Locked On Mariners - Daily Podcast On the Seattle Mariners - A Classic Fall Classic: 1991

Episode Date: October 27, 2020

Continuing to look at World Series moments from yesteryear, D.C. talks about the 1991 World Series between the Minnesota Twins and Atlanta Braves, which was one of the best ever played. Game Seven in particular was one of the most exciting baseball games ever played. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Welcome to Locked-on Mariner's, part of the Locked-on Podcast Network, your team every day. Here's your host, D.C. Lundberg. Well, the matches in the PBA League on Saturday did not go as I thought they might. Of the four of them, I guess the outcome correctly on one. I had A.J. Johnson over Kyle Sherman, which that wound up being the case. But Darren Tang, Chris Barnes, and Tom Doherty all lost. So that left me with a 250 batting average. the day. Kind of shows you how much I know. Anyways, welcome to this late-night edition of Locked-on

Mariner's, part of the Locked-on Podcast Network. Please remember to download, rate, and subscribe to this program on Apple Podcast, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher Radio, or whichever podcasting app that you personally care to use. Ask your smart device to play Locked-on Mariner's podcast or any program here on the Locked-on Network. Follow us on Twitter at L-O- underscore Mariners, and follow me on Twitter at D.C. underscore Lundberg, L-U-N-D-B-E-R-G, if you are in fact scoring at home. Continuing to talk about World Series moments of yesterday year, we're going to talk about an entire World Series on today's program, my personal favorite World Series, as a matter of fact,

which had a tremendous Game 6 and a tremendous Game 7. Game 7 is my favorite baseball game ever. played. We're talking about 1991, the Twins and the Braves. Something that made this particular world series even more intriguing is the fact that the year prior, the Braves finished dead last in the National League West, and in fact

had the worst record in all of baseball. And the year prior, the Minnesota Twins finished dead last in the American League West and tied for the second worst record in the American League. And one short year later, they both take their league's penance. And don't forget that the Braves had to play the Pirates in the National League

Championship Series, who were a powerhouse at that time, and the twins had to play the Toronto Blue Jays in the American League Championship Series, and they would win the World Series the next two years in a row. They were also a powerhouse at that time. One of the best teams that nobody talks about, those early 90s, Toronto Blue Jays teams, but we're straying a little far afield back to the subject at hand to kind of set this up. In 1991, the Braves were actually in a very close penit race with the Los Angeles Dodgers in the National League West after again finishing with the worst record in the National

League and all of baseball, pardon me, the year before. They had brought in John Sherholz as their new general manager and he was tasked with, quote, making the royals of the National League, end quote. He had built up the Kansas City Royals into a world champion for the 1985. season. They won the World Series in 1985. The Braves hired him, and his task was to do in Atlanta what he had done in Kansas City, and boy, did he do a marvelous job because those Braves teams were consistently very, very good, basically for the entire decade, and they did it with tremendous starting pitching, and a very solid offense that knew how to get the timely hit and did all the little things correctly. Mark Lemke, their second baseman, is a perfect example of this.

On the flip side, you've got the Minnesota Twins, who also did not have a lot of superstars. In fact, they had fewer stars than the Braves did. They just had a very good core of players. They had Chuck Knoblock, the rookie of the year in 1991, who hit 281. They also had Kirby Pocket, who was one of the premier players in the game at that time, who unfortunately had to retire early because of glaucoma. They also had Big Kent Herbeck at first base, a Minnesota native. But aside from Puckett and Herbeck, it was the Dan Gladens of the world,

it was the Greg Gagnos of the world, Shane Mack. They had signed Chili Davis as a free agent, and they had a very solid bench. They had a third base platoon of Mike Palliurulo and Scott Laos, which did a wonderful job. Randy Bush off the bench, one of the premier pinch hitters and fourth outfielders in the American League, and a catching tandem of Brian Harper, who was a good offensive catcher, but not necessarily very strong defensively, and Junior Ortiz his backup, who was much better defensively. They also signed veteran starting pitcher Jack Morris as a free agent to be the mantle

number one starter of their pitching staff, and they had a pretty good rotation that year. Jack Morris is a number one starter. Kevin Tappany was their most consistent pitcher all season, starting 34 games and winding up with an ERA just under three, and they also had young star Scott Erickson, who won 20 games that year. And anchoring the back of the bullpen was Rick Aguilera, who won a world championship with the New York Mets in 1986. The National League Championship Series went the full seven games. Pittsburgh won the first one. Atlanta won the second one. So there's a one-one tie after two games. Game three would be taken by the Braves and game four by the Pirates. So after game four, it's a two-to-two tie and essentially now a three-game series. Game five would be won one-nothing by the Pittsburgh Pirates.

