Today is not the day to remember the repeated allegations of sexual improprieties by Kirby Puckett, today is the day to remember the player who for 12 years brought a joy to the game of baseball.

When we looked at rotund 5-foot-8, 230-pound Puckett, we didn’t see the classic athletic build of his teammate Dave Winfield. We saw one of us. We saw what could have been one of the guys who we play ball with Sunday afternoons in the park.

That is until we saw what the man could do with a baseball.

He brought joy and pleasure not only to his legions of Minnesota Twins fans who adored watching Puckett, but to fans of every team. He was no Joe DiMaggio look-alike in center field, but when Puckett retired following the 1995 season with a .318 career average, it was the highest career batting average for a right-handed batter since DiMaggio's .325 mark.

He had four hits in his very first game, and by the time his career came to a premature end, he had hit 207 home runs, drove home 1,085 runners and stole 134 bases. He finished with 2,304 hits, and his 2,040 hits in his first 10 years were more than any other player in the 20th century.

In 1986, he was an All-Star, Gold Glove winner, and Silver Slugger, playing in 161 games for the second straight season while hitting .328 to finish third in the league (to Wade Boggs), third in the league in slugging (to Don Mattingly), second in runs (to Rickey Henderson), second in hits and total bases (once again to Mattingly), and his 31 homers were sixth (to Jesse Barfield). In that year, NBC announcer Bob Costas jokingly promised that if Puckett was batting over .350 when his child was born he would name his kid Kirby. That’s the story behind Keith Kirby Costas.

KIRBY PUCKETT, 1960-2006      Hall of Famer Puckett, 45, dies of stroke Twins, fans pay final tribute to Puckett Celizic: Passion for game set Puckett apart Commentary: We owe Kirby for all he gave Commentary: A one-of-a-kind star JT the Brick: Puckett worthy of all the praise Readers share their thoughts Puckett's career statistics   Slide show: A look back at Puckett Vote: Greatest Minnesota Twin?

Somehow that season paled in comparison the following year when Kirby again was an All-Star, Gold Glove winner, and Silver Slugger. He hit .332, led the league in hits, finished third in total bases, and hit 28 homers as he drove home 99 runs. But Twins fans can barely remember the regular season of Puckett after his .357 batting average led the Twins to a seven-game victory over the St. Louis Cardinals in one of baseball’s great World Series.

In 1988, Puck hit .356 with 24 home runs and 121 RBI, and for the second straight season finished third in MVP voting. The next year he “slumped” to .339, only good enough to win the batting crown.

Slide show   Remembering a legend A look back at the Hall of Fame career of Minnesota Twins star Kirby Puckett.

1990 brought a rare year for Puckett, as he hit under .300 when he finished at .298 and the Twins finished in last place, but Kirby was just setting up his fans for a fabulous 1991. Kirby was in year six of his 11 straight All-Star appearances, and he won his fifth of six Gold Gloves. His .319 batting average was good enough for eighth in the league and he led his Twins from a worst-to-first rebound into the postseason.

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