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The best ever? Remembering the Twins-Braves WS 25 years later
The Minnesota Twins defeated the Atlanta Braves in seven games to win the 1991 World Series. MLB Photos/Getty Images

The best ever? Remembering the Twins-Braves WS 25 years later

With the MLB Championship Series in full swing and the 2016 World Series set to embark next week, it brings to mind what happened 25 years ago. If you recall, that's when the Minnesota Twins and Atlanta Braves took part in one of the most memorable series in baseball history.

In fact, the 1991 World Series is arguably the greatest World Series of all time and certainly of my generation (all apologies to the 1975 Fall Classic). Like most great World Series, it went the full seven games and had the added sweetener of that Game 7 being one of the greatest games in Series history. There were five games that were won by just a run and three games going into extra innings, including Games 6 and 7, and four walk-off wins.

Those stats alone could make for a great Series, but when you figure how these two teams got here, you're even more amazed.

For starters, prior to the 1991 season, the Atlanta Braves stunk. They were three years removed from a 54-106 season and lost 97 games in both 1989 and 1990. I know it very well since my uncle, Russ Nixon, was manager of those teams. However, guys like Tom Glavine, John Smoltz, David Justice, Ron Gant, Steve Avery and Jeff Blauser did give this struggling franchise a solid foundation on which to build. Throw in the addition of Bobby Cox in the dugout, who replaced Nixon midseason in 1990 and would stay on the job for another 20 years, and the Braves were destined to turn things around. It began in the offseason when the Braves brought in Terry Pendleton, Sid Bream and Falcons cornerback Deion Sanders.

However, not even the most optimistic of fans could predict just how quickly this team would turn things around. Who knew that at team that finished in last place place in four of the previous five seasons would win the NL West and begin a string of 14 consecutive division titles? And that Pendleton would become the NL MVP in 1991 and Glavine would win his first Cy Young Award? Virtually no one, I'd venture to say.

Atlanta, which hadn't had much success in professional sports, went wild. Fans who had nothing to do with the team for years suddenly showed back up. The Braves spent a full seven games beating Barry Bonds and the Pirates in the NLCS, winning Games 6 and 7 at Pittsburgh's Three Rivers Stadium.

The Minnesota Twins were no strangers to this. Seven players on that team were on the 1987 Twins squad that beat the St. Louis Cardinals for the championship. The Twins, however, were regressing as an organization and had finished the 1990 season in last place in the AL West with a 74-88 mark. They had made some moves in the offseason, bringing in Chili Davis, Mike Pagliarulo and signing Jack Morris. They also had this young second baseman, Chuck Knoblauch, who was entering his rookie season.

The Twins used a 15-game winning streak at midseason to surge to first place and never relinquished the top spot, besting a team that had owned the division. Minnesota's 1991 division championship was the lone time the Oakland Athletics didn't win the AL West from 1988 to 1992, and it ended the A's three-year run of World Series appearances. The Twins also beat the Blue Jays, a team that would go on to win the 1992 and 1993 World Series, in the ALCS.

Oh, and one last thing about my uncle Russ Nixon — he spent the 1991 season as the manager of the Twins' AAA team in Portland, making for another connection between the teams.

With both teams rebounding from difficult season in 1990, the Twins and Braves plowed through the competition and readied themselves for battle in the '91 World Series.

Game 1
The opener wasn't the most notable of games, especially in this particularly series. It did have two former World Series champions as the starting pitchers, as Jack Morris (1984 Tigers) and Charlie Leibrandt (1985 Royals) faced off. Before that, the ceremonial first pitch was made by umpire Steve Palermo, who was forced into retirement after being shot while trying to break up a robbery three months earlier. The Twins took control of this one on a Greg Gagne three-run home run in the fifth inning and cruised to a 5-2 victory.

Game 2
Back in Minneapolis, the Twins got to Glavine early with a Chili Davis two-run shot in the first inning. After scoring a run in the second inning, the Braves had one of their first bad breaks in the third. Ron Gant, caught with a wide turn off first, seemingly got back to the base safely when Kent Hrbek picked up Gant's leg off the base, and he was called out (the Twins even had a bobblehead of the incident to celebrate the 20th anniversary season in 2011).

Both Glavine and Twins starter Kevin Tapani pitched to the eighth inning in a 2-2 tie. In the bottom of the eighth, third baseman Scott Leius smacked Glavine's first pitch over the left field wall for the winning run ... Leius' lone career postseason home run. The Twins won 3-2 and headed to Atlanta with a 2-0 series lead.