The Atlanta Braves would tie it up in game six, leading to a decisive game seven, which the Braves would win by a four to nothing score. Over in the American League, this did not go the full seven games. Minnesota took game one, five to four over the Toronto Blue Jays. Again, some of the best teams that nobody talks about are those late 80s, early 90s Blue Jays teams. Those Blue Jays would tie it up in game two for a one-to-one series tie. But Minnesota would take the next three in succession.

to win this series over the Toronto Blue Jays, four games to one, setting up the worst to first World Series as both teams finished last in their divisions the year before. Minnesota would take game one at the Metro Dome on October 19th by a 5-2 final score. Jack Morris getting the win, and I believe Greg Gagney hit a home run in that game. The next day, October 20th, the Minnesota Twins would take a two games to none lead with a 3-2 victory over the Braves. shifting over to Atlanta Fulton County Stadium for game three on October 22nd, this game would go 12 innings, and it would be won by the Braves,

by a 5 to 4 final, and the Braves would tie up the series the next day, two games apiece, with a 3-2 victory over the twins. The Braves would slaughter the twins the next day 14 to 5 to take a 3-2 series lead, meaning they would need just one victory in the final two games in the Metrodome to make them the 1991 world champions. We'll talk about games 6 and 7 here in a little bit, but first I'm going to tell you about Built Bar. The best tasting protein bars on the planet, ladies and gentlemen,

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And I will read it and reply to it on the air in an upcoming mailbag episode. Still trying to generate enough email to do an email segment, which will probably be the last one at least until spring training, although I don't know. As soon as I say that, I'm going to get a ton of emails. Yeah, probably not. Lockedon Mariners at Gmail.com is that address once again. Games 6 and 7 of the 1991 World Series will be discussed on the other side of this commercial word.

Now back to Locked on Mariners and your host, D.C. Lundberg. Thank you very much, J.M. This late night edition of Locked on Mariner's is going to continue at this time. Talking about the 1991 World Series, we're going to talk about games 6 and 7 of the 1991 World Series. they would both be extra inning ball games, and we will begin, of course, with Game 6, which occurred on this date in 1991 in the Metrodome in Minneapolis. To recap, at this time, the Braves have a 3-2 series advantage,

meaning the twins need to win both of these games in Minnesota, while the Braves would only need to win one to pick up the World Series. In any case, the home team would be the first on the board in the bottom of the first inning. Chuck Knoblock, The second batter of the game hit a single to right field, and he would immediately be driven in by Kirby Pocket on an RBI triple. Chili Davis would fly out, and then Shane Mack would hit a single to drive in Puckett for a quick two-to-nothing lead. Those two runs would be answered by the Braves in the top of the fifth inning on a Terry Pendleton two-run home run, scoring Lonnie Smith ahead of him who was on base.

Twins would get one right back in the bottom of the frame on a Kirby Puckett. sacrifice fly to score Dan Gladden. The Braves would tie up the game at three apiece in the seventh inning on an RBI ground out by Ron Gant, which scored Mark Lemke. It would be scoreless until the 11th inning. And according to backup infield or Al Newman, twins backup infield or Al Newman, when he saw that Charlie Lee Branch was warming up in the Braves bullpen, he figured that the twins had a very good chance to win.

And that's no knock on. Leibrand, who was a very good starting pitcher, but the twins, and specifically Kirby Puckett, had had success against Leibrand, and Kirby Puckett would be leading off the bottom of the 11th inning. Well, guess what, ladies and gentlemen, in one of Jack Buck's most famous calls, Kirby Puckett hits a home run to left center field, and we'll see you tomorrow night. Great call by Jack Buck to emphasize a game-winning home run hit by one of the game's premier stars to give his team a three to three world series tie and force a decisive game seven.

