Puckett had everyone fooled

The cover story of this week's issue of Sports Illustrated -- "The Rise and Fall of Kirby Puckett," by senior contributing writer Frank Deford -- brings to light some disturbing revelations about the Twins' Hall of Famer. Puckett, one of baseball's most popular players during the 1980s and '90s, was portrayed as a paragon of virtue by fans and media alike during his playing days in Minnesota -- which makes his human flaws all the more shocking, says Deford. SI.com spoke with Deford about the reaction to Puckett's misdeeds.

SI.com: How shocked were you by the details of some of Kirby Puckett's actions?

Deford: That's an interesting question because I felt I was a good person to write this story for Sports Illustrated inasmuch as all I knew about Puckett was his reputation. Even though I had heard some things about his less-than-flattering behavior in the past, and was shocked by the revelations then, I was even more shocked by the recent disclosures because everything that came out was so counter to what I knew about the guy. It was just amazing. The whole thing is very sad, but it's all his fault. I'm just disappointed that someone we had such faith in turned out to be a different sort of creature.

SI.com: Do you think other people will be shocked by this story?

Deford: It's not like we are pulling the curtain back. The curtain has already been pulled back and everybody's had a peep. I think we're just opening the curtain all the way.

SI.com: How are the fans in Minnesota reacting to these revelations?

Deford: The fans there are very much aware of what's happening, and they feel two things, which are reflected in the SI piece -- sad and betrayed. And I think they feel a little foolish. That's a big theme of this story -- the fans were taken. They gave their hearts away and it turned out that the man to whom they gave their hearts was not quite so deserving. Even if Puckett is acquitted of the sexual assault charges brought against him, it's still very clear that he's not the person everyone thought he was. But a fascinating aspect of this story reflects on how fans get so carried away with their heroes.

SI.com: And what's the feeling within the Minnesota franchise about Puckett's actions?

Deford: The Twins organization is keeping this whole issue at arm's length. The team allegedly made a financial settlement with a female employee who had threatened to file a sexual harassment suit against the Twins in part because of Puckett's behavior. So Twins officials, having held him up in such high regard for so long, are backpedaling as fast as they can. They don't want to say anything about this whole mess.

SI.com: Do you think this scenario -- beloved athlete, revered by fans, turns out to be a pretty reprehensible human being -- is more common than we think, or is this just a rare case?

Deford: I think this is an exceptional case. It's exceptional because Kirby Puckett was so exceptional. The affection directed toward him was quite unusual. I mention Tony Gwynn and Cal Ripken in the piece as the only modern baseball players who've been held in that kind of fondness by their local fans. But if there's any kind of analogy to make with Puckett, I think it would be with Pete Rose. The difference is people knew Pete's frailties. Everybody knew that Pete was an obsessive gambler. Everyone knew he was a womanizer. Everyone knew those things. It wasn't part of his persona, though. It wasn't part of the package. Pete was admired for being gung ho, Mr. Baseball. His personal off-the-field attributes weren't that important to the fans. He was Charlie Hustle. Kirby Puckett was something else. He was the whole package. But if there is one person who you could compare Puckett to, it would be Rose because both were held in such high esteem and then let us down.

Sports Illustrated senior contributing writer Frank Deford is a regular contributor to SI.com and appears each Wednesday on National Public Radio's Morning Edition.

 

Related information

Multimedia

Visit Video Plus for the latest audio and video