Front Page: 1987 Revisited: Twins Upset Tigers

[Parker Hageman]

“What an unlikely bunch of champions we’re looking at here.”

 

Those were the words NBC’s Bob Costas offered overlooking the on-field scrum of Minnesota Twins players as they pushed from the initial contact point near first base and moved as a horde toward second base across the historic Tiger Stadium infield.

 

Costas’ assessment couldn’t have been more accurate. Most experts believed the Twins would be vastly outgunned by baseball’s winningest team in Detroit. The Tigers had the ability to score runs, they had the starting rotation depth, and they had the experience, having just won the World Series in 1984. Most believed the contest would last five games and end in the Tigers favor, not Twins.Across the board, pundits anticipated a Detroit Tiger filled World Series. Washington Post’s Thomas Boswell picked the Tigers in five saying that “this series isn’t going to be worth watching unless the Twins can get a game ahead somehow.” In Detroit, Tom Gage of the Detroit News summarized the baseball world’s opinion on the Twins by saying “the Twins really aren’t a good team.” Tim Kurkjian with the Baltimore Sun wrote Tigers in five because “they’re simply the better team.”

 

So when closer Jeff Reardon speared the Matt Nokes comebacker and ran it toward the imposing Kent Hrbek before flipping him the ball and following his throw into his first baseman’s arms (before their teammates joined them in the infield, creating a mess of grey pinstriped jumping jubilation at the corner of Trumball and Michigan), the Twins had virtually done the near impossible.

 

They had outscored Detroit 34-23 and manhandled the Tigers’ vaunted pitching staff. A staff that included trade deadline acquisition Doyle Alexander, who went 9-0 with a 1.53 ERA in 11 regular season starts including two wins against the Twins. “The Twins did everything better than we did this series,” Alexander said after going 0-2 with a 10.00 ERA against them in the postseason. The Twins also roughed up Jack Morris at the Metrodome after he had gone 2-0 in his two regular season starts against Minnesota. While the Tigers bullpen pitched well, rookie stopper Mike Henneman got touched for six runs in five innings while issuing six walks.

 

For their part, Minnesota's pitchers kept Detroit’s big bats quiet throughout the series. Alan Trammell and Kirk Gibson were held silent, to Michigan’s dismay. “It’s obvious that I’ve stunk in this series,” said Gibson who finished 6-for-21 (.277) with 8 strikeouts. “I didn’t try to strike out, contrary to some people’s beliefs.”

 

“I wished we would have showed what kind of offensive team we were,” Trammell added.

 

The Tigers averaged the most runs per game, hit the most home runs, and held the highest slugging percentage of all American League teams -- it just wouldn’t show in the five-game series. "We were prepared for the series, mentally and physically," said Tigers centerfielder Chet Lemon. " We sent our guys out there. The Twins just outplayed us."

 

“They were overwhelming underdogs,” NBC’s Tony Kubek said in analyzing the Twins’ victory over the heavily favored Tigers, “but they put together a championship series, taking advantage of every mistake the Tigers made.”

 

No, fortunately for Minnesota fans, the overwhelming underdog was celebrating on the field that afternoon.

 

****

Moments later, the Twins were ushered into the creaky and leaky bowels of Tiger Stadium, where cameras and reporters followed the team’s alcohol-soaked celebration.

 

The questions from the media revolved around the team’s ability to prove doubters wrong. With each inquiry, a Twins player or coach responded that while outsiders may have not respected their capabilities, the team had every ounce of faith that they were good enough to play with the best.

 

Gary Gaetti, who was announced as the series’ MVP, was inundated with post-game interview requests. He was not entirely thrilled by the process.

 

“I’ll tell you the truth,” the Twins’ award-winning third baseman shared with the Star Tribune’s Dennis Brackin, “Winning this award spoils a lot of the fun that I wanted to have after the game. I got led around like a dog on a leash: ‘Go do this, go do that.’ I really wanted to be with my teammates. Even now, I can’t be with my team, doing what I want to do, because I have to answer the questions.”

