Kirby Puckett (March 14, 1960 , just 8 days away from his 46th birthday. The official cause of death was recorded as "cerebral hemorrhage due to hypertension." Puckett died at the second-youngest age (behind Lou Gehrig) of any Hall of Famer inducted while living, and the youngest to die after being inducted in the modern era of the five-season waiting period. Puckett is survived by his children, son Kirby Jr. and daughter Catherine. At the time of his death he was engaged to marry Jodi Olson, with an expected wedding date of June 24.
A private memorial service was held in Twin Cities suburb of Wayzata on the afternoon of March 12 (declared "Kirby Puckett Day" in Minneapolis), followed by a public ceremomy held at the Metrodome attended by family, friends, ballplayers past and present, and approximately 15,000 fans (an anticipated capacity crowd dwindled through the day due to an incoming blizzard that night). Speakers at the latter service included Hall of Famers Harmon Killebrew, Cal Ripken and Dave Winfield, and a multitude of former teammates and coaches.





Minnesota Twins (1984-1995)
All-star from 1986-1995
Gold Glove from 1986-1989, 1991, and 1992
Silver Slugger 1986-1989, 1992, and 1994
Led AL in batting average in 1989 with .339
Led AL in hits 1987-1989 and 1992
Led AL in RBI's in 1994 with 112
Top 500 home run hitters of all time
List of major league players with 2,000 hits
List of Major League Baseball players with 400 doubles
List of Major League Baseball players with 1000 runs
List of Major League Baseball players with 1000 RBI
Hitting for the cycle
List of Major League Baseball RBI champions
List of Major League Baseball batting champions
Major League Baseball titles leaders
A children's picture-book autobiography, Be the Best You Can Be (ISBN 0-931674-20-4), published by Waldman House Press in 1993;
An autobiography, I Love This Game: My Life and Baseball (ISBN 0-06-017710-1), published by HarperCollins in 1993; and
A book of baseball games and drills, Kirby Puckett's Baseball Games (ISBN 0-7611-0155-1), published by Workman Publishing Company in 1996
Career statistics and player information from Baseball-Reference
baseballhalloffame.org – Hall of Fame biography page
The Sporting News: Baseball's 100 Greatest Players (#86)
Official Major League Baseball tribute site
Yesterday's News - Puckett's first day in the majors
Sports Illustrated: "The other Kirby" - March 2003 article on Puckett's personal problems