We will miss you Kirby Puckett

It's a sad day in the eyes of many Minnesota Twins fans as number 34 Kirby Puckett went to the field of dreams in the sky. He was a hero to many and was the best clutch player in Minnesota History. Stories to remember :

The Debut: Twins catcher Tim Laudner was in the clubhouse in Anaheim, Calif., to play the Angels when Puckett arrived for his first day in the big leagues.

"He came in and didn't have enough money to pay the cab fare," Laudner, 47, recalled Monday. "He said, 'If you guys want me in the lineup tonight, somebody had better go out and pay the cab.' It was something like $90. Puck had taken the cab from LAX (the airport) to Anaheim, and he had spent all his money on his minor league buddies the night before when he was told he was going to the big leagues."

The center fielder provided a sign of things to come when he went 4-for-5 in his major league debut on May 8, 1984, becoming the ninth player in history to collect four hits in his first game.

The Catch: First, he made a leaping catch against the Metrodome's outfield Plexiglas in the third inning and robbed Ron Gant of an extra-base hit, saving a run from scoring. Then, in the 11th inning, Puckett became the ninth player in major league history to win a World Series game with a home run, hitting a changeup from Charlie Leibrandt over the outfield wall and pumping his arms in celebration as he rounded the bases.

The homer: In the clubhouse before World Series Game 6, with the Twins down three games to two, Puckett told his teammates to "jump on my back. I'll carry you." He led off the bottom of the 11th with a home run to left, propelling his team into Game 7 and an eventual second World Series championship in five years.

The weekend: On Aug. 29-30, 1987, Puckett went 10-for-11 over two games at Milwaukee, setting an AL record and tying the modern-day major league record for hits in two consecutive games. In the Sunday game, he went 6-for-6 and stole a grand slam from Robin Yount.

And Finally he said:

"Kirby Puckett's going to be all right," he said in 1996. "Don't worry about me. I'll show up, and I'll have a smile on my face. The only thing I won't have is this uniform on. But you guys can have the memories of what I did when I did have it on."

God just needed a allstar center fielder for his baseball team and he got a good one.