October 27, 1991: The Jack Morris Game

October 27, 1991: Game 7 of the World Series is played at the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome in Minneapolis. Jack Morris, having led the Detroit Tigers to victory in the 1984 World Series, and won more games than any other pitcher in the 1980s, 162, was a native of St. Paul, across the Mississippi River from Minneapolis. Now, at age 36, he is trying to close out the Series, against the Atlanta Braves.

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.

October 14, 1984: A Magic Season for the Detroit Tigers

Left to right: Alan Trammell, Willie Hernández, Darrell Evans

October 14, 1984: The Detroit Tigers beat the San Diego Padres, 8-4 at Tiger Stadium in Detroit, in Game 5, and win the World Series.

It was a magic season for the Tigers. They won their 1st 9 games, and the 4th was a no-hitter by their ace, Jack Morris. They won 35 of their 1st 40. Even after that, they went 69-53, a pace to win 91 games. They finished 104-58, winning the American League Eastern Division by 15 games over the Toronto Blue Jays.

Their last Pennant had come in 1968, the last season of single-division play. If that format had still been in place, 84 wins would have gotten the Kansas City Royals to 6th place. Instead, they won the AL Western Division by 3 games over the California Angels and the Minnesota Twins, but were no match for the Tigers, who won the AL Championship Series, 4 games to 1.

The San Diego Padres had reached the postseason for the 1st time, going 92-70, and winning the National League Western Division by 12 games over the Atlanta Braves and the Houston Astros. In the NL Championship Series, they fell behind the Chicago Cubs 2 games to 0 in Chicago. But, at home at Jack Murphy Stadium, they won Game 3, won Game 4 on a walkoff home run by former Los Angeles Dodger star Steve Garvey, and won Game 5 thanks to some sloppy Cub fielding, to take their 1st Pennant.

The Series turned out to be closer than it looks. The Tigers won Game 1 in San Diego, but only 3-2, as Mark Thurmond was almost a mound match for Morris. A home run by Larry Herndon made the difference. The Padres won Game 2, 5-3, as Andy Hawkins outpitched Dan Petry. Kurt Bevacqua hit a home run. Through the 2022 season, this remains the only World Series game the Padres have ever won: October 10, 1984 remains the high-water mark of their franchise.

The Series moved to Tiger Stadium. Milt Wilcox outpitched Tim Lollar, Marty Castillo hit a home run, and the Tigers won, 5-2. Game 4 began at 1:30 PM, Eastern Time on a Saturday afternoon. Morris outpitched Eric Show, Alan Trammell hit 2 home runs, and the Tigers won, 4-2.

Game 5 began at 4:45 PM, Eastern Time, on Sunday, October 14. Through the 2021 season, it remains the last World Series game started in daylight. On October weekends, MLB doesn't want to compete with college football on Saturdays or the NFL on Sundays.

The Tigers jumped on Thurmond for 3 runs in the bottom of the 1st, including a home run by Kirk Gibson. The Padres tied the game with a run in the 3rd and 2 in the 4th, so Petry also didn't figure in the decision. The Tigers scored in the 5th and the 7th, including a home run by Lance Parrish, in support of Aurelio López.

In the 8th, Bevacqua homered off Willie Hernández, whose strong season made him one of the rare relief pitchers to be named his League's Most Valuable Player. Through the 1997 season, Bevacqua had 2 World Series home runs, while all other Padres players combined had 1 (Terry Kennedy in Game 4).

The opposing managers were Dick Williams for San Diego and George "Sparky" Anderson for Detroit. They had faced each other in the 1972 World Series, Williams for the Oakland Athletics and Anderson for the Cincinnati Reds. Williams had won the World Series with the A's in 1972 and '73, Anderson with the Reds in 1975 and '76. One would become the 1st manager to win World Series in both Leagues.

