The Braves' starter is John Smoltz, a Michigan native who considered Morris his idol. Although just 24 years old, he would be the ace in most team's starting rotations. Not on the Braves, though: They already had Tom Glavine, and would get Greg Maddux in 1993.
In 1990, both of these teams had finished in last place in their Divisions, the Twins in the American League Western, and the Braves in the National League Western. But the Twins had improved by an amazing 21 wins in 1991, the Braves by a whopping 29.
Even more impressive in these teams' "Worst to First" runs: The Twins were 29 games out of 1st place in '90, and won the AL West by 8 games over the Chicago White Sox in '91, a 38-game jump; the Braves were 26 back in the NL West in '90, but beat the Los Angeles Dodgers out by 1 game in '91, a 27-game jump.
In 1987, the Twins had won the World Series by winning all 4 games at the Metrodome, while losing all 3 at Busch Memorial Stadium, the home of the St. Louis Cardinals. For the 1st 6 games, history had repeated itself. Except this was a better Series, one of the best of all time even before Game 7 got underway:
* Game 1 at the Metrodome: Twins 5, Braves 2. It was the Braves' 1st World Series game since 1958, having moved from Milwaukee to Atlanta in 1966. Morris started and won for the Twins and manager Tom Kelly. Charlie Liebrandt, a veteran of the 1985 World Champion Kansas City Royals, was the only Brave starting pitcher to have World Series experience, so manager Bobby Cox started him, but he lost.
* Game 2 in Minneapolis: Glavine and the Twins' Kevin Tapani, like Twins reliever Rick Aguilera a veteran of the 1986 World Champion New York Mets, both went 8 innings. Light-hitting Scott Leius hit a home run in the bottom of the 8th to give the Twins a 3-2 lead.
* Game 3 at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium, the 1st World Series game ever played in a State that had seceded from the Union for the Civil War: Scott Erickson, who had gone 20-8 at age 23, started for the Twins, against Steve Avery, at 21 the youngest player in the major leagues, but had gone 18-8. The Braves led 4-1 after 6 innings, but the Twins came back to send the game to extra innings. In the bottom of the 12th, Mark Lemke singled home the winning run, giving the Braves a 5-4 win.
* Game 4 in Atlanta: Morris started on 3 days' rest, against Smoltz. This time, it was the Braves who came back, from 2-1 down in the 7th, tying it then, and, after Morris left the game, winning it in the bottom of the 9th on a sacrifice fly by Jerry Willard that scored Lemke. Catcher Brian Harper appeared to have tagged Lemke out. The problem was, he did so with his glove, when the ball was in his bare hand. That's not a tag-out, and home plate umpire Terry Tata correctly called him safe.
* Game 5 in Atlanta: Glavine against Tapani. This was the only game in the Series that wasn't close, as the Braves scored 6 runs in the 7th to put the game out of reach, winning, 12-3. They were 1 win away from their 1st World Championship since their Milwaukee title of 1957.
* Game 6 in Minneapolis: Erickson and Avery each started on 3 days' rest. This game went to 11 innings. In the bottom of the 11th, Kirby Puckett, the Twins' biggest star, homered off Liebrandt to end it, 4-3 Minnesota. Jack Buck, the voice of the Cardinals, called the game for CBS, and as the ball dropped into the seats, said, "And we'll see you, tomorrow night!"
What we saw at the beginning of the next night was CBS studio host Pat O'Brien comparing baseball to a painting, showing highlights of the 1st 6 games, and closing by saying, "And now, the World Series is one game away from becoming... a masterpiece." He and the other pregame analysts, including Los Angeles Dodgers manager Tommy Lasorda, were comparing this Series to the 7-game Cincinnati vs. Boston classic of 1975, the 7-game Yankees vs. Pittsburgh see-saw battle of 1960, and the Yankees vs. Brooklyn Dodgers "Subway Series" of the 1950s. Could Game 7 live up to that hype?
If you wanted action, then, no. But if you liked good pitching, then, absolutely. Through 9 innings, Morris had allowed 7 hits and 2 walks, but no runs. Smoltz went 7 1/3rd innings, Mike Stanton closed out the 8th, and Alejandro Peña had to finish the 9th for Stanton. Between them, those 3 pitchers allowed 8 hits and 3 walks, but no runs.
In the top of the 8th, Lonnie Smith singled. Terry Pendleton doubled to left. But Twins 2nd baseman Chuck Knoblauch and shortstop Greg Gagne faked him out, hanging him up at 3rd base so he couldn't score. Morris got out of the jam, forcing Smith out at the plate as the front half of a double play.
For the 1st time since 1924, Game 7 of a World Series was going to extra innings. For the 1st time ever, Game 7 of a World Series was scoreless going to extra innings.
Morris still had something left, getting the Braves out 1-2-3 in the top of the 10th, walking off to a standing ovation from his hometown crowd. Yet he had thrown just 126 pitches. I've seen pitchers throw that many in half as many innings.
