On May 8, 1984, a 23 year old outfielder named Kirby Puckett made his major league debut for the Minnesota Twins at Anaheim Stadium and went 4-for-5. Four hits in his first MLB game. He was barely 5'8". The Twins had drafted him out of a community college. Within five years he was a six time All-Star, the face of a small market franchise that had won exactly zero playoff games when he showed up. Puckett would go on to win two World Series with Minnesota (1987 and 1991), make 10 All-Star teams, win six Gold Gloves, and crash into outfield walls so hard the Metrodome turf had a Puckett shaped dent in it. His career ended early and tragically; glaucoma cost him his right eye and forced him to retire in 1996, at 35, with 2,304 career hits and a clear path to 3,000. First ballot Hall of Fame anyway. It started on May 8, 1984, with four hits and a smile that never left.
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