Game 3
The first World Series game in the South, Atlanta was rocking for this one. Atlanta started the red-hot Steve Avery, the NLCS MVP, to try to save the series. And just like Game 2, the Twins got off to a quick start by scoring a run due to a defensive gaffe by the Braves that allowed a pop-up to drop. However, the Braves seemingly took control of the game with a 4-1 lead in the fifth inning, but looks can be deceiving. A Kirby Puckett home run in the seventh followed by a Chili Davis two-run homer in the eighth tied the game.

That's when the game took on a weird twist, as the Twins became the team performing the gaffes. Remember, there was no interleague play back then, and Twins manager Tom Kelly had only dealt with National League rules in the 1987 World Series (note that the Twins lost all three games in St. Louis that year). Because of Kelly's managing of his roster, relief pitcher Rick Aguilera ended up pinch hitting with the bases loaded and two out in the top of the 12th. Aguilera flied out and ended the threat.

In the bottom of the 12th, the legend of Mark Lemke was born. Lemke, with Justice on second and two out, blooped a single into left field, and Justice beat the throw home, giving this World Series the first of three extra-inning games and first of four walk-off hits. The Braves hopped right back in the series, 2-1.

Game 4
Jack Morris and John Smoltz faced off in this one (they'll see each other again). For the fourth straight time, the Twins scored first with a Mike Pagliarulo double scoring Brian Harper in the second inning. Three solo home runs — Pagliarulo hit one for the Twins, with Pendleton and Lonnie Smith hitting them for the Braves — made for a tie game heading into the ninth inning.

Lemke tripled to give the Braves a runner on third with one out. Of all people, Jerry Willard stepped up to the plate for the Braves and hit a fly ball to right field. Right fielder Shane Mack caught the ball and delivered a strike to home, beating Lemke. However, Lemke slid around the tag attempt from Harper and scored the game-winning run. Harper slammed his helmet on the ground and got into home plate umpire Terry Tata's face. Tata's call was the correct one, and for the second straight night, Lemke's big play won a World Series game for the Braves, series tied 2-2.



Game 5
This game was unlike any other game in this series. First off, it was the only game in the series in which the Braves scored first. With the last three games decided by just one run, no one expected a blowout. But that's what we got, especially after the sixth inning. The Braves, with a 5-3 lead, exploded for six runs in the bottom of the seventh and tacked on three in the eighth. With the 14-5 drubbing, the Braves had their first series lead, winning three straight games and primed to bring Atlanta its first major pro sports championship.

Game 6
The Twins, facing elimination, jumped on the Braves yet again with a two-run first inning keyed by a Puckett triple. Ah, Kirby Puckett. If there was one game we all remember Kirby Puckett for, it is this one. In the top of the third, Ron Gant hit a booming shot to left-center field, and Puckett tracked it down for one of the best catches in World Series history. The 5'8" Puckett jumped up and caught the ball just before it hit the plexiglass wall and fired a throw to first base that nearly doubled up Pendleton.

Puckett couldn't catch Pendleton's two-run shot in the fifth inning, however, and the game was tied. A Puckett sacrifice fly in the bottom of the fifth followed by Mark Lemke scoring on a fielder's choice in the seventh locked the game at 3-3.

In the bottom of the 11th, the Braves brought Game 1 starter Charlie Leibrandt in to pitch to Kirby Puckett, who was leading off. Puckett had already drove in two runs and scored the other run. On a 2-1 count, he launched a shot to left-center field that eked over the same plexiglass Puckett made a spectacular catch against. Jack Buck's television call of "and we'll see you tomorrow night" was perfect.

Outside of the Twins' current stadium, Target Field, there is a statue commemorating Puckett's home run. The statue is of Puckett with his fist in the air as he's rounding second base, and it sits outside Gate 34.



Game 7
This was the first Game 7 in the World Series since 1987, when the Twins won their only previous title by beating the Cardinals in the Metrodome. To that point, the Twins had won all seven World Series games played there, including the three played in this series.

As if they were two fighters touching gloves as they valiantly get to final round, Game 7 started with the Braves leadoff hitter Lonnie Smith shaking hands with Twins catcher Brian Harper as he dug in for the game's first at-bat.

While the previous two games were known for their offensive heroics, Game 7 was known simply for the pitching performances. Jack Morris vs. John Smoltz. Morris was the experienced, cagey vet while Smoltz was just beginning his Hall of Fame career.  They certainly didn't disappoint. As we all know, Morris pitched 10 scoreless innings in this one, going the distance in one of the greatest Game 7s in one of the greatest World Series. Smoltz was also up to the task, pitching 7 1/3 scoreless innings before being replaced in the bottom of the eighth.

