Puckett was born in Chicago, Illinois, and raised in Robert Taylor Homes, a housing project on Chicago's South Side (the escape from which he frequently referred back to during his career). He attended and played baseball for Calumet High School (Chicago). After receiving no scholarship offers following graduation, Puckett at first went to work on an assembly line for Ford Motor Company. However, he was given a chance to attend Bradley University and after one year transferred to Triton College.

In 1987, the Twins reached the post-season for the first time since 1970 despite finishing with a mark of 85-77 (a mark that would have put them 4 games behind fourth place New York in the American League East). Once there, Puckett helped lead the Twins to the 1987 World Series, the Twins' second series appearance since relocating to Minnesota and fifth in franchise history. For the season, Puckett batted .332 with 28 home runs and 99 RBI Although he hit only .208 in the Twins' five game AL Championship Series win over the Detroit Tigers, Puckett would produce in the seven-game World Series upset over the St. Louis Cardinals, where he batted .357.  During the year, Puckett put on his best performance on August 30 in Milwaukee against the Brewers, when he went 6-for-6 with two home runs, one off Juan Nieves in the third and the other off closer Dan Plesac in the ninth.  Statistically speaking, Puckett had his best all around season in 1988, hitting .356 with 24 home runs and 121 RBI, finishing third in the AL MVP balloting for the second straight season. Although the Twins won 91 games, six more than in their championship season, the team would finish a distant second in the American League West, 13 games behind the Oakland Athletics.  Puckett won the AL batting title in 1989 with a mark of .339, while also finishing fifth in at bats, second in doubles, first in hits, and second in singles. The Twins, two years removed from the championship season, slumped further, going 80-82 and ended in fifth place, 19 games behind the Athletics. In April 1989, he recorded his 1,000th hit, becoming the fourth player in Major League Baseball history to do so in his first five seasons. He continued to play well in 1990, but had a down season, finishing with a .298 batting average, and the Twins mirrored his performance as the team slipped all the way to last place in the AL West with a record of 74-88.

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