 

It took almost an hour after the game for Gaetti to pull himself away from the media horde and join his teammates in the jubilation. In tow, Gaetti had the ALCS MVP award trophy, a bronze bowl that he used as a large chalice to consume the celebratory bubbly. When he finally spotted outfielder Tom Brunansky, Gaetti sidled up next to him and demanded his teammate pour some of the champagne into the trophy. Gaetti took a swig and then shared it with Brunansky.

 

“I thought it was still up in the air. I didn’t know a final decision had been made,” Gaetti said after finding out he was chosen by the writers for the honor. “I thought maybe they were going to grab Bruno, too. I felt pretty sad afterward because I really felt like he deserved it. Maybe they saw something that I didn’t.”

 

The decision to give the award to Gaetti had not been made easy by Brunansky. After all, Bruno matched The Rat’s home run total (2) but had driven in nine to Gaetti’s five and gone 7-for-17 (.412). Voters pointed to Gaetti’s intangibles that separated him from Brunansky which included starting the scoring off in Game 1 with a big blast off Alexander and -- the play that Tigers’ manager Sparky Anderson considered the most crushing of the series -- the pickoff of Darrell Evans in Game 4.

 

****

When you review why most writers favored Gaetti's candidacy over Brunansky, it was the pivotal Game 4 pickoff of Evans at third base that most consider as the difference-maker.

 

In the sixth inning of Game 4, the Twins were up 4-3 but the Tigers had just tacked on a run and had sacrificed the 40-year-old Evans to third base with one out and the top of the lineup due up. In that scenario, Baseball Prospectus’ Run Expectancy Chart said the Tigers were likely to score 0.94 runs -- almost a guaranteed tie game.

 

Tom Kelly had brought in his strikeout pitcher Juan Berenguer -- Senor Smoke, El Gasolino -- to dispatch Lou Whitaker and Alan Trammell. With Berenguer on the mound facing the left-handed Whitaker, inspiration struck Gaetti. There was an inherent risk that ran with trying to throw the ball down the line with ninety feet separating the Twins from a tied ballgame, a lot could go wrong including throwing the ball away that could result in Evans trotting home uncontested. But that’s the attitude the 1987 Twins brought with them: To hell with it, it’s just a game.

 

He gave Tim Laudner a signal that alerted his catcher to throw the ball down to third.

 

''Gary and I have a predetermined signal, and he put it on,'' Laudner said later. ''If he puts it on, I'm going to throw it down there.”

 

Once on the same page as his catcher, Gaetti then turned to third base umpire Joe Brinkman to be ready for a play. Gaetti added that he was having a “nice little conversation” with Evans right before putting the play on, lulling him into a false sense of security. “I gave Laudner the sign because I’ve seen Darrell off there a long way before. You’ve got to know your runners. He was about 20 feet off.”

 

Evans was no further off the base than Gaetti as runners are directed and as Berenguer delivered his pitch, he shuffled closer towards home for his secondary lead. Evans, however, was still moving in that direction when Laudner sprung up from his crouch, rescuing a fastball from a date with the dirt. It was only when Laudner cocked his arm that Evans’ weight slammed down hard on his right leg and he tried in vain to scramble back to the safety of the base.

 

Laudner’s throw was head-high and Gaetti, Evans and the ball reached the base at the same time. Gaetti snared the ball and in one motion slammed it on Evans’ back as he stretched for the bag. Brinkman raced in from his position on the third base line closer to the cut of the outfield grass. As he reached the scene, Brinkman gave an emphatic "out" signal.

 

http://i.imgur.com/HhNLYXU.gif

 

From his vantage point, you could certainly question whether Brinkman had the best angle to see the play. On his knees, the veteran Tiger pleaded his case and kept his hands on his hips to display his frustration. Without any replay, the argument fell on deaf ears but any argument was moot: NBC cameras situated along the third base line captured the play which showed Gaetti applying the tag with several inches to spare between Evans and third base.

 

After the game, Evans told reporters that he was completely caught off-guard by the play.

