When I heard the terrible news Thursday, I thought of this quote I remembered reading some 10 years ago:
Only one person there got more love. And Leah, a baseball fan not fanatic, explained the reverence in which Puckett was held in Minneapolis, in this sentence: "There's Prince, then there's Kirby."
That's a quote from an article about Kirby Puckett's death, and that quote was meant to emphasize how beloved Kirby was in Minneapolis. Prince has always been on another level. Everyone knew it.
Having been born in Minneapolis and raised in Uptown (and, hence, maybe a little bit bias), you will never find me questioning the absolute supremacy of Prince (Sorry Mom and Dad—but it's Prince). Sure, baseball may be my favorite thing in the world, and Kirby Puckett my favorite baseball player in the world... but this is Prince. It's Prince. There is no stronger argument for anything, ever—especially to a Minneapolis native—than, "It's Prince."
And yet, Prince and Kirby were also somehow in the same breath to us.
It's not because Kirby was equal to Prince, because, as already mentioned, he was not. But both Prince and Kirby, I think, hold a special place in the hearts of Minnesotans (and especially Minneapolis-ites, at least of a certain age). Frankly, Minnesota wasn't very cool before the '80s. It was (is?) a bunch of dorky white people. But then Prince happened. And Purple Rain happened. And Kirby Puckett Happened. And suddenly we were so cool Chris Rock made a joke about Prince and Kirby Puckett being the only black people from Minnesota that hundreds of people now keep trying to repeat on Twitter in sad attempts to be funny in 2016. Obviously that joke wasn't true—but that was the joke. The joke was funny because Prince and Kirby were both black, but also the most popular, beloved, and famous people who ever lived in state full of a bunch of us who were not worthy just painfully white.
Yes, there have been other popular cult figures in Minnesota history. Paul Wellstone immediately comes to mind. But I'd bet you 9 times our of 10, Prince and Kirby would be two of the top people listed.
And now they are both gone. Kirby died at age 46 of a massive stroke in March 2006. He was the second youngest living member of the MLB Hall of Fame to die (behind Lou Gehrig). Prince died, well, just a couple days ago, and isn't a living member of the MLB Hall of Fame, although I personally thing he should be. I mean, it's Prince...
What else am I supposed to say? I guess I'll leave you with this:
Prince referenced Kirby Puckett directly in one song, "I Rock Therefore I Am" (1996):
(Rock) In the running with the bucket of cuttings
Wishing I had buckets to live like Kirby Puckett
The Twins retired Kirby Puckett's number on May 25th, 1997. His retirement present? A little red corvette.
God bless everyone.
God bless Minneapolis.
I would die 4 u.