Guardado, Lawton reflect on Puckett

03/07/2006
PEORIA, Ariz. -- Eddie Guardado and Matt Lawton are with the Mariners now, but they began their careers as Minnesota Twins and were both befriended and influenced by Kirby Puckett.
Puckett, the Hall of Fame Twins outfielder, passed away Monday at the age of 45 after suffering a stroke in nearby Scottsdale, and he was still on the minds of Guardado and Lawton on Tuesday morning.
Guardado, who came up in the Twins organization and played with Puckett from 1993-1995, said he went to the hospital Sunday as soon as he heard about the stroke and passed a message along to Puckett through Clayton Wilson, the Twins' longtime clubhouse man and one of Puckett's best friends.
"I told Clayton to tell Kirby that I loved him and that he taught me a lot about life, and Clayton told him, so that was special," Guardado said.
"It's really sad. It's a great person we lost. They always take the good ones quick."
Guardado has enjoyed a long career and has blossomed into one of the game's most reliable closers and a positive clubhouse presence. He said Tuesday he owes it all to Puckett's constant optimism and perspective.
"He always used to say, 'In this game, thing things you can't control, don't worry about them,'" Guardado said.
"I try to pass it on now. That's what I do and that's what I stress to these guys in here. ... This guy was my idol in the game."
Guardado said he will attend Puckett's funeral and will honor his late teammate and friend by writing "K.P. 34" underneath his cap this season.
"He's always going to be remembered in my heart," Guardado said. "He's going to be with me forever."
"Clayton said he's probably smiling at us right now. I said, 'You ain't lyin', brother.'"
Meanwhile, Lawton had his own memories of Puckett, who took a young Lawton under his wing when Lawton was still in Minor League camp in the early 1990s.
Lawton said Puckett would drive him around to do errands and take him shopping and that, "I felt like I was in the car with Dad or something."
Lawton added that Puckett was a superstar without an elitist superstar attitude.
"I would carry his bags because I wanted to," Lawton said. "He would never ask me to, so I carried his bags just because."
The two were connected by more than their friendship, too. On Sept. 28, 1995, Puckett was hit in the face with a pitch by Dennis Martinez. Lawton hit his first career home run off Martinez in the same game. On Opening Day of that season, Lawton, then the starting right fielder, got two hits.
"When he got glaucoma, on Opening Day, he was yelling, 'Man, this guy's gonna take my position,'" Lawton recalled. "'He's gonna Wally Pipp me.'"
"He always had a smile on his face and he played the game the right way," Lawton added.
"It was just great to get a chance to play with him. I have nothing but good memories."

Source: http://seattle.mariners.mlb.com/