Biographical

Portrait of Kirby Puckett

Kirby Puckett CFTwins

Twins Player Cards | Twins Team Audit | Twins Depth Chart

Career Summary
Years PA AVG OBP SLG DRC+ WARP
14 7831 .318 .360 .477 121 51.2
Birth Date3-14-1960
Height5' 8"
Weight210 lbs
Age64 years, 1 months, 12 days
BatsR
ThrowsR
WARP Summary

MLB Statistics

YEAR TEAM AGE G PA H 2B 3B HR BB SO HBP SB CS AVG OBP SLG DRC+ DRAA BRR FRAA BWARP
1984 MIN 24 128 583 165 12 5 0 16 69 4 14 7 .296 .320 .336 83 -9.7 1.1 33.0 4.4
1985 MIN 25 161 744 199 29 13 4 41 87 4 21 12 .288 .330 .385 90 -6.0 -0.4 11.4 2.9
1986 MIN 26 161 723 223 37 6 31 34 99 7 20 12 .328 .366 .537 137 32.4 1.6 -4.7 5.3
1987 MIN 27 157 668 207 32 5 28 32 91 6 12 7 .332 .367 .534 133 27.9 -0.4 -5.3 4.3
1988 MIN 28 158 691 234 42 5 24 23 83 2 6 7 .356 .375 .545 147 35.9 -0.3 14.0 7.6
1989 MIN 29 159 684 215 45 4 9 41 59 3 11 4 .339 .379 .465 126 20.8 -1.7 9.1 5.2
1990 MIN 30 146 615 164 40 3 12 57 73 3 5 4 .298 .365 .446 114 9.8 0.4 0.1 2.9
1991 MIN 31 152 661 195 29 6 15 31 78 4 11 5 .319 .352 .460 116 13.8 -1.9 5.8 3.9
1992 MIN 32 160 696 210 38 4 19 44 97 6 17 7 .329 .374 .490 134 28.3 5.0 5.4 6.3
1993 MIN 33 156 682 184 39 3 22 47 93 7 8 6 .296 .349 .474 116 15.5 1.9 -4.9 3.0
1994 MIN 34 108 482 139 32 3 20 28 47 7 6 3 .317 .362 .540 124 16.7 0.3 5.3 3.0
1995 MIN 35 137 602 169 39 0 23 56 89 3 3 2 .314 .379 .515 126 21.5 -2.6 -4.1 2.5
Career178378312304414572074509655613476.318.360.477121206.93.065.251.2

Statistics for All Levels

'opp' stats - Quality of opponents faced - have been moved and are available only as OPP_QUAL in the Statistics reports now.
Minor league stats are currently shown —Click to hide.
YEAR Team Lg LG G PA oppAVG oppOBP oppSLG BABIP BPF BRAA repLVL POS_ADJ DRC+ DRC+ SD FRAA BRR DRAA BWARP
1982 ELZ Rk APL 65 305 .000 .000 .000 .415 0.0 0 0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
1983 VIS A+ CLF 138 604 .000 .000 .000 .340 0.0 0 0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
1984 MIN MLB AL 128 583 .263 .321 .396 .337 99 -13.8 15.6 1.4 83 9 33.0 1.1 -9.7 4.4
1984 TOL AAA INT 21 87 .000 .000 .000 .299 0.0 0 0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
1985 MIN MLB AL 161 744 .263 .326 .409 .323 101 -2.6 20.3 1.8 90 10 11.4 -0.4 -6.0 2.9
1986 MIN MLB AL 161 723 .258 .324 .404 .349 107 34.7 20.0 1.8 137 9 -4.7 1.6 32.4 5.3
1987 MIN MLB AL 157 668 .264 .329 .422 .350 104 26.6 19.7 1.1 133 9 -5.3 -0.4 27.9 4.3
1988 MIN MLB AL 158 691 .260 .323 .392 .376 104 43.8 18.1 1.6 147 9 14.0 -0.3 35.9 7.6
1989 MIN MLB AL 159 684 .260 .323 .380 .360 105 22.6 17.9 1.5 126 9 9.1 -1.7 20.8 5.2
1990 MIN MLB AL 146 615 .258 .322 .384 .324 103 15 16.5 0.4 114 8 0.1 0.4 9.8 2.9
1991 MIN MLB AL 152 661 .259 .325 .391 .343 105 16.5 17.9 1.1 116 10 5.8 -1.9 13.8 3.9
1992 MIN MLB AL 160 696 .259 .325 .384 .361 101 35.7 18.0 0.9 134 9 5.4 5.0 28.3 6.3
1993 MIN MLB AL 156 682 .265 .332 .406 .316 100 21.1 19.6 -2.4 116 10 -4.9 1.9 15.5 3.0
1994 MIN MLB AL 108 482 .271 .339 .427 .314 103 19.1 14.6 -5.9 124 10 5.3 0.3 16.7 3.0
1995 MIN MLB AL 137 602 .267 .340 .418 .339 104 23.5 18.0 -7.4 126 7 -4.1 -2.6 21.5 2.5

