Chisox73
03-07-2006, 10:16 PM
White Sox recall Puckett fondly
Memorial service in Chicago on Wednesday
By Scott Merkin / MLB.com
http://chicago.whitesox.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/news/article.jsp?ymd=20060307&content_id=1338799&vkey=spt2006news&fext=.jsp&c_id=cws
TUCSON, Ariz. -- Back in 1997, a full decade after the Minnesota Twins' exciting World Series victory over St. Louis in seven games, Frank Viola III had a chance to sit and talk with one of his boyhood idols.
That idol, Kirby Puckett, quickly became one of Viola's friends.
"They had a 10-year anniversary for the championship, and I got to talk with Kirby again," said Viola, 20, now a pitcher who finished 5-2 for Bristol with a 3.84 for Bristol during his first year with the White Sox organization in 2005. Viola currently is taking part in Minor League Spring Training in Tucson.
"He gave me his phone number, and every couple of months he would call me up and give me tips on hitting when I was in high school," Viola added. "You don't meet many Hall of Famers who are willing to talk to high school players about hitting. He never cared who he was talking to. He just wanted to help people out."
Memories of Puckett were flowing throughout the White Sox facility at Kino Sports Complex on Tuesday, one day after the 45-year-old baseball legend passed away following a massive stroke Sunday. Viola's father, Frank Viola II, was Puckett's teammate from 1984-1989 and considered the barrel-chested center fielder a close friend, according to his son.
In fact, Viola said Tuesday morning that the only other time he had heard or witnessed his father become so emotional was when another of his close friends, golfer Payne Stewart, died in an air-travel accident. But Puckett was not someone for whom you had to be part of his inner circle in order to receive special treatment.
"He made you feel like you were his best friend, if you talked to him for just five minutes of your life," Viola said.
"Kirby would come up and introduce himself to everyone," added White Sox catcher A.J. Pierzynski, who started his career in the Twins system in 1995, the year that happened to be Puckett's last with Minnesota. "He would say, 'How you doing kid? I'm Kirby Puckett. Nice to meet you. Glad to have you in a Twins uniform.' For a first-ballot Hall of Famer to act like that, it was incredible."
When manager Ozzie Guillen first heard about the gravity of Puckett's condition Sunday, he immediately talked about living every moment, taking care of yourself and enjoying life. On Monday night, Guillen spoke of how he was in a state of shock when hearing of Puckett's death and how he had to break the news to his three sons, who all counted Puckett as one of their favorite players.
Guillen joked that when Oney, his middle son, was a youngster, they called him "Little Puck" because he was a bit chubby. As Guillen watched the steady stream of interviews and the numerous news reports on television concerning Puckett, sitting alongside first base coach Harold Baines prior to Tuesday's workouts, the tears started to flow.
"[Dave] Winfield said the right thing about Kirby in that he was the only player in the history of baseball that everyone loved," Guillen said. "A lot of players were better than him, but they didn't enjoy the game or appreciate what they did like Kirby."
"He was the first guy after a game, if you did something stupid, to come up and ... and rub it in and laugh about it," Pierzynski added with a smile. "He also would be the guy who said, 'I did it too.' He would play cards with you, and he was just fun."
Pierzynski told the story of growing up a huge Atlanta Braves fan and how Puckett broke his heart with his most memorable catch and walk-off home run in Game 6 of the 1991 World Series. Guillen eerily recalled Puckett's comments about how he was going to die before he was 50 because of heart problems that ran in his family, but quickly added that Puckett was one of the three greatest to ever play the game.
That assessment had very little to do with Puckett's vast ability as a hitter or a baserunner or his six career Gold Gloves. Guillen's reference was to the way Puckett played the game.
"You can ask every player who played with him or against him, and they all have the same answer," Guillen said. "Kirby Puckett played hard, always had a big smile and enjoyed what he did. He was a warrior. He could carry the team, and this guy could fill up a ballpark. He was the greatest ambassador in a Twins uniform and for all of baseball."
Comparing Puckett's importance to the Twins with Michael Jordan's importance to the Chicago Bulls is not even close to a stretch, according to Pierzynski. But Puckett also belonged to the city of Chicago, born in the Robert Taylor Homes, housing projects once located across the Dan Ryan Highway from Comiskey Park. Puckett also played baseball for Triton College in west suburban River Grove.
Central Unity Church, located at 8420 S. Cottage Grove in Chicago, will host a memorial service for Puckett at 6 p.m. CT on Wednesday. Pierzynski plans on attending a service for Puckett in Minneapolis on Saturday, missing the day of camp with Guillen's full blessing. Pierzynski was trying to work out a way to travel with Doug Mientkiewicz (Kansas City), Jacque Jones (Cubs) and possibly even Eddie Guardado (Seattle), all former Twins who are currently training with different teams in Arizona.
Viola, meanwhile, always will have the memories of the Hall of Famer who helped him improve his offense. But the young hurler believes Puckett will be remembered for far more than simply baseball.
"He'll be remembered for the person that he was, and then on top of that, being a great baseball player," Viola said. "I remember calling him once and telling Kirby how I was always getting jammed and what should I do.
"And he would say great hitters always get jammed. He always said that it wasn't about my swing, but it's about my attitude. Work hard and enjoy life. Have fun doing what you are doing, and if you don't enjoy it, you shouldn't be doing it."