And what a game seven it would be, gang. Getting started at 738 local time on Sunday, October 27th, 1991 in front of 55,118, raucous fans at the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome, future Hall of Famers, John Smolt, and Jack Morris would face off against one another in one of the greatest pitchers duels ever to be played, and it just happened to be game seven of a World Series. To reiterate something I said at the beginning of the show, this is my all-time favorite baseball game.

Starting lineups first for the visiting Atlanta Braves. Lonnie Smith leads off at designated hitter. He's followed by third baseman Terry Pendleton. Ron Gantt plays center field and hits third. David Justice is your right fielder, cleanup hitter. He's followed by Sid Bream at first base. Brian Hunter, future Mariner Brian Hunter, plays left field and bats sixth. Catcher Greg Olson hits seventh. Second baseman Mark Lemke hits eighth, and shortstop Raphael Belliard hits ninth. For the hometown twins,

Dan Gladden leads off in left field, and he is followed by rookie of the year second baseman Chuck Knoblock. Future Hall of Famer Kirby Puckett hits third and plays center field. Cleanup hitter is first baseman Big Kent Herbeck. Chili Davis hits fifth as the designated hitter. Sixth place hitter is Brian Harper, the catcher. Shane Mack is in right field. He hits seventh. Mike Palliurulo is starting at third base with a right-handed pitcher on the mound.

He hits eighth, and the lineup is rounded out by shortstop Greg Gagney. In the top of the first inning, Jack Morris shuts down the Braves, 1, 2, 3. In the bottom of the first inning, John Smoltz shuts down the twins, 1, 2, 3. David Justice leads off the top of the second with the single, but then, Sid Bream, Brian Hunter, and Greg Olson all make out, and it's a pretty quick top of the second inning. On it goes scoreless. The Braves get the leadoff batter aboard in the fifth inning, Mark Lemke leading off with the single. Sensing that this is probably going to be a very low-scoring ball game, Braves manager Bobby Cox instructs Raphael Belleyard to bunt Lemke to second base,

which he does successfully. Next batter, Lonnie Smith, also bunts, but he reaches base. Moving Lemke to third base, Lonnie Smith now on first base, Terry Pendleton, who was the 1991 National League MVP, pops out to shortstop, so now there are runners at the corners with two outs. Ron Gant, powerful Ron Gant strikes out to end the inning, leaving two runners on base, and the game continues with a nothing-nothing tie. Next inning goes pretty quickly for the twins, two outs, Dan Gladden's single, and then an out from Chuck Knoblock. Braves go one, two, three in the sixth. Twins lead off the sixth with a walk from Kirby Pucket,

and he's followed by Kent Herbeck who flies out. Chili Davis then grounds into a double play to a race pocket, and the bottom of the sixth also winds up being a one, two, three inning for John Smoltz. Jack Morris hurls another one, two three inning in the seventh inning, two strikeouts, and a line out. Bottom of the seventh is another one, two, three inning for John Smoltz. Maltz. No double play this time. All three of them are groundouts. Eighth inning, the Braves try to get something started. Lonnie Smith leads off with the single.

The next batter, Terry Pendleton, shoots a double into the left center field gap to the warning track, which should have scored Smith. However, Lonnie Smith fell for a decoy. Second baseman Chuck Knoblock and shortstop Greg Gagney kind of converged behind second base, making like it was going to be a ground ball double play. Lonnie Smith fell for it and kind of stopped after second base, realized he had been duped, and then made his way to third base. He should have easily scored on that play, ladies and gentlemen. And the knock on Smith was never his talent, but his baseball smarts.

He had a lot of speed, but didn't have a lot of range in the outfield because he took really bad roots to fly balls. And he was a terrible base runner. He was one of the least aware ball players of his era and that kept him moving from team to team and he could never secure a starting job for that long because

of this. In any case, back to the ball game as it was, the Braves now have runners at second and third with nobody out. Ron Gant is the next batter and he grounds out to first baseman Kent Herbeck. With the base open and the left-handed hitting David Justice batting, Jack Morris

intentionally walks him to get to the right-handed hitting Sid Bream. So Bream's up now with the bases loaded and two outs. He also grounds to first basement Kent Herbeck, but Herbeck throws the ball home to Brian Harper to force Lonnie Smith. Harper throws back to Herbeck to force Bream for an inning-ending double play in what potentially could have been a pretty big inning for the Braves. And with the way the game was going,

one or two runs would have been a big inning. But the Braves do not score, and that winds up being huge. In the bottom of the eighth inning, Randy Bush pinch hits for Greg Gaggin to lead off, and he opens with a single. Al Newman then pinch runs for him. Dan Gladden hits a pop-out, and then Chuck Knoblock singles to send Newman to third base. John Smolt's Day is done at this point, and Bobby Cox brings in lefty Mike Stee.

