Sports commentator Howard Sinker shares his thoughts on the extraordinary nature of the 1991 World Series, in particular the climatic Game 7. MPR’s Gary Eichten and Sinker discuss notable plays and players from series.
Sports commentator Howard Sinker shares his thoughts on the extraordinary nature of the 1991 World Series, in particular the climatic Game 7. MPR’s Gary Eichten and Sinker discuss notable plays and players from series.
HOWARD SINKER: I was at one of the postgame gatherings last night, and there was a writer from Boston daring people to come up with a better World Series, and he said he'd never seen not only a World Series, but he'd never seen a sporting event in his 15 years of doing these things that had as much emotion and that had as much quality and had as much excitement to it. A guy from one of the New York papers even was talking about the charm of the Metrodome. It was really incredible.
And I mean, it really confirmed a lot of the things that I was thinking. I just felt like I was lucky to be there. And I don't think-- I mean, I never felt that way about say, going to a University of Minnesota Regents meeting or any of the other more mundane tasks of life. I think this is really one of three or four events that I've covered over the years that I'm just going to remember and say, gosh, I'm glad I got to go.
SPEAKER: Yeah. Is it your sense, Howard, that if three of the games had been played here, four in Atlanta, that Atlanta would have ended up winning last night's game 1 to 0 in the 10th inning?
HOWARD SINKER: I don't know about that. I mean, those five of the games were so close. Five of the games were basically decided by one run. I mean, those could have gone either way. The Twins came real close to winning it in four games. Atlanta came awfully close to winning it in six. And if not for Lonnie Smith, Atlanta probably would have won it in 7.
SPEAKER: Namely his baserunning gaffe--
HOWARD SINKER: Oh, yeah. One of the silliest moves I've ever seen. I mean, I don't know, did [? Knoblauch ?] say, hey, stop, Lonnie, your shoe's untied. I mean, if you watch the replay, which I did this morning, he just stopped at second base, and it was clearly something that [? Knoblauch ?] either said or did.
SPEAKER: And this would have been a go ahead run in the eighth inning--
HOWARD SINKER: It would have put the Braves up 1 to 0. And, sure, some things might have been different afterward for the Twins in the bottom of the eighth or bottom of the ninth, but that could have been the ballgame.
SPEAKER: Am I correct in assuming that the performance we saw from Jack Morris last night will go down in baseball history, a 10 inning shutout in the seventh game of the world Series, and he was looked like he could have been there for two or three more innings.
HOWARD SINKER: Yeah, Jack Morris became a certain Hall of Famer last night. When people say, why should Jack Morris be in the Hall of fame, it's more than just winning 20 games in a season. It's more than just being the MVP of the World Series. It's more than just being a horse year in and year out for the Tigers and now for Minnesota. They're going to remember 10 innings, no runs, 130 pitches on three days of rest, jumping up and down around the mound like a kid. They're just going to remember one of the great all time individual performances ever. I mean, and that's how you can get to Cooperstown.
SPEAKER: And that followed on one of the great individual all time performances from Kirby Puckett in game 6.
HOWARD SINKER: Right. But Puckett goes to the Hall of Fame because he's a God. And Morris basically joined him.
SPEAKER: How good are the Twins now? In 1987, after they won the World Championship, there was a lot of Pooh poohing. Well, this is a lucky team. And they caught a lot of breaks and they just got hot at the right time. And there no way are they the best team in baseball. 1991 Twins the best team in baseball?
HOWARD SINKER: Sure. They won the toughest division in baseball. They beat an Atlanta team that was just about fully healthy. The Twins beat probably the second best team in baseball, and that's the beauty of it. In 87, the Twins got lucky. And this time I think they were just flat out good.
SPEAKER: Howard, any unsung heroes? Morris has gotten properly acclaimed for his performance last night. Puckett, of course. Anybody on the Twins who probably did not get a lot of notoriety during the series who really stood out.
HOWARD SINKER: Greg Gainey is probably the best defensive shortