Best Of The Best: A Look At The Twins Top World Series Performances

The Minnesota Twins past four years felt like college without the fun. Four years of the front office, like parents, boasting about the potential the team/kid possessed. Four years of a stagnant GPA/win total. Four years of increasing tolerance, be it of the alcohol variety, or for losing. School is out, as is our patience.

Opening day always brings renewed optimism though. The Twins have made three World Series appearances, all following a year where they finished at or near the bottom of their division. Those appearances have produced some great individual performances. In an effort to forget about recent struggles, and remember better days, here are the best of those performances:

#10 – Tie: Dan Gladden – 1987 Game 1: 2-4, R, 5 RBI – 1991, Game 7: 3-5, R ’87: With one swing of the bat, Dazzle turned a close game into a blowout.

’91: In the ultimate pitcher’s duel, hit two doubles, one to lead off the 10^th and eventually score the series winning run. Better stats in ’87 game, but ’91 was for all the marbles.

#9 – Mike Pagliarulo – 1991, Game 4: 3-3, 2 RBI

The one performance on the list that didn’t result in a Twins victory. Pags was the only hitter that night to get to John Smoltz. He singled in the game’s first run and with the game tied at one in the seventh, hit a solo home run. Despite his efforts, the Twins lost 3-2.

#8 – Tie: Frank Viola – 1987, Game 1/7

Pick your poison, Frankie pitched slightly better in game one, but game seven everything is on the line.

Game 1: 8 IP, 1 R, 5 H, 5 K
Game 7: 8 IP, 2 R, 6 H, 7 K

#7 – Don Baylor – 1987, Game 6: 2-3, 2 R, 3 RBI, BB

Facing elimination, Baylor hit a go-ahead RBI single in the first, then a game-tying 2-run home run in the fifth. Igniting a rally en route to an 11-5 win to stay alive.  

#6 – Mudcat Grant – 1965, Game 1: CG, 2 R, 10 H, 2 BB, 5 K

In the first World Series game in Minnesota’s history, Mudcat shined on the hill while going 1-3 at the plate scoring twice. He reached base on an error that set up Zoilo Versalles who capitalized on the Dodgers mishap. We’ll get to that in a moment.

#5 – Jim Kaat – 1965, Game 2: CG, 1 R, 7 H, 3 K

Kitty not only outdueled hall of famer Sandy Koufax, but broke the game open with the Twins leading 3-1 in the 8th inning, lining a 2-run single to center to create some breathing room at 5-1.

#4 – Zoilo Versalles – 1965, Game 1: 2-4, R, 4 RBIWith the game tied at one in the third, Versalles hit a 3-run home run to give the Twins a lead they would never relinquish. For good measure, he singled in a run in the sixth.

#3 – Kirby Puckett – 1991, Game 6: 3-4, 2 R, 3 RBI

Puck put a team facing elimination on his back. His fingerprints were all over this game as he robbed an extra-base hit in the third with a runner on, tripled in the game’s first run, then scored on a single giving the Twins a 2-0 lead. His sacrifice fly in the fifth broke up a 2-2 tie. Again tied, this time at three in the eighth, Puckett singled and stole second but was stranded. Enter the 11th inning when he took Charlie Leibrandt deep for the walk-off winner.

#2 – Mudcat Grant – 1965, Game 6: CG, R, 6 H, 0 BB, 5 K

Take a look at #6 on this list, now realize that was Mudcat’s SECOND best performance in this series. With the Twins facing elimination he dominated on the hill, but that was only half of his contribution. Clinging to a 2-0 lead in the sixth, Mudcat belted a 3-run home run to ensure a game seven.

#1 – Jack Morris – 1991, Game 7: CG (10 inn), 0 R, 7 H, 2 BB, 8 K

In the biggest game of the year, Blackjack pitched a 10-inning shutout. A complete game in baseball is impressive, a complete game shutout even more so, to pitch 10 shutout innings is unheard of, add the fact that this was game seven of the World Series, and now you have a folk tale. The Twins needed every bit of it, as they scored the game’s first run in the bottom of the 10th to win the Championship 1-0.