 

''I wanted to get a good jump on a ground ball or have a chance to score if the ball's in the dirt,'' Evans said in the Tigers clubhouse, trying to justify why he was so far off of third base. ''I kind of hesitated because the ball was almost in the dirt. I was trying to read it. That's why I didn't get back right away. I would have liked to have been back another foot. Then I would've gotten back. He had a little trouble catching the ball, but when he did, he came up throwing.''

 

Gaetti, no doubt a fierce competitor, had mixed emotions about the play considering Evans had been one of his heroes.

 

“[Evans] is a guy I have looked up to for a long time, so you hate to embarrass him,” Gaetti said. “But because I like him, I have watched him a lot in the past. He has a habit of wandering off the base. So we tipped off umpire Joe Brinkman so he would be ready and knew the play was coming. There is no doubt we got him and that play might have won the game for us.”

 

In spite of the baserunning blunder, Evans’ 1987 season was special and he was one of the reasons the Tigers had won the AL East. During the regular season, Evans became the first 40-year-old to hit 30 home runs in a year. But with the combination of the baserunning gaffe and a muffed ground ball at third that led to a Twins run, Detroit fans turned on Evans and booed him. That emotion would be short-lived, however, as fans gave Evans a standing ovation when he came the plate for his first at-bat in the deciding Game 5.

 

"I think it was well-deserved," Kirk Gibson said of the adulation. "Let's put it this way. A select few fans booed him last night. I don't expect it to happen to me when I swing at a bad pitch. I didn't expect it to happen to Darrell. It was a nice gesture."

 

****

The in-series decision-making by the Twins’ skipper would turn out to be critical, too.

 

Tom Kelly’s juggling of his rotation was met with at least some bit of resistance. For Game 5, Kelly opted to go with veteran Bert Blyleven on three days rest rather than Joe Niekro. Had it backfired and the Tigers come away with a win, Kelly would have been forced to use either Niekro or Les Straker in Game 6 and have Frank Viola as the insurance policy in the event of Game 7, rather than just set his rotation for a more conventional Blyleven/Viola combination for the series’ last two games.

 

Following the game, NBC’s Marv Albert pointed out that Kelly had been aggressive throughout the series. Kelly, in his always low-key manner with the media, agreed. “We try to be aggressive, we try to entertain the people, that’s one of our philosophies coming into spring training. We’re gonna try to take the game to them.”

 

One example of the team's aggressiveness came in the former of Randy Bush. Bush, a career platoon player who had just turned 29 days before Game 2, found himself feeling frisky on the bases. Up until this point in his career, the part-time outfield had swiped 19 bases in 28 tries in 641 games with the Twins. Of those 19 stolen bases, 10 of them came under Kelly's watch in 1987.

 

So when Bush laced a single to center in the bottom of the fourth, Kelly saw an opportunity to catch the Tigers sleeping.

 

Tigers' ace Jack Morris had a big leg kick and a darting split-finger that made it difficult for his catchers to handle and throw. As such, his battery mates were able to only nab 9 of the 40 runners. While the Tigers owned the league's third-lowest caught stealing rate (26 percent), Detroit's catcher that day, Mike Heath, had been very good at thwarting base larceny. Heath had caught 39 percent of would-be base-stealers, fourth-best in the American League that year.

 

On the first pitch to Brunansky, Morris barely comes set before going into his high leg kick. Bush bolted on first movement. Morris’ fastball runs in hard to his arm side and Heath almost picks it off of Brunansky’s back foot. To his credit, Heath fires a strike down to second but the big leg kick and pitch location gave Bush an advantage. His head first slide beats the play.

 

Now on second, with a 2-1 count to Brunansky, Bush surprises everybody by heading to third. While the steal of second was predetermined from the dugout, Bush said later that he had confidence that he could take third. Bush gave third base coach Rick Renick the signal alerting him that Bush felt he could take the base and waited for the green light, which he got on the 2-1 pitch.

 

Again, Morris’ delivery to the plate resulted in a ball running in on Brunansky. For a moment it appeared that Heath was going to receive the ball and throw in one motion behind Brunansky’s back but the Tigers catcher bobbled the ball in the exchange and that fraction of a second gave Bush the base.

 

How surprising was the move? “Well,” Kelly told reporters later, “[bush] very rarely gets to second base.”

