The Kirby Puckett All-Stars emerged last season as a group of guys from the fourth floor of Verder who were excited to just get out and play some ball.

Most guys had played at some point on an organized team in high school and were looking forward to the chance to play again with the intramural league. We took the opportunity to honor the late-great Kirby Puckett, who passed shortly before the league started, by naming our team after him.

We didn’t do so well in the regular season, but by the last couple of games, we started to come together as a team and ended with a modest 3-3 record.

When the playoff schedule was announced, and we saw that we somehow squeaked in, we were ecstatic. We entered as the last seeded team in the bracket.

The playoffs began, and it was as if Kirby Puckett himself was

playing alongside us. We were getting on base and batting in runs like it was our business.

Superior pitching and stellar play from the field solidified our defense, and we rolled over team after team until we found ourselves in the semi-finals, playing an old division rival.

We ended up losing the game in a heartbreaker, but by coming out of nowhere and ending up in third place, the Kirby Puckett All-Stars made a name for themselves.

We lost a few guys this year and added some new ones, for what we were hoping would be a new and improved team. We finished the season with an (even more modest) 1-4 record, but we somehow squeeked into the playoffs again.

Again, we were the last seeded team. So to anyone out there thinking that just because you’re playing the “worst” team in the bracket… beware.

We still have a man by the name of Kirby Puckett looking over us.

– Nick Pickard, manager of the Kirby Puckett All-Stars