This is a very sad day. In my lifetime, Kirby Puckett was the best baseball player I ever knew, one of the best Minnesota athletes ever. Though he grew up in Chicago, he was a Minnesotan by virtue of being a Minnesota Twins team member and the fans claimed him as one of us. Now we mourn an extraordinary sports figure, gone way too soon at age 45.

Hall of Famer Kirby Puckett Dies

By Dave Campbell, AP Sports Writer

MINNEAPOLIS — Kirby Puckett died Monday, a day after the Hall of Fame outfielder had a stroke at his Arizona home, a hospital spokeswoman said. He was 44.

Puckett died at St. Joseph's Hospital and Medical Center in Phoenix, Kimberly Lodge said. He had been in intensive care since having surgery at another hospital following his stroke Sunday morning.

Puckett carried the Twins to World Series titles in 1987 and 1991 before his career was cut short by glaucoma. His family, friends and former teammates gathered at the hospital throughout Monday.

The hospital said Puckett was given last rites and died in the afternoon.

"On behalf of Major League Baseball, I am terribly saddened by the sudden passing of Kirby Puckett," baseball commissioner Bud Selig said. "He was a Hall of Famer in every sense of the term.

"He played his entire career with the Twins and was an icon in Minnesota. But he was revered throughout the country and will be remembered wherever the game is played. Kirby was taken from us much too soon — and too quickly," he said.

The buoyant, barrel-shaped Puckett broke into the majors in 1984 and had a career batting average of .318. Glaucoma forced the six-time Gold Glove center fielder and 10-time All-Star to retire when he went blind in his right eye.

"This is a sad day for the Minnesota Twins, Major League Baseball and baseball fans everywhere," Twins owner Carl Pohlad said.