 

The commotion rattled Morris. He would walk Brunansky and then Greg Gagne before striking out Launder. With the bases loaded and two out, Morris was especially careful when pitching to Dan Gladden. His darting and diving repertoire had resulted in 24 wild pitches in 1987, ten more than the next closest pitcher. After falling behind Gladden 2-0, Morris threw two fastballs for called strikes. The location of those strikes, had it happened today, would have prompt people on Twitter to screengrab the Statcast strike zone and snarkily demand robot umpires.

 

After fouling off several fastballs off the plate to stay alive, Morris finally hung Gladden a curveball that caught too much of the zone and Gladden happily pulled it through the 5.5 hole, scoring both Bush and Brunansky and giving the Twins a lead that would put Game 2 out of reach. The Minnesota Twins would take a 2 game lead into Tigers Stadium.

 

They certainly took the game to the Tigers. The veterans from the Motor City were outgunned by the young offensive upstarts from the Twin Cities. While the Tigers beat their opponents into submission by scoring 5.53 runs per game (roughly 13 percentage higher than the league’s average), the Twins scored 6.8 runs per game in the series.

 

Kelly’s 1987 squad was no slouch when it came to the long ball either -- they mashed 196 home runs, fifth in the league but 29 fewer than the AL East-winning Detroit club. Opponents pitched around many in the heart of the order but no one more than Hrbek. That year, teams opted to put Hrbek on first 12 times rather than tangling with him. Only Wade Boggs, George Brett and Don Mattingly garnered more respect that season. Still, Kelly knew what type of club he had, one that was built for power not for speed and had some weaknesses past the meat of the order. He would have the likes of Gagne, Lombardozzi and Newman sacrifice runners along to set up Puckett, Hrbek, Gaetti and Brunansky to drive them in.

 

"Tom Kelly is a manager who worked hard in the minor leagues and came forward and taught these players to go out and have fun and play," Tigers manager Sparky Anderson remarked about his managerial compatriot in the opposing dugout.

 

****

Following the game, Anderson complimented the Twins on their series, noting that they were the superior team over the course of those five games. Anderson also paused and gave a word of advice for the Twins’ next challenger: “And those Minnesota fans? Good luck to those two National League teams that have to go listen to that noise.”

 

Fans had been at the forefront for the entire season, helping in the team’s 56-25 home record. The fans were front and center during the ALCS, making racket, waving the white Homer Hankies and adding to the Tigers’ on-field confusion.

 

In addition to the noise, the white roof and lighting added to the lethal combination for visiting players. Don Baylor, whom the Twins acquired at the waiver deadline in August had plenty of experience playing in the stadium as a guest before calling it home. "The lighting here is something you never get accustomed to if you're a visiting player. You can always see a fluctuation of lighting. By the time you get over that feeling, you're down by two runs."

 

As the post-game celebration continued -- with the Twins’ roster and coaching staff dripping in champagne and cheap beer -- KARE11, the local NBC affiliate broadcasting the game, notified viewers that the team would host a welcoming party that night at the Metrodome. The gates would be opening at 9 PM.

 

It would be a homecoming that a generation of Minnesota Twins fans would never forget.

 

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[Seth Stohs]

I remember there was an afternoon game (can't remember which game it was). Our 7th grade football season was done, we had played our last game, but for some reason we had another practice. I was so mad that we would have a practice on that day. Fortunately, the practice wasn't too long.

 

I like the Joe Brinkman crow-hop call out of Evans at 3B. I think tipping him off to a play coming may have been a huge factor in getting a close out. 

[rghrbek]

I miss those pinstriped unis...like them better than our current away ones.

 

The Evans play is my favorite all time Twins' defensive play....I will never forget watching that.  Thanks Parker!

[horngary]

Please write that book! I'll buy a copy.

 

And regarding that "welcoming party"; I was there. It was one of the most intense emotional Twins-related experiences in my life. I get misty just thinking about it.

 

[HitInAPinch]

Absolutely fantastic story, Parker!  I think this is your best work!