Scott Merkin is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
Memorial service in Chicago on Wednesday
By Scott Merkin / MLB.com
http://chicago.whitesox.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/news/article.jsp?ymd=20060307&content_id=1338799&vkey=spt2006news&fext=.jsp&c_id=cws
TUCSON, Ariz. -- Back in 1997, a full decade after the Minnesota Twins' exciting World Series victory over St. Louis in seven games, Frank Viola III had a chance to sit and talk with one of his boyhood idols.
That idol, Kirby Puckett, quickly became one of Viola's friends.
"They had a 10-year anniversary for the championship, and I got to talk with Kirby again," said Viola, 20, now a pitcher who finished 5-2 for Bristol with a 3.84 for Bristol during his first year with the White Sox organization in 2005. Viola currently is taking part in Minor League Spring Training in Tucson.
"He gave me his phone number, and every couple of months he would call me up and give me tips on hitting when I was in high school," Viola added. "You don't meet many Hall of Famers who are willing to talk to high school players about hitting. He never cared who he was talking to. He just wanted to help people out."
Memories of Puckett were flowing throughout the White Sox facility at Kino Sports Complex on Tuesday, one day after the 45-year-old baseball legend passed away following a massive stroke Sunday. Viola's father, Frank Viola II, was Puckett's teammate from 1984-1989 and considered the barrel-chested center fielder a close friend, according to his son.
In fact, Viola said Tuesday morning that the only other time he had heard or witnessed his father become so emotional was when another of his close friends, golfer Payne Stewart, died in an air-travel accident. But Puckett was not someone for whom you had to be part of his inner circle in order to receive special treatment.
"He made you feel like you were his best friend, if you talked to him for just five minutes of your life," Viola said.
"Kirby would come up and introduce himself to everyone," added White Sox catcher A.J. Pierzynski, who started his career in the Twins system in 1995, the year that happened to be Puckett's last with Minnesota. "He would say, 'How you doing kid? I'm Kirby Puckett. Nice to meet you. Glad to have you in a Twins uniform.' For a first-ballot Hall of Famer to act like that, it was incredible."
When manager Ozzie Guillen first heard about the gravity of Puckett's condition Sunday, he immediately talked about living every moment, taking care of yourself and enjoying life. On Monday night, Guillen spoke of how he was in a state of shock when hearing of Puckett's death and how he had to break the news to his three sons, who all counted Puckett as one of their favorite players.
Guillen joked that when Oney, his middle son, was a youngster, they called him "Little Puck" because he was a bit chubby. As Guillen watched the steady stream of interviews and the numerous news reports on television concerning Puckett, sitting alongside first base coach Harold Baines prior to Tuesday's workouts, the tears started to flow.
"[Dave] Winfield said the right thing about Kirby in that he was the only player in the history of baseball that everyone loved," Guillen said. "A lot of players were better than him, but they didn't enjoy the game or appreciate what they did like Kirby."
"He was the first guy after a game, if you did something stupid, to come up and ... and rub it in and laugh about it," Pierzynski added with a smile. "He also would be the guy who said, 'I did it too.' He would play cards with you, and he was just fun."
Pierzynski told the story of growing up a huge Atlanta Braves fan and how Puckett broke his heart with his most memorable catch and walk-off home run in Game 6 of the 1991 World Series. Guillen eerily recalled Puckett's comments about how he was going to die before he was 50 because of heart problems that ran in his family, but quickly added that Puckett was one of the three greatest to ever play the game.
That assessment had very little to do with Puckett's vast ability as a hitter or a baserunner or his six career Gold Gloves. Guillen's reference was to the way Puckett played the game.
"You can ask every player who played with him or against him, and they all have the same answer," Guillen said. "Kirby Puckett played hard, always had a big smile and enjoyed what he did. He was a warrior. He could carry the team, and this guy could fill up a ballpark. He was the greatest ambassador in a Twins uniform and for all of baseball."
Comparing Puckett's importance to the Twins with Michael Jordan's importance to the Chicago Bulls is not even close to a stretch, according to Pierzynski. But Puckett also belonged to the city of Chicago, born in the Robert Taylor Homes, housing projects once located across the Dan Ryan Highway from Comiskey Park. Puckett also played baseball for Triton College in west suburban River Grove.
Central Unity Church, located at 8420 S. Cottage Grove in Chicago, will host a memorial service for Puckett at 6 p.m. CT on Wednesday. Pierzynski plans on attending a service for Puckett in Minneapolis on Saturday, missing the day of camp with Guillen's full blessing. Pierzynski was trying to work out a way to travel with Doug Mientkiewicz (Kansas City), Jacque Jones (Cubs) and possibly even Eddie Guardado (Seattle), all former Twins who are currently training with different teams in Arizona.
Viola, meanwhile, always will have the memories of the Hall of Famer who helped him improve his offense. But the young hurler believes Puckett will be remembered for far more than simply baseball.
"He'll be remembered for the person that he was, and then on top of that, being a great baseball player," Viola said. "I remember calling him once and telling Kirby how I was always getting jammed and what should I do.
"And he would say great hitters always get jammed. He always said that it wasn't about my swing, but it's about my attitude. Work hard and enjoy life. Have fun doing what you are doing, and if you don't enjoy it, you shouldn't be doing it."
Scott Merkin is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.