That doesn't mean either pitcher was perfect. There were threats, including a few innings ending with a man stranded on third. There were a total of 17 hits in this game, despite no one being able to push a run across the plate. And of course, there was the top of the eighth inning.

Atlanta outfielder Lonnie Smith was on first with no one out. On a hit-and-run, Terry Pendleton laced a double to left-center field. Smith was fooled when the middle infielders faked a throw to second base, causing Smith to pause for a few seconds at second, resulting in Smith only ending up at third base. Clearly, Smith would have scored on the play had he picked up what happened to the ball and not paid attention to Knoblauch or Gagne. It was a huge gaffe that possibly cost the Braves the championship.

Still, there were runners on second and third with no outs. Gant grounded out to Hrbek at first, and the runners couldn't advance. After intentionally walking David Justice, Sid Bream lined a hard ground ball to Hrbek at first, who threw Smith out at home to start a double play, as catcher Harper threw back to Hrbek to get Bream out for a double play that ended the threat.

In the bottom of the eighth, the Twins had a similar rally. With the bases loaded and one out, the Braves got Kent Hrbek to hit a soft liner to Mark Lemke, who stepped on second base to double up Knoblauch to end Minnesota's threat. The Twins threatened again in the ninth, but a key double play and a strikeout ended the inning.

Morris seemingly got stronger as the game went along, despite manager Tom Kelly's nervousness to keep him out there over the last three innings. Morris kept convincing his skipper to leave him in there, and he retired all six batters he faced in the ninth and 10th innings. In the bottom of the 10th, Dan Gladden blooped a single into left-center field that he somehow hustled into a double. Knoblauch sacrificed Gladden to third, and intentional walks were given to Puckett and Hrbek.  With the bases loaded and one out pinch hitter Gene Larkin stepped to the plate:



Larkin swung at the first pitch he saw and hit it over the drawn-in left fielder, scoring Gladden and winning the 1991 World Series for the Twins. The 1-0 score was the first in a World Series Game 7 since 1962 when the Yankees beat the Giants and the first time a Game 7 ended in extra frames since 1924.

This is one of the rare series where you knew it was great in the moment, and now, 25 years later, it feels just as great looking back. Both teams were fairly small-market teams with homegrown talent (and a few free agent stars like Morris and Pendleton) who played at their best on the biggest stage.

It is interesting since, despite winning two titles in five years, it would be the last appearance for the Twins in the World Series. For the Braves, it would be the start of those 14 consecutive division titles (spanning the NL West and East), five World Series appearances and the championship in 1995. We've had five World Series Game 7s since 1991, including another extra-inning walk-off between the Florida Marlins and Cleveland Indians in 1997. There has been Joe Carter's home run, Mariano Rivera's Game 7 blown save and the Red Sox ending the curse. The 1991 World Series had all of that in one nine-day stretch.

As a 16-year-old youngster in Charlotte, I spent that entire series up past my bedtime and had some groggy school mornings. Still, it is the most memorable World Series of all in my life, some 25 years later.
Can you name every Minnesota Twins player to start a game in center field since Kirby Puckett?
SCORE:
0/41
TIME:
10:00
1996-1997
Rich Becker
1996
Roberto Kelly
1996-2000
Matt Lawton
1997-1999
Chris Latham
1997
Darrin Jackson
1997-2003
Denny Hocking
1998
Otis Nixon
1998-2007
Torri Hunter
1998
Alex Ochoa
1999-2005
Jacque Jones
2000
John Barnes
2001-2003
Bobby Kielty
2001
Quinton McCracken
2002-2003
Dustan Mohr
2003-2006
Lew Ford
2004-2006
Nick Punto
2004
Mike Ryan
2006-2007
Jason Tyner
2008-2009
Carlos Gomez
2008-2012
Denard Span
2008
Craig Monroe
2008-2010
Michael Cuddyer
2010-2011
Jason Repko
2010-2012
Ben Revere
2011
Joe Benson
2012
Erik Komatsu
2012-2016
Darin Mastroianni
2013-2015
Aaron Hicks
2013
Wilkin Ramirez
2013
Clete Thomas
2013
Alex Presley
2014
Sam Fuld
2014
Eduardo Escobar
2014-2016
Danny Santana
2014
Chris Parmelee
2014-2015
Jordan Schafer
2015
Shane Robinson
2015-2016
Byron Buxton
2015-2016
Eddie Rosario
2016
Max Kepler
2016
Logan Schafer

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