 

The '87 Twins were the most fun team I've ever watched :-)

[bird]

The players on the teams from the second half of the 1960's are still my favorites, but 1987 was the most special season for me. Lived downtown at the time. My wife and I walked to and from the games with stops along the way before and after. And the welcome home celebration is thoroughly etched in our minds as among the best memories we share together.

[theBOMisthebomb]

I remember Gibson screaming F-bombs directly into the camera in the dugout and it not being censured. Didn't the player's wives bring whistles to Detroit and make a ruckus in the stands? Great memories, nothing will top the '87 and '91 championship runs. Maybe if the Vikings ever win the Super Bowl...

[notoriousgod71]

Ah, MSC!

[Parker Hageman]

Didn't the player's wives bring whistles to Detroit and make a ruckus in the stands?

 

 

Yup, the Twins' wives brought whistles to Detroit too. They encountered some flak from the fans that required some security intervention. 

[Devereaux]

Excellent read. Great to go back. In 1987 I was just back from the Peace Corps and living in near-poverty in the East Bay with my to-be wife. All the Twins games I saw that season were in the Coliseum. I had to listen to the ALCS on the radio, and, being in A's territory, I had to watch the WS quietly in bars.

[puckstopper1]

Yes the wonderful memories of Minnesota's first major sports championship since the Lakers left town.  The 1987 team showed a ton of resiliency throughout the season and the postseason.  I was really nervous when Sheridan hit that 2 run bomb in the 8th off of Reardon in game 3 to give the Tigers a comeback win and momentum.  I thought it might turn the series around for the Tigers, but the Twins came right back and took games 4 and 5 to the surprise of many.  Then the party at the Dome and an up, down, up series with the Cardinals.  I'll never forget that season.  It was truly special!  Thanks Parker!

Edited October 13, 2015 by puckstopper1

[Parker Hageman]

I like the Joe Brinkman crow-hop call out of Evans at 3B. I think tipping him off to a play coming may have been a huge factor in getting a close out.

 

 

The play right before that -- prior to bringing Berenguer into the game -- Steve Lombardozzi tried to catch Pat Sheridan napping on second with the hidden ball trick while Keith Atherton wandered around the mound. Sheridan didn't bite. 

 

After the pitching change, the Twins (Gaetti/Laudner) tried a different tactic. Very smart to alert Brinkman to that play. 

 

[BobAzar]

Absolutely write a book! 

ps include a CD with some Starship on it too.

[Doubles]

 

I remember there was an afternoon game (can't remember which game it was). Our 7th grade football season was done, we had played our last game, but for some reason we had another practice. I was so mad that we would have a practice on that day. Fortunately, the practice wasn't too long.

 

I like the Joe Brinkman crow-hop call out of Evans at 3B. I think tipping him off to a play coming may have been a huge factor in getting a close out. 

I believe you're thinking of the decisive Game 5.    I remember listening to that game on the radio at school that day.    I had a little Sony Walkman radio (remember those?).    I took one of the headphones off the headset.  Made sure to wear a long-sleeve shirt that day.    Radio in my pants pocket, shirt untucked.    I ran the cord from the headset up my shirt and down the sleeve of my left arm.    Held the earphone speaker in my left hand, and leaned my head on it.    Was able to listen to John Gordon and the legendary Herb Carneal call all the action right in class.    None of the other students, much less any teachers, figured out I was listening to the whole game.

 

Game 3 also may have been a day game.    That was when Pat Sheridan hit an eighth-inning two-run-dinger off Jeff Reardon to take a 7-6 lead the Tigers would hold onto for their only win in the series.   

 

Trivia time:   Name the pinch-runner that entered the game for Larry Herndon in the bottom of the 8th, who would go on to score ahead of Sheridan on his dinger?    This is a pretty easy one, actually...

[Doubles]

I also remember Bruno hitting a dinger I believe in the 9th inning of Game Five.    One of the highest homers I've ever seen.    Seemed to take forever to come down, and landed one or two rows back behind the left field fence if I recall correctly.    That was the moment when I was like, "Ooooooh, wow!    The Twins are going to the World Series!!!!  Yeah boyyyyyyyy!"

