by his passing. More than the fact that he was so young, just with how much he had meant to people because of his status in baseball and how he was a favorite of so many.

Baseball wasn't my life growing up. It was my little brother's, which generally made it really annoying to me. But I still loved the Twins, and Kirby was always one of my favorites. I had all but forgotten that part until today. I don't have stories of personal interaction with Kirby, but I watched both the '87 and the '91 World Series, I remember all the highlights and the series saving home run. I really only know what I've seen from television, of which the latest, or at least most prominent, news before this week was of scandal and court dates and awful personal problems. It hasn't made me dislike him, per se, because so many people have those same issues, his just happen to be caught in the spotlight with him. I guess it just made me like him less, be less impressed with him as a person. It's sad that it took his death for people (including me) to start publicly remembering all the good things about him. Maybe it's a reminder that we all need a little bit of grace, even if it's just in memory.