| Congratulations to Dave Winfield and Kirby Puckett on being the two newest Hall of Fame inductees! Winfield and Puckett were introduced as the 2001 Hall of Famers on Jan. 16. Winfield (shown in the photo at the right) was a .283 career hitter with the Padres, Yankees, Angels, Blue Jays, Twins, and Indians. He had 3,110 career hits and 465 home runs. Winfield also had 1,833 runs batted in and, in 1992, he played for the Toronto Blue Jays club that beat the Atlanta Braves in the World Series. Puckett, meanwhile, could have joined Winfield in the prestigious 3,000-hit club. But, he played only 12 years because
he developed glaucoma and was robbed of his eyesight so critical to hitting. Still, he hit .318 with 2,304 hits, 207 home runs, 1,085 RBI, and 1,071 runs scored. He led the Twins to two World Series titles - in 1987 over the Cardinals and in 1991 over the Braves. He won six Gold Gloves in center field and was the 1989 American League batting champ with a .339 average. He also led the AL in ribbies in 1994 with 112 during that infamous strike-shortened campaign. Puckett, who led the AL four times in hits (including 234 safeties in 1988), becomes the third youngest Hall of Famer ever at age 40. Only Lou Gehrig (36) and Sandy Koufax (37) were younger when they entered the HOF. Congratulations to two of my favorite all-time baseball heroes - Dave Winfield and Kirby Puckett!! |
CONGRATULATIONS
DAVE AND KIRBY!
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