The Strib is running a series of pieces on Kirby after his retirement from baseball. It is truly sad, both for what it reveals and what it elides.
Meanwhile, rest in peace Joe Niekro. Niekro died of an aneurysm at 61 last week. His stint with the Twins was brief, but memorable--who can forget his insouciant "who me?" attempt to flip the emory board out of his back pocket. That there, thought a young Batgirl, is some serious balls. Rest in peace, Joe Niekro.
Posted by Batgirl at October 29, 2006 05:37 PMI was living in LA in the late 80s, and had the privilege of attending the infamous "emory board incident" game. I believe it might also have been the series where Dan Gladden stole home. I'll always remember Niekro's classy Letterman interview. RIP, Joe. You were a Twin. 'nuf said.
Posted by: dlarso01 at October 29, 2006 07:33 PM"...he won over a state and a nation with his smile and his swing."
And that's what I will always remember.
Posted by: Shelley at October 29, 2006 10:05 PMRIP Joe Niekro.
On a completely different subject, (sorry) this from the W. Sox site. Love. It. :-)
I know the National League Most Valuable Player either will be Albert Pujols or Ryan Howard. What are the chances of Jermaine Dye getting the AL MVP? He had one heck of a season.
-- Danny, Port Huron
The chances, unfortunately, are slim to none for Dye to win the award, and that assessment comes, in part, from Dye himself. Here is Dye's exact statement on the MVP topic from the final weekend in Minneapolis.
"No, I didn't make the playoffs," said Dye when asked if he deserved the MVP support. "[It's] whatever guy helps their team to the playoffs. That leaves two guys, [Derek] Jeter and [Justin] Morneau."
With his .315 average, 44 home runs and 120 RBIs, Dye certainly deserves serious consideration. The same can be said for Minnesota's Johan Santana, Boston's David Ortiz, and of course, Oakland's Frank Thomas, who probably meant as much to his team as any of the aforementioned candidates. But the award should come down to Morneau and Jeter, as Dye said, with Morneau winning.
RIP Joe --
I wore my 1987 Twins WS Champs tee shirt yesterday in memory.
Too bad he won't be around for the 20th anniversary of the 1987 team.
Posted by: funoka at October 30, 2006 07:40 AMHis appearance on Letterman after the nail file thing was one of the funniest things I saw. Tool belt, power sander, it was too funny. I remember the game he pitched for the 'Stros against the Dodgers in '80 and I remember him with the Yanks.They also had a mother's day special one year I think late '70s Braves vs Astros , Joe vs Phil.
I'm officially old now, too many of the players whose baseball cards I collected are passing.
his emery board game is one of the first Twins games I remember
The Puck series was pretty fluffy; not exactly hard-hitting journalism. The fact that he felt Minnesota had betrayed him makes me sad, though I understand why; he probably couldn't fathom how the largesse he had always been granted as a player was lost once he retired and things unraveled with Tonya. Sadly, folks love a fallen hero, and Kirby had a long way to fall...
I am glad his luster was restored somewhat after he passed away, though - he deserved that.
Posted by: adidasman at November 1, 2006 11:10 AMIsn't it odd that the two men from that era who played in the shadow of their brothers also passed away so young: Joe Niekro (aged 61) and Ken Brett (aged 55)? Both also made their MLB debut in 1967. Both also had brain-related deaths: Joe from brain aneurysm and Ken from brain cancer.
Posted by: BAM at November 9, 2006 08:11 PM