And both were wearing miniature microphones for the official World Series highlight film. In the bottom of the 8th, with the Tigers up, 5-4, and the Tigers having runners on 2nd and 3rd bases with 1 out, Williams went out to the mound to talk to his relief pitcher, former Yankee fireballer Rich "Goose" Gossage. Also on the mound with him were Garvey and former Yankee 3rd baseman Graig Nettles, opponents in the 1977, '78 and '81 World Series.

With 1st base open, Williams told Gossage he should walk Gibson intentionally, to pitch to Parrish with the double play (or, at least, a play at the plate) available. But Gossage, owner of one of the fastest pitches of all time, let his ego get the better of him: Williams can be heard on the video saying, "You're talking about striking him out?" And Gossage can be heard saying, "Yeah!"

In the dugout, standing next to his pitching coach, former Brooklyn and Los Angeles Dodger pitcher Roger Craig (who went on to manage the San Francisco Giants to the 1989 NL Pennant), pointed to Gibson, and yelled, "He don't wanna walk you!" In other words, be prepared for the Goose's fastball.

Strategically, it made sense: Although Parrish was just as capable of hitting the ball out of the park as Gibson -- both men had seemingly Hall-of-Fame-bound careers derailed by injuries, Gibson hit 255 home runs in his career, Parrish hit 324, and 3rd baseman Darrell Evans topped both of them with 407 --and Tiger Stadium was a hitter's park, regardless of handedness, having the righthanded Gossage walk the lefthanded Gibson, setting up the double play, and pitching to the righthanded Parrish was the right strategy. But Williams, so often regarded as a "my way or the highway" manager, let Gossage talk him out of it.

Gossage threw Gibson his best fastball. Gibson put it into the upper deck in right field. He became a World Series hero for the 1st time. It would not be the last. Until then, the overall score had been 20-15 in the Tigers' favor, the 8-4 final, and the 4-1 Series margin, plus the Tigers' 104-92 edge in regular-season wins and their much-easier LCS route, made it look like a wipeout for the Tigers, when it really wasn't.

Hernández got 24-year-old right fielder Tony Gwynn to fly to Herndon in left field for the final out. When the Padres next won the Pennant in 1998, Gwynn would be the only one left, and knocking on the door of 3,000 career hits.

Trammell was named the Series MVP, and Anderson was now the 1st manager to win the World Series for a team in each League. The clinching Game 5 was the 44th postseason game managed by Dick Williams. It turned out to be the last. Anderson would manage 5 more, the 1987 ALCS, for a total of 55. Both managers went on to be elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame, as would Trammell, Morris, Gossage and Gwynn -- but, as of the election of 2022, surprising many, not Gibson, not Parrish, not Garvey, and not Nettles.

Each team had a broadcaster who would receive the Hall's award for broadcasters, the Ford Frick Award: For the Padres, former Yankee 2nd baseman Jerry Coleman; for the Tigers, Ernie Harwell, who announced, "Let's listen to the bedlam here at Tiger Stadium!"

There would be bedlam outside the ballpark, too. Detroit fans rioted in victory, smashing store windows, overturning and burning cars. They repeated this for the Pistons' NBA Championships in 1989 and '90. By the time the Red Wings started winning Stanley Cups again in 1997, they had stopped doing it.

It was the Tigers' 4th World Championship. Through the 2022 season, the have never won another, losing the World Series in 2006 and 2012; losing the ALCS in 1987, 2011 and 2013; losing the ALDS in 2014; having some historically bad seasons, losing 109 games in 1996, 106 in 2002, an AL record (since broken) of 119 in 2003, and 114 in 2019; and moving from Tiger Stadium to Comerica Park in 1999-2000.

The Tigers do not have a team Hall of Fame, but they honor their Hall of Fame players on the outfield wall at Comerica Park. From the 1984 World Champions, they honor pitcher Jack Morris, shortstop Alan Trammell, manager George "Sparky" Anderson, and broadcasters Ernie Harwell, Paul Carey, George Kell, Al Kaline and Norm Cash, the last 3 being former Tiger stars.

