TODAY IN BASEBALL HISTORY

There is so much to cover today. The Royals and Angels will play their first World Series. The Red Sox break the curse of the Bambino. The Mets won the World Series in '86, and Joe Niekro, whom I spent a week with two weeks earlier, died at 61.

That is one reason we are moving the Newsletter soon and offering fans a segmented newsletter for their favorite teams. This one will continue as well, but you may really enjoy the segments. It's coming in a week or two!

The World Series frankly has been a shock. I am very excited for the Brewers and their fan base, who will be rewarded with a World Series win, the first for Milwaukee since 1958, when Lew Burdette won 3 games against the Yankees. The Brewers have played nearly flawless baseball and made the Rays pay for every mistake. I would not expect the series to go back to Milwaukee at this point.

I am going with what I consider one the greatest games I ever watched.

October 27, 1991 The Minnesota Twins and Atlanta Braves had already given us six terrific games. Four of them were decided in a team’s last at-bat, two went extra innings. Then Game 7 at the Metrodome topped all of it.

Jack Morris took the ball for Minnesota. It was his third start of the Series. Atlanta countered with a young John Smoltz. For seven innings, nobody scored.

The Braves came close in the fifth. Lonnie Smith reached on a bunt when Mike Pagliarulo’s rushed throw pulled Kent Hrbek off the bag, which put a runner on third with one out. Morris got Terry Pendleton to pop up. Then a splitter in the dirt to Ron Gant got away from Brian Harper. Morris charged off the mound, grabbed it and fired to third, nearly catching Mark Lemke. He fanned Gant on a full count to end it.

Then came the eighth, one of the wildest innings in World Series history.

Smith singled to lead off. Pendleton got a second life when a foul tip was ruled to have hit the dirt, and on the next pitch he drove one into the left-center gap. Smith was running on the pitch and should have scored easily. But he lost track of the ball, and Chuck Knoblauch and Greg Gagne made it worse by faking a double play at second. Smith pulled up, waited until he saw where the ball was, and had to stop at third. Second and third, nobody out.

Morris said later he was never worried. “I never had a negative thought,” he said.

He got Gant on a weak grounder to first. The Twins walked David Justice, and Sid Bream hit into a 3-2-3 double play. Still 0-0.

The Twins loaded it up in their half, and Hrbek lined a ball toward second that looked like trouble. Lemke snagged it backhanded and stepped on the bag for another double play. Two teams, two big threats, two double plays, zero runs.

Morris breezed through the ninth on eight pitches. In the bottom half, Minnesota got two on with nobody out against Alejandro Pena and came up empty again.

Here’s the part I love. Tom Kelly figured Morris was done after nine. Morris told him he wasn’t. Kelly changed his mind, and Morris went back out and set down the Braves in the tenth on eight more pitches.

Bottom of the tenth. Dan Gladden broke his bat but dumped a ball into left and hustled into second. Knoblauch bunted him to third. Atlanta walked Kirby Puckett and Hrbek to load the bases and brought the whole defense in. Gene Larkin pinch hit.

Larkin had been paying attention. He’d noticed Pena liked to start hitters with a fastball. He got it, up and away, and lifted it over Brian Hunter’s head in left. Larkin threw his arm up right away. Gladden jogged home, and the Twins were champions.

Final score 1-0. Ten innings. Morris went the distance.

Thirty-five years later, it’s still the standard every Game 7 gets measured against.

Hear it for yourself. Game 7 is part of our Twins Greatest Games collection, along with some of the best moments in franchise history. Members can listen anytime at classicbaseballbroadcasts.com.

Want the full story? This was adapted from SABR’s Games Project write-up on the game, which is well worth your time: October 27, 1991: Jack Morris goes the distance

Click to listen!

Todays Podcast

Brought to you by: This Day In Baseball

This day in baseball has a deeper dive into every event from October 27

October 27, 1948 — Commissioner Happy Chandler orders free agency for ten Detroit minor leaguers for the club’s cover-up of their contracts. One of the players who will make the major leagues is Bill Serena, with a six-year career.

October 27, 1968 Future Hall of Famer Bob Gibson of the St. Louis Cardinals wins his first Cy Young Award. Gibson is a unanimous choice after dominating hitters with a 22-9 record and an ERA of 1.12 during the “Year of the Pitcher.”

October 27, 1980 — Ralph Houk, who managed the Yankees and Tigers for 16 years before retiring in 1978, is named manager of the Boston Red Sox.

