Puckett (b. 1960 - d. 2006) played in the majors from 1984 to 1995 for the Minnesota Twins. Beloved all throughout baseball and especially Minnesota, Puckett was one of my favorite players growing up. It was a shame to hear about some of the trouble he had gotten into toward the end of his life. Also, it was one of the saddest days that I remember when I heard that he had a stroke. It was just a terrible end to such a beloved player.
He played only 12 seasons in the majors before his career ended after he lost vision in his right eye. He had 2,304 career hits, 207 home runs and a .318 lifetime batting average. He was the 1989 AL batting champion. He won the World Series with the Twins in 1987 and 1991. He hit over 200 hits in five of the twelve seasons in which he played. His number 34 was retired by the Twins in 1997 and he was elected to the Hall of Fame in 2001 with 82.1% of the vote (his first year of eligibility).
Puckett is my 83rd Hall of Famer. The ball was one of the Historic Autographs Ball of Fame offerings and is PSA/DNA graded and authenticate. It has an autograph grade of 7, ball grade of 6 and an overall grade of 6.5.
I really don't get the grading of autographs. Each one is unique so how would you have a standard on what to grade it by? I honestly don't see what the flaw is that would make the 'graph on this ball be a "7". It looks no different than any of the other auto'd balls you have. I guess since everybody just has to have a "10" it turned some people away. Maybe since it was a "7" you got a discount, which means you saved some coin! If I know you like I think I do, just having the auto'd ball is what matters, and the heck with what the grade is!
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