Cox sent Peña back out to pitch the 10th. He had been a rookie on the Dodgers' 1981 World Series winners, but hadn't pitched in the Series. He did pitch in their 1988 World Series win. Now, he had to hold the Twins off for at least 1 more inning.
But he had nothing left. Dan Gladden led off with a double. Chuck Knoblauch, later to be part of the Yankees' turn-of-the-21st Century dynasty, bunted him over to 3rd. Now, a long fly ball would win the Series. With 2 bases open, and neither of those runs meaning anything, Cox ordered Peña to intentionally walk Puckett and powerful slugger Kent Hrbek.
Jarvis Brown was due up for the Twins. Kelly sent Gene Larkin up instead. Larkin was an Ivy Leaguer, having broken most of the records set at Columbia University by Lou Gehrig in the early 1920s, but hadn't done much at the major league level. After one swing of the bat, he would never need to do anything in Minnesota again: He hit a fly ball into left field, over the head of Brian Hunter, and Gladden easily scored. Final score: Minnesota 1, Atlanta 0. It was the 1st World Series Game 7 ever to end 1-0, never mind in extra innings.
In 2010, the MLB Network listed this game at 2nd on their list of MLB's 20 Greatest Games -- limited in scope, due to the availability of surviving videotape, to 1975 onward.
Morris was named the Series' Most Valuable Player. His masterpiece -- O'Brien called it -- turned out to be the last extra-inning complete game of the 20th Century, regular-season or postseason. The next day, I told friends that, before the game, Morris was a borderline candidate for the Hall of Fame, and now he would make it for sure.
Morris went to the Toronto Blue Jays the next season. Although he didn't have a good year, he did pitch for them in the World Series, and did so again the next year. Few players have won back-to-back World Series with different teams, and even fewer have won the World Series with 3 different teams. Morris almost became the 1st player to win them for 4 different teams, as he finished his career with the 1995 Cleveland Indians, but they lost the Series -- to the Braves. But despite a career record of 254-186, 5 All-Star appearances and 4 World Series rings, he wasn't elected to the Hall of Fame until 2018.
Through the 2022 season, the Twins' record in World Series play is 11-10: 11-1 at home (3-1 at Metropolitan Stadium in '65, 4-0 at the Metrodome in '87 and again in '91, and they have yet to get that far at Target Field) and 0-9 on the road. However, since that day, 31 years ago, they have never won another Pennant. The Braves have, although once in the World Series, they've rarely been better off.
*
October 27, 1991 was a Sunday. These games were played in the NFL:
* The New York Giants lost to the Washington Redskins, 17-13 at Giants Stadium in the Meadowlands.
* The Denver Broncos beat the New England Patriots, 9-6 at Foxboro Stadium in the Boston suburb of Foxborough, Massachusetts.
* The San Francisco 49ers beat the Philadelphia Eagles, 23-7 at Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia.
* The Atlanta Falcons beat the Los Angeles Rams, 31-14 at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium. The Braves weren't going to be using it: It was the American League's turn to have home-field advantage in the World Series for Games 6 and 7.
* The Green Bay Packers beat the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 27-0 at Tampa Stadium.
* The Chicago Bears beat the New Orleans Saints, 20-17 at the Superdome in New Orleans. Jim Harbaugh won it with a late 12-yard touchdown pass to Tom Waddle.
* The Houston Oilers beat the Cincinnati Bengals, 35-3 at the Astrodome in Houston.
* The Cleveland Browns beat their arch-rivals, the Pittsburgh Steelers, 17-14 at Cleveland Municipal Stadium.
* The Detroit Lions beat the Dallas Cowboys, 34-10 at the Silverdome in the Detroit suburb of Pontiac, Michigan.
* The Minnesota Vikings beat the Phoenix Cardinals, 28-0 at Sun Devil Stadium in the Phoenix suburb of Tempe, Arizona.
* The Seattle Seahawks beat the San Diego Chargers, 20-9 at the Kingdome in Seattle.
* The next night, on ABC Monday Night Football, the Kansas City Chiefs beat the Los Angeles Raiders, 24-21 at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City. Steve DeBerg threw a late 6-yard touchdown pass to Tim Barnett to win it.
* And the New York Jets, the Buffalo Bills, the Indianapolis Colts and the Miami Dolphins all had a bye week. Two weeks later, the Colts would gain their only win of the season -- over the Jets.
The NBA season started 5 days later. There were 4 games played in the NHL:
* The Buffalo Sabres beat the Hartford Whalers, 5-1 at the Buffalo Memorial Auditorium.
* In an "Original Six" matchup, the Boston Bruins beat the Chicago Blackhawks, 6-3 at the Chicago Stadium.
* The Winnipeg Jets beat the Washington Capitals, 6-5 at the Winnipeg Arena.
* And the Edmonton Oilers beat the Vancouver Canucks, 6-3 at the Pacific Coliseum in Denver.
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