Statistics For All Levels

Minor league stats are currently shown —Click to hide.
Year Team lvl LG PA AB R H 2B 3B HR TB RBI BB SO SB CS AVG OBP SLG ISO SF SH
1982 ELZ Rk APL 305 275 65 105 15 3 3 135 35 25 27 43 4 .382 .438 .491 .109 1 1
1983 VIS A+ CLF 604 548 105 172 29 7 9 242 97 46 62 48 11 .314 .367 .442 .128 3 3
1984 MIN MLB AL 583 557 63 165 12 5 0 187 31 16 69 14 7 .296 .320 .336 .039 2 4
1984 TOL AAA INT 87 80 9 21 2 0 1 26 5 4 14 8 2 .263 .291 .325 .063 2 2
1985 MIN MLB AL 744 691 80 199 29 13 4 266 74 41 87 21 12 .288 .330 .385 .097 3 5
1986 MIN MLB AL 723 680 119 223 37 6 31 365 96 34 99 20 12 .328 .366 .537 .209 0 2
1987 MIN MLB AL 668 624 96 207 32 5 28 333 99 32 91 12 7 .332 .367 .534 .202 6 0
1988 MIN MLB AL 691 657 109 234 42 5 24 358 121 23 83 6 7 .356 .375 .545 .189 9 0
1989 MIN MLB AL 684 635 75 215 45 4 9 295 85 41 59 11 4 .339 .379 .465 .126 5 0
1990 MIN MLB AL 615 551 82 164 40 3 12 246 80 57 73 5 4 .298 .365 .446 .149 3 1
1991 MIN MLB AL 661 611 92 195 29 6 15 281 89 31 78 11 5 .319 .352 .460 .141 7 8
1992 MIN MLB AL 696 639 104 210 38 4 19 313 110 44 97 17 7 .329 .374 .490 .161 6 1
1993 MIN MLB AL 682 622 89 184 39 3 22 295 89 47 93 8 6 .296 .349 .474 .178 5 1
1994 MIN MLB AL 482 439 79 139 32 3 20 237 112 28 47 6 3 .317 .362 .540 .223 7 1
1995 MIN MLB AL 602 538 83 169 39 0 23 277 99 56 89 3 2 .314 .379 .515 .201 5 0

Plate Discipline

YEAR Pits Zone% Swing% Contact% Z-Swing% O-Swing% Z-Contact% O-Contact% SwStr% CSAA

Injury History  —  No longer being updated

Last Update: 12/31/2014 23:59 ET

Date On Date Off Transaction Days Games Side Body Part Injury Severity Surgery Date Reaggravation
1997-03-31 1997-09-28 60-DL 181 161 - Recovery From Surgery Glaucoma - -
1996-04-01 1996-09-30 60-DL 182 162 - Surgery Glaucoma - -
1995-09-29 1995-10-02 DTD 3 3 - Fracture HBP - -

Compensation

Year Team Salary
1997 MIN $7,200,000
1996 MIN $6,200,000
1995 MIN $6,200,000
1994 MIN $5,200,000
1993 MIN $5,200,000
1992 MIN $3,300,000
1991 MIN $3,000,000
1990 MIN $2,700,000
1989 MIN $2,050,000
1988 MIN $1,210,000
1987 MIN $465,000
1986 MIN $265,000
1985 MIN $130,000
1984 MIN $50,000
YearsDescriptionSalary
14 yrPrevious$43,170,000
14 yrTotal$43,170,000

 

