APBA friend Kevin Burghardt is doing a “franchise’s best 30 men from 1982-1986” project and posted this 1986 Kirby Puckett card on Facebook along with his update.
I really like his concept of an APBA project, by the way. Great idea!
1986 Kirby Puckett
- .328/.366/.537
- 31 HR
- 119 runs, 96 rbis
Puckett scored a career high 119 runs for his Minnesota Twins in 1986. His 31 homers were also a high for his tenure in the MLB. Not surprisingly, he hit for average as well. He batted .328 thanks to his 223 hits in 1986 one of five years he collected 200 or more safeties.
In 161 games, Puck had a .537 slugging percentage and .366 OBP. Speedy Kirby Puckett stole 20 bases.
For his efforts, Puckett got an All-Star nod, a Gold Glove nomination and was awarded a Silver Slugger award.
| Split | G | GS | PA | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | SB | BB | SO | BA | OBP | SLG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1986 Totals | 161 | 157 | 723 | 680 | 119 | 223 | 37 | 6 | 31 | 96 | 20 | 34 | 99 | .328 | .366 | .537 |
I posted the original 1986 Kirby Puckett card three years ago. It looks drastically different than this one. The power seems to be downgraded a tad. This card has double columns (1-0-0-0) with a decent second column. Compare that to the original card which has juicy power numbers 1-4-5-5.
Puck has a 44-7 and 55-7, of course. With 20 steals, he is also awarded a 15-11. He did not walk a lot (34 BB in 723 PA) so Twins fans will have to put up with a 13-40.
Puckett fans will not be surprised to see that he is rated as a fast baserunner and a OF-3 defensively.
Puck’s stuff
- Kirby has two 24s on this card. He had one on the original.
- On the reprint, we see Puckett’s Master Game symbols. He’s got some high ratings. His speed is F19 and his arm is 36.
- One of the best things about 1986 Kirby Puckett (actually most of his career) is that he could play almost every game. A realistic replayer’s dream!
Thanks Kevin! Good luck with the project!
And he received a new birthday in exchange for 22 pounds!
It’s not “the MLB.”