Each of those has also been elected to the Michigan Sports Hall of Fame. So have 2nd baseman Lou Whitaker, right fielder Kirk Gibson, catcher Lance Parris, pitcher Willie Hernández, coach Gates Brown, and general manager Jim Campbell. From their 1987 American League Eastern Division Champions, but not the 1984 title, the Michigan Sports Hall of Fame has inducted pitcher Frank Tanana.

From their 2006 and 2012 American League Pennants, the Michigan Sports Hall of Fame has inducted Kaline (still a Tigers broadcaster at those points), manager Jim Leyland (also honored on the Comerica Park wall as a member of the Baseball Hall of Fame), and owners Mike and Marian Ilitch.

*

October 14, 1984 was a Sunday. These NFL games were played that day:

* The New York Giants beat the Atlanta Falcons, 19-7 at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium.

* The New York Jets beat the Cleveland Browns, 24-20 at Cleveland Municipal Stadium.

* The New England Patriots beat the Cincinnati Bengals, 20-14 at Sullivan Stadium (formerly Schaefer Stadium, later Foxboro Stadium) in the Boston suburb of Foxborough, Massachusetts.

* The Philadelphia Eagles beat the Indianapolis Colts, 16-7 at Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia.

* The Washington Redskins beat their arch-rivals, the Dallas Cowboys, 34-14 at Robert F. Kennedy Stadium in Washington.

* The Miami Dolphins beat the Houston Oilers, 28-10 at the Orange Bowl in Miami.

* The Los Angeles Rams beat the New Orleans Saints, 28-10 at the Superdome in New Orleans.

* The Detroit Lions beat the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 13-7 at the Silverdome in the Detroit suburb of Pontiac, Michigan.

* The football version of the St. Louis Cardinals beat the team that should have been their arch-rivals, the Chicago Bears, 38-21 at Busch Memorial Stadium in St. Louis.

* The Kansas City Chiefs beat the San Diego Chargers, 31-13 at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City.

* The Los Angeles Raiders beat the Minnesota Vikings, 23-20 at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.

* The Pittsburgh Steelers beat the San Francisco 49ers, 20-17 at Candlestick Park in San Francisco. This turned out to be the only game the Niners lost all season, on the way to winning Super Bowl XIX.

* The Seattle Seahawks beat the Buffalo Bills, 31-28 at the Kingdome in Seattle.

* And the next night, on ABC Monday Night Football, the Green Bay Packers played in a blizzard. Rare? For the Packers, no; in October, yes. But it wasn't at Lambeau Field in Green Bay, Wisconsin: It was at Mile High Stadium in Denver, Colorado, and fumbles on the 1st 2 Packer possessions gave the Denver Broncos a 14-0 lead. The Packers' comeback failed, and the Broncos won, 17-14.

The NBA season started 12 days later. There were 8 games in the NHL:

* The New York Rangers lost to the Minnesota North Stars, 3-1 at Madison Square Garden.

* The Boston Bruins beat their fellow New Englanders, the Hartford Whalers, 4-2 at the Boston Garden.

* The Buffalo Sabres beat the Detroit Red Wings, 6-4 at the Buffalo Memorial Auditorium.

* The Washington Capitals beat the Chicago Black Hawks, 5-3 at the Chicago Stadium.

* The Winnipeg Jets beat the Toronto Maple Leafs, 5-2 at the Winnipeg Arena.

* The Edmonton Oilers beat the Quebec Nordiques, 9-2 at the Northlands Coliseum in Edmonton. Gord Sherven had a hat trick: 3 goals. Wayne Gretzky had a goal and 3 assists.

* The St. Louis Blues beat the Los Angeles Kings, 5-2 at The Forum outside Los Angeles in Inglewood, California.

* The Calgary Flames beat the Vancouver Canucks, 7-5 at the Pacific Coliseum in Vancouver.

* And the New York Islanders, the New Jersey Devils, the Montreal Canadiens, the Philadelphia Flyers and the Pittsburgh Penguins were not scheduled.