Posted By:
Todd SchultzFor all those who claim Puck does not belong, here is my response to Frank Wakefield back in March, to which I have never received a response from anyone:
"Frank, take a look at the stats of George Brett, Tony Gwynn and Kirby Puckett. Look at their first full 12 seasons--Puckett only played twelve, so I'm letting you discard the partial seasons of the other two, who couldn't crack the everyday lineups their rookie years like Puck. Anyway, unless I'm messing up my math you should see that Puckett had more hits (2304) than EITHER Brett or Gwynn during those 12 seasons. In fact, Puck had more runs scored, HR and RBI than Brett too. Same for Puckett over Gwynn, except for runs scored, where Tony scored exactly two more during that time than Puck. Oh and Kirby fielded his position at least as well and probably better than those two also.
These are not marginal HOFers I'm comparing to Puckett--they are two guys pretty much regarded as studs. Again, add in the two rings, one over your Cardinals when he hit just .357 and the other when they beat Atlanta and he hit two homers plus made a great catch to help save a game in a seven game set.
Now, please tell me why, with any objectivity, there is no way Puckett belongs. Even use your yardstick and rely heavily on what is said by those who played against him--I doubt you will find ANY who feel he doesn't belong."
You can add Boggs and Sandberg as HOFers whose numbers, during the same period and during their first twelve seasons, fall below Kirby Puckett. Boggs, who did little more than slap hit, still had fewer safeties than Puck counting all of his time at Boston and his first season as a Yankee, and of course can't be even be compared when it came to speed or power. Donny Ballgame also had fewer hits AND fewer RBI over the same stretch. So list for me the better hitters than Puck during his era, and then we'll look at rings, defense, awards and intangibles, where Puck more than holds his own as well.
Edited to add: come to think of it, even Pete Rose had only 33 more hits than Puckett during his first twelve seasons, and it took him 315 more at bats to do it.