[Parker Hageman]

Trivia time: Name the pinch-runner that entered the game for Larry Herndon in the bottom of the 8th, who would go on to score ahead of Sheridan on his dinger?  This is a pretty easy one, actually...

 

 

I have been searching the archives for why he was asked to pinch hit. No quotes from Spark on that one. Interesting choice. 

[Parker Hageman]

Seemed to take forever to come down, and landed one or two rows back behind the left field fence if I recall correctly.

 

 

It was a lot closer than that.

 

http://i.imgur.com/iOP0Rkw.gif

[Doubles]

 

I have been searching the archives for why he was asked to pinch hit. No quotes from Spark on that one. Interesting choice. 

LH batting Dave Bergman started the game at DH against RH Les Straker.  In the bottom of the 3rd, TK replaced Straker with LH Dan Schatzeder.    Sparky went to RH Larry Herndon, who hit a two-run double off Schatzeder to stretch the Tigers lead to 5-0.

 

The Twins would score 2 runs in each of the 4th, 6th, and 7th innings, and what was a 5-0 Tigers lead evaporated into a 6-5 score in favor of the Twins.

 

Herndon lead off the bottom of the 8th against Reardon by lining a single to LF.    Now this may be where the question comes in:  Herndon was lifted for a pinch-runner.    I am wondering if Herndon may have had a bum ankle?    Anyways, who was inserted as the pinch-runner?    That is my easy-peasy trivia question. 

 

Tom Brookens foul-popped a bunt attempt that was caught by Hrbek.    Sheridan came up with one out and one on, and drilled a Reardon offering into the upper deck in RF at Tiger Stadium.    After staring down a possible 3 games to 0 deficit, the Tigers suddenly had life.    But it wouldn't last very long.   

Edited October 13, 2015 by Doubles

[Parker Hageman]

Anyways, who was inserted as the pinch-runner?   That is my easy-peasy trivia question.

 

 

Since no one knows/responding... It's Jack Morris. 

 

It finally occurred to me what happened: Detroit had used pinch hitter Larry Herndon for the DH Dave Bergman. By taking out Herndon, the Tigers would lose their DH for the remainder of the game. I suppose Sparky did not want to lose another potential bench player in the event the game went into extra innings.

[Doubles]

Herndon must have been dinged up, but I couldn't find anything on that.    That's the only explanation I can think of for pinch-running a pitcher for an OF with decent speed, which Herndon was.

[Parker Hageman]

 

Herndon must have been dinged up, but I couldn't find anything on that.    That's the only explanation I can think of for pinch-running a pitcher for an OF with decent speed, which Herndon was.

 

I haven't found anything that directly says Herndon was pulled because of injury but in January 1988, an article insinuated that Herndon was a "sore-legged" DH and "it remains to be seen if he can run well enough" to occasionally play OF. So he must have been in bad shape if he was not running well enough to be lifted for a pitcher and nobody addresses that fact in their gamer.

[Otto von Ballpark]

 

Since no one knows/responding... It's Jack Morris. 

 

It finally occurred to me what happened: Detroit had used pinch hitter Larry Herndon for the DH Dave Bergman. By taking out Herndon, the Tigers would lose their DH for the remainder of the game. I suppose Sparky did not want to lose another potential bench player in the event the game went into extra innings.

They would only lose the DH if they moved Herndon to a defensive position.  Grubb, Heath, Madlock, and Morrison would have still been on the bench when Morris pinch-ran.  Morris also had 2 pinch running appearances during the 1987 season, and 7 in 1983 and 8 in 1980!   But only one other pinch running appearance outside those 3 seasons that I can identify (1979) from B-Ref (although it wouldn't surprise me if those records weren't complete).

 

The Tigers did lose the DH late in Game 2 that series, with starting catcher Mike Heath being removed for pinch hitter Johnny Grubb, and DH Matt Nokes shifting to catcher in the 8th inning.  Interestingly, since no relief pitcher was used, starter Jack Morris was simply inserted into the lineup in Heath/Grubb's spot in the middle of the 8th inning (and did not wind up taking a turn at bat).

[Otto von Ballpark]

In regards to Sparky and the DH, I stumbled upon this at Wikipedia, referencing a game just before the Twins-Tigers series in 1987:

 

 

On September 26, 1987, Detroit Tigers designated hitter Darrell Evans moved to first base in the bottom of the seventh inning in a game against the Toronto Blue Jays, causing pitcher Mike Henneman to be inserted into the first baseman's spot in the batting order. Henneman batted for himself in the ninth, but struck out attempting to bunt. The Blue Jays scored three runs in the bottom of the ninth to win the game 10–9 in the midst of a pennant race, with Henneman taking the loss.

That was the last Toronto victory of the 1987 season.  It put the Tigers 3.5 games back with 8 to play -- and they wound up finishing in first, 2 games ahead, thanks to the Blue Jays 7 game losing streak!

[Parker Hageman]

They would only lose the DH if they moved Herndon to a defensive position.

 

 

So it must have been that Herndon's legs were so bad at that time that Sparky would remove him for Morris while saving his bench bats.

 

[IndianaTwin]

Evans pick off was a defining moment in my marriage. Married just over a year, my wife went to bed in our tiny mobile home in the middle of the eighth, saying "keep it down out there." When he got nabbed I instinctively leaped off the couch and let out a yell that probably woke the neighbors. I immediately raced to the bedroom and asked for forgiveness. I'm so lucky to have married her.

[Hosken Bombo Disco]

They would only lose the DH if they moved Herndon to a defensive position.  Grubb, Heath, Madlock, and Morrison would have still been on the bench when Morris pinch-ran.  Morris also had 2 pinch running appearances during the 1987 season, and 7 in 1983 and 8 in 1980!  .

Good catch.

 

That might actually be a good idea for the Twins, to find a starting pitcher willing to pinch run for a DH (for example, Sano's DH-ing with a bad hammy). Situation depending, of course. That way you don't commit a Nunez or Santana to PR then possibly meet a poor matchup later in game, causing you to lose an out to a poor match up, or lose the player to a pinch hitter.

[David HK]

 

Please write that book! I'll buy a copy.

 

And regarding that "welcoming party"; I was there. It was one of the most intense emotional Twins-related experiences in my life. I get misty just thinking about it.

Ahhh, yeah.... me too!  Hey!  I didn't see you there!!

 

Yes, it was a great trip down memory lane, this article-  big thanks to Parker.  It's kind of bittersweet this stuff all happened in the pre-digital age.  I don't know where I might have photos of that night anymore--  but on the other hand, there are a few select memories for which I'm glad there was no camera around!    

[Doomtints]

I strongly recommend that everyone watches Game 7 of the 87 World Series.  It's a great game.  it is available to watch on youtube and occasionally on mlb.com.  

 

During the game, the broadcasters kept putting up data on the screen to back up their repeated assertions that the Twins were going to lose.

 

The ace Frank Viola was pitching, but he had nothing.  He was out of gas and had poor control.  The position players figured this out early on and played the best defensive game of their careers.  Like Puckett said, "We just decided we weren't going to lose."

 

[Parker Hageman]

The ace Frank Viola was pitching, but he had nothing.  He was out of gas and had poor control.

 

 

Was this pre-game talk? Because watching not long ago, it seems that Al Michaels and Tim McCarver were enamored by his performance in Game 7. He did get smacked around in Game 4 in St. Louis pretty good so maybe there was some residual effect from that.

 

https://twitter.com/ParkerHageman/status/774816309536182272

 

[Doomtints]

 

Was this pre-game talk? Because watching not long ago, it seems that Al Michaels and Tim McCarver were enamored by his performance in Game 7. He did get smacked around in Game 4 in St. Louis pretty good so maybe there was some residual effect from that.

 

No, that's my interpretation from watching the game a couple of months ago.

 

Viola let 2 runs go in the 2nd inning and after that the Cardinals were shut out.  But watch the game instead of listening to the announcers -- that was a defensive stop and not Viola being dominant.  When I re-watched the game for the first time I was truly impressed by the defense on that team.

 

I don't want to digress this topic too much.  We can carry on this conversation elsewhere.