Good Bye, Sweet Kirby...

Death reveals true birth date of Hall of Famer Puckett

By Adam Tanner

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - The death of Hall of Famer Kirby Puckett has brought to light his true age, which even the Minnesota Twins listed incorrectly his entire career.

When the 10-times All-Star outfielder died on Monday in Arizona after a stroke, many fans learned for the first time that Puckett was born in 1960, making him a year older than that given by his team and elsewhere throughout his career.

"We had it listed as 1961," said Molly Gallatin, who coordinates publications for the Twins, including the annual media guide with detailed information on players.

"We probably put it down the first year and never looked at it again. I don't know why it happened; it fooled me."

Puckett played his entire 12-year career with the Twins, who apparently learned of his correct age after the outfielder's retirement in 1996 and reported it in announcing his death.

The long-running error means baseball cards throughout Puckett's career contained the wrong information.

Officials at the Hall of Fame say they learned the true birth date of the star, who helped the Twins to two World Series in 1987 and 1991, about three years ago.

REPORTED WRONG

"When he was elected (in 2001) it was believed that he was born in 1961," said Jeff Idelson, vice president of the National Baseball Hall of Fame. "When I asked him about it he told me it had simply been reported wrong,"

"There was no ulterior motive."

Even the Hall of Fame had the age wrong on his website at the time of his death, although Idelson said their annual yearbook had recently shown the correct age.

Baseball historians say players have fudged their age throughout the sport's history.

Some foreign-born players have changed their age, baseball officials say. For example, Dominican Republic-born Alfonso Soriano was two years older than earlier reported.

New York Met Julio Franco, another Dominican who is the oldest active baseball player at the age of 47, has said that early in his career he altered his age to help improve his chances of landing a Major League job.

Even kids or their coaches have lied about their ages so they could qualify to play Little League baseball.

© Reuters 2006.