Kirby Puckett

Biography

Kirby Puckett (March 14, 1960 – March 6, 2006) was a Major League Baseball center fielder. He played his entire 12-year baseball career with the Minnesota Twins (1984–1995) and he is the Twins franchise's all-time leader in career hits, runs, doubles, and total bases. At the time of his retirement, his .318 career batting average was the highest by any right-handed American League batter since Joe DiMaggio.

Puckett was the fourth baseball player during the 20th century to record 1,000 hits in his first five full calendar years in Major League Baseball, and was the second to record 2,000 hits during his first ten full calendar years. After being forced to retire at age 35 due to loss of vision in one eye from a central retinal vein occlusion, Puckett was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2001 in his first year of eligibility.

Puckett died on 6 March 2006, after suffering a stroke the previous day at his home in Phoenix, AZ.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kirby_Puckett