Service TimeAgentContract Status
Ron Shapiro

Details
  • 5 years/$30M (1993-97). Re-signed by Minnesota as a free agent 12/5/92. $6M signing bonus. 93:$4M, 94:$4M, 95:$5M, 96:$5M, 97:$6M. Puckett may opt out of contract after 1995 season. Retired 7/13/96.
  • 3 years/$9M (1990-92). Re-signed with Minnesota 11/23/89. $1.5M signing bonus (paid in $0.5M installments: 11/89, 12/90, 12/91). 90:$2.2M, 91:$2.5M, 92:$2.8M. Award bonuses: $0.2M MVP. $0.1M for second or third in MVP vote. $25,000 for Gold Glove. Limited no-trade protection (may block deals to three clubs). First player to reach $3M mark in average annual value.
  • 1 year/$2.05M (1989).
  • 1 year/$1.21M (1988)
  • 1 year/$0.465M (1987)
  • 1 year/$0.265M (1986)
  • 1 year/$0.13M (1985)
  • 1 year/$50,000 (1984)
  • Drafted by Minnesota 1982 (1-3) (January draft) (Bradley University).

2019 Preseason Forecast

Last Update: 1/27/2017 12:35 ET

PCT PA R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB CS AVG OBP SLG DRC+ VORP FRAA WARP
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BP Annual Player Comments

No BP Book Comments have been found for this player.

BP Articles

Click here to see articles tagged with Kirby Puckett

BP Chats

DateQuestionAnswer
2018-02-20 13:00:00 (link to chat)Is Willie Calhoun the second coming of Kirby Puckett?
(jipcho from Taiwan)		Not at all. They're both short and stocky. But Puckett had a great BA with occasional shows of power and decent steals. Calhoun profiles more as a solid power bat than a high BA guy. Bear in mind his .300 average in 2017 was in the PCL. I like Calhoun as far as prospects go, but I collected a lot of Puckett cards while growing up. Gotta earn the Puck comparison in the bigs first. (Kevin Jebens)
2018-02-06 15:00:00 (link to chat)Can Willie Calhoun be the reincarnation of Kirby Puckett?
(jipcho from Taipei, Taiwan)		The plate discipline numbers could look similar, I guess, but I'd expect more power and less average from Calhoun. He seems a very strong bet to be a great hitter, which he'll need to be with no position. (Darius Austin)
2011-06-20 14:00:00 (link to chat)Kirby Puckett is what I base that on. And Koufax, too, now that you bring him up. Does JAWS account for people being stopped right in their prime? I'm guessing not, perhaps because there are so few. But are there comparables to Kirby and Doc who didn't make it? I suspect there's just such a strong psychological at play there for voters.
(Richie from Washington)		Puckett had two World Series rings and 10 straight All-star appearances. As good as Halladay is, he doesn't have that.

Now, by considering peak and career, JAWS is built to allow for stopped-in-prime comparisons, and yes, Halladay is above the standard on that front (49.1 peak, with the average SP at 47.7). There aren't a lot of voters basing their decisions on JAWS, though - the great majority are still paying heed to more traditional numbers.

The annals are full of fast-starting pitchers who didn't make the Hall along the lines of Gooden. Denny McLain won his second Cy at 25 and didn't get in. Bret Saberhagen has two Cy Youngs and won't get in. Johan Santana probably won't get in barring a miraculous comeback from shoulder woes. (Jay Jaffe)
2008-09-16 13:00:00 (link to chat)Was their ever a player with more of a stocky build than Hack Wilson? He looks ridiculous!
(Rob from Bloomington, IL)		In my book "Forging Genius," I said that Hack looked like Popeye or an inverted bowling pin. I don't think Yogi Berra was too different, maybe even Kirby Puckett. Ever see the pictures of Wilson standing next to Ruth and Gehrig? Looks like they're hanging out with someone from a circus sideshow. They tower over him. (Steven Goldman)


BP Roundtables

DateRoundtable NameComment
2009-10-28 17:00:002009 WS Game OneDoes Chase Utley have a car dealership? He looks like that kind of guy, like John Elway. With this economy, what's the equivalent of the car dealership for athletes now, or do they even need it with their contracts?

There's an interesting sociological question - where are the guys who signed the biggest contract of their day? Ryne Sandberg is a minor league manager. Kirby Puckett has passed, but would surely be in the Twins org doing something. Who else? (Will Carroll)