Stanton to face Kirby Puckett, who's intentionally walked to load the bases. That brings up Kent Herbeck, who fielded the inning-ending double play the half-frame earlier. He lines into an inning-ending double play here, which was scored four unassisted. So the game moves into the ninth inning scoreless. Al Newman is your new shortstop, by the way. Jack Morris, still on the mound, has another one. two, three inning. Brian Hunter grounds out to third base. Greg

Olson grounds out to shortstop and Mark Lemke strikes out swinging. So it's the bottom of the ninth inning now and the twins just need to push one across to become the 1991 world champions. Chilli Davis leads off with a single and he

has pinched run for on the bases by Jarvis Brown. Brian Hunter hits a ground ball single sending Brown to second base and Mike Stanton's Day is done. He is replaced by the Braves ace reliever Alejandro Pena who immediately induces a

ground ball double play from Shane Mack and that sends Jarvis Brown to third base. Next batter is Mike Palliurulo and he's intentionally walked. That brings up new shortstop Al Newman but he is pinched hit for by future mariner

Paul Sorrento who fans to end the inning sending this great game into the 10th with Newman out of the game, Scott Laos comes in to play shortstop. So now Palo Ullo and Laos are on the field at the same time, which was a rarity. Jack Morris is sent back to the mound to start the 10th inning. Leading off that 10th inning is Jeff Blouser, who is pinch hitting for Raphael Belleyard,

and he pops out to the catcher in foul territory. Lonnie Smith fans and Terry Pendleton grounds out. So Jack Morris has a 1-2-3 top of the 10th inning, meaning, again, the twins just have to push one run across to become the 91 world champions as the game is still scoreless. Dan Gladden leads off against Alejandro Payne with a double. Chuck Knoblock bunts him to third base and then Peña intentionally walks both Kirby Puck and Kent Herbeck with one away the bases are now loaded and the Braves are hoping

for a double play to send the game to the 11th inning. Jarvis Brown is due up next. He had pinch run for Chili Davis, but Brown is pinch hit for by Gene Larkin, who was kind of at the end of the twins bench, corner outfielder first basement type guy, not known for his bat. The first pitch he sees from Pena,

he hits to left center field, beyond the drawn-in outfield, Dan Gladden scores easily, and the twins are the 1991 World Series, Series champions. What a game this was, ladies and gentlemen. And as I said, just describing it here does not do it justice. I know that MLB Network has rerun it at least twice. They reran it during the pandemic a few months ago while we were waiting for the season to start up before summer training camp started up. I don't know if it's on YouTube in its entirety, but look for

it because it just might be. And you are in for a treat if you watch it. Morris pitched a complete game. Ten innings, seven hits, two walks, eight strikeouts. John Smoltz winds up going seven and a third. Six hits, one walk, four strikeouts. Mike Stanton, two thirds of an inning. Two hits and a walk. Alejandro Pena, who was the losing pitcher, one and a third innings.

Two hits, a run, it was earned. Three walks, but two of them were intentional, and one strikeout. The World Series MVP was in fact Jack Morris, the ace of game seven. That'll do it for tonight's episode, ladies and gentlemen. I hope you like this look back at my personal favorite World Series, which contained my personal favorite baseball game. Tomorrow night, we're going to talk about another classic fall classic, 1975.

And here with me to do that, we'll be Balki Bartokamus, Lick Broccoli, and a Catana. Please remember to download rate and subscribe to Locked-on Mariners on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcast, Spotify, Stitcher Radio, or whichever podcasting app that could spring to mine. Follow us on Twitter at L.O. underscore Mariners. Follow me on Twitter at D.C. underscore Lundberg. Thank you for listening to today's episode, ladies and gentlemen. As I failed to think of what to say, join us tomorrow as we're going to talk about 1975. This is Joey Martin saying join us back here next time for another.

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