Kirby Puckett
 

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) -- In the middle of a steadily growing memorial to Kirby Puckett, outside the Metrodome and right alongside a street named for the beloved Hall of Famer, one cardboard sign stood out.

''There IS crying in baseball,'' the message was written, in red ink, bannered over a couple of old Puckett baseball cards taped to the corners.

All around the game, people who were close to the roly-poly outfielder who led the Minnesota Twins to two World Series titles -- and even those who only watched him on TV -- were saddened Tuesday by Puckett's death.

''This morning, when I got up and took a shower and watched the news, tears started coming out,'' said Chicago White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen, one of many contemporaries who spoke memorably about the man whose energy, enthusiasm and exceptional skills captivated baseball fans -- both diehard and casual -- throughout a 12-year career that was cut short by glaucoma in 1996.

Puckett died at 45 in a Phoenix hospital Monday afternoon, a day after having a stroke in his home.

It always amazes me when world-class athletes succumb to the same sorts of physical foibles suffered by mere mortals. Kirby was *awesome*, a fireplug of a guy whose physical stature and construction belied a smart, motivated ballplayer. He was a hustler in the best sense of the word, and a deserving Hall of Famer.

Awwww. Some of the best baseball of my life. I had the centerfield cheap seats, laughing with and yelling at Kirby to back up so we'd have a place to rest our beer cups on his ample bum. Always playing his heart out. He could turn a game- with a gravity defying catch, a gutsy at bat, just working the bases. Two amazing world series. I can still see him churning around the bases on those legs, bumpin bellies with Al Newman, and that beaming smile.