Puckett still same guy after Hall selection

NEW ULM -- It has been almost two weeks since Kirby Puckett was elected to the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame, but still the feeling of being elected to the Hall of Fame (on the first ballot and only the 13th player to be so honored on the first ballot) is "overwhelming."

Puckett, who was in New Ulm along with first baseman Doug Mientkiewicz, center fielder Jacque Jones, broadcaster John Gordon and Dave St. Peter of the Twins' front office, had a scheduled visit to St. Paul's Lutheran School cancelled due to the weather.

"I am still walking around in a fog," he said. "I didn't really know how things would turn out when I first started playing baseball. But all that I have to say is that it is pretty amazing. When I played as a kid, I never envisioned anything like this. For me, this is totally, totally overwhelming."

And for us who have seen Puckett play during his Twins career that spanned from 1984-95, Puckett the person and Puckett the player are one and the same. What you see is literally what you get.

"That is what it is all about," said Puckett, who is now the executive vice president of baseball for the Twins. "When I was a ballplayer, I never went with the idea that I was better than anyone else. I never thought of myself as being better than anyone of my teammates or being better than anyone in general."

Puckett commented that "first and foremost, you have to remember that I am just a human being just like anyone else. That has always been been special to me and I have always conducted my life in the same way. I knew that I didn't want to become to big on my way up because I was going to meet those same people on the way down. I just wanted to stay nice like I have always been. I have never tried to do anything different."

The man who had 74 multiple-hit games for the Twins (a team record) along with eight four-hit games, added that if you are going to do something in life, whatever it is, to do it the best that you can.

"I tell my kids that they should do what they really love and do it the best that you can," he said. "And if you really love it, you should put all of your heart, soul and hard work into it. I am a perfect example of that. I come from a place, a ghetto in Chicago -- the projects -- I came from nothing. But like the late Dr. Martin Luther King, I had a dream that I was going to be a baseball player one day so I put all my heart, soul and hard work into that dream. I persevered and I was the same person on the way up and I continue to be that same person."

One of the things players do not do a lot of these days is show loyalty to one team.

Puckett was one of the few that did show loyalty to one team when he turned down significantly more money from other teams to stay with the Twins.

But staying with one team, like Puckett did , is something that he said is up to the individual player.

"You can't use my case (of turning down more money) against anyone else," said tha man who is fifth in Twins' history with a 23-game hitting streak. "My case was different. I came up in 1984, I met my future wife in 1985 and got married in 1986 so I consider myself a Minnesotan from the time that I set foot on the field here. I had a great foundation built up here so in my situation, it was totally different. I was doing a lot of charity things here plus, I love it here. I am from Chicago originally, but in my case, I saw (Kent) Hrbek stay here and take less money and he is from here. What I wanted was an opportunity to play in one (major league) uniform in my career. I am proud of that fact. I was a Minnesota Twin for 12 years and there is no doubt what hat I will wear when I enter the Hall of Fame."

SMALL FRANCHISES BEING ABSORBED: In Monday's Star Tribune, Sid Hartman wrote that there is "great concern that small franchises (like Minnesota and Montreal) may be absorbed by other fracnchises and the teams dissolved.

"I hope that that does not happen," commented Puckett. "If that happens, you are taking guys jobs away. You have all of these organizations with minor league teams. It would sound good if you merged the Twins and the Montreal Expos. ... We would take some of their players and we will have a good team. But it doesn't work that way. Baseball is doing very good right now and to do something like that would be a step backwards."

Puckett said baseball "needs to come up with a plan like football has. You saw the (Baltimore) Ravens yesterday. There has to be some parity (in baseball). The teams that have won the two Super Bowls the last two years were not supposed to win. So there is a chance that things can happen."

He said that the "owners have to find a way to get the salaries back in balance. We need to get some of the monies that the Yankees and Baltimore have."

IF PUCKETT WAS COMMISSIONER OF BASEBALL: "One of the things that I would do would be to have parity. Whether I would have a salary cap or not, I don't know. I would have to study that," he said. "But I would make it feasible for all teams to compete. The Yankees go out and get a Mike Mussina so now if the rotation is right you could end up facing Andy Petite, Orlando Hernandez, Roger Clemens and Mussina. If you are not swinging right, that could be a long series. They give Mussina $80 million ... That is more than the Twins' franchise is worth.

"They (New York) can do that because they have the resources, but we only have 4 million people here in Minnesota. We are what we are and we have to deal with that. We need to have that parity."

MIENTKIEWICZ SETS RECORD STRAIGHT: Doug Mientkiewicz said that "I should have been sent down to "Triple-A" in 1999 and give me a chance to get my confidence back, but I wasn't bitter."

Mientkiewicz, who was drafted from Florida State, said that "I lost my love for the game. I didn't enjoy the game at all. I was frustrated with the game and didn't know if this was what I wanted to do in my life. Being sent down in 2000 was a blessing in disguise for me. I learned to love the game all over again."

He said when he was sent down that "two years from now I would look back at this and laugh. Little did I know that five months later in the Olympics that I would do something on a world stage (a winning home run). To be on that gold medal stand and hear your country's national anthem being played. and your country's flag raised high, it still gives me goosebumps today."

Mientkiewicz said he and Twins manager Tom Kelly did not have a disageement in the past. "What happened is that (former Twin) Todd Walker was very upset and the article came out and I was tied into a lot of things that Todd said because I always said that if I could play for my dad, I can play for anyone. I never had a problem with playing for Tom Kelly. Tom had nothing to do with my performance. If you are doing bad at work, it will be a miserable place for you to go. That was the way that I wanted to be looked at; it had nothing to do with the people around me. It was frustrating because I was not the player that I wanted to be. He called me in and we talked about it and now, our relationship is better. If I had to do it over again, I would keep my mouth shut. If that is the worst thing that happens between me and TK, we will get along fine. He gave me a chance and he did everything that he could. Things just got turned around a little bit."