October 27, 1985 — The Kansas City Royals become only the sixth team in major league history to rally from a three-games-to-one deficit to win the World Series. Bret Saberhagen pitches a five-hit, 11 – 0 shutout over the St. Louis Cardinals in Game 7 and is named Series MVP.

October 27, 1986 — At Shea Stadium, the New York Mets, with another dramatic comeback, defeat the Boston Red Sox, 8-5 to win Game 7 of the Fall Classic to become World Champions for the second time in the 25-year history of the franchise. Third baseman Ray Knight, who is named the Fall Classic’s MVP, makes amends for an earlier error by hitting a home run which puts the Mets ahead for good in the seventh inning.

October 27, 1989 — After a ten-day delay due to the Loma Prieta earthquake, the World Series resumes with the A’s beating the Giants in Game 3, 13-7 behind two home runs by Dave Henderson, in a game that features a then-record seven long balls. Oakland joins the 1928 Yankees as only the second team in major league history to hit five home runs in a Fall Classic contest.

October 27, 1998 – President Bill Clinton signs a bill overturning part of baseball’s 76-year-old antitrust exemption, putting baseball on par with other professional sports on labor matters. The new law overrides part of a 1922 United States Supreme Court ruling that exempted baseball from antitrust laws on grounds that it was not interstate commerce.

That exemption deprived baseball players of protections enjoyed by other professional athletes and that the players’ association blamed for contributing to baseball’s eight work stoppages since 1972, including the disastrous 232-day strike in 1994-1995.

October 27, 1999 – Roger Clemens pitches the New York Yankees to their second straight World Series sweep, shutting down the Atlanta Braves, 4 – 1, and ending his quest for the one and only prize that eluded him: a world championship. The Yankees win their record 25th championship – and third in four years. Game 4 marks New York’s 12th Series victory a row, matching a team mark. Mariano Rivera gets his second save and is named Series MVP. Atlanta joins the New York Giants (1910-1919) as the only teams to lose four World Series in a decade.

October 27, 2002 – In the team’s 42nd season, the Angels finally win a World Series title by beating the Giants, 4 – 1, in Game 7 at Edison Field. Garret Anderson’s three-run double provides enough offense for pitcher John Lackey to become the first rookie to win a seventh game since 1909 when Babe Adams accomplished the feat for the Pirates. Troy Glaus is named Series MVP.

October 27, 2004 — Under the moon’s reddish tint caused by a lunar eclipse, the Red Sox exorcised 86 years of agonizing losses by winning their first World Series since 1918. In one of the most dominating Fall Classic performances, Boston, who never trailed during the four games, blanks the Cardinals, 3-0, to complete the sweep. Johnny Damon hits a home run on the fourth pitch of the game, pitcher Derek Lowe makes it stand up

Manny Ramirez, who batted .412 (7 for 17) with a home run and four RBIs, is named Boston’s first World Series MVP. After, being down 0-3 to the Yankees in the ALCS the Red Sox won 8 straight games to capture the 2004 World Series Title.

October 27, 2006, At the new Busch Stadium the St Louis Cardinals beat the heavily favored Detroit Tigers, 4-2, in Game 5 of the Fall Classic to win their first world championship since 1982. the St. Louis Cardinals became the first team to win as few as 83 games to win the World Series. The Cardinals posted a losing record after the All-Star break and lost 10 of their last 14 regular-season games, clung to their NL Central lead and winning their 10th title, won fewer games than any World Series champion in baseball history. Shortstop David Eckstein was named World Series Most Valuable Player.

October 27, 2006, former major league pitcher Joe Niekro, the younger brother of Hall of Fame hurler Phil Niekro, died on Florida from an aneurysm in Tampa, FL at age 61.

Joe won 221 games in his 22-year career, pitching for the Cubs, Padres, Tigers, Braves, Astros, Yankees, and Twins, He and Phil hold the record for most combined sins by brothers, with 539. He threw in Houston for 11 seasons (1975-1985). At the time of his passing, he was the franchise leader in wins with 144.

October 27, 2011 — Down to their last strike twice, the Cardinals come back from two-run deficits in both the 9th and 10th innings to defeat the Rangers, 10 – 9, and force a Game 7 in the World Series for the first time since 2002. David Freese ends the thrilling game with a walk-off home run off Mark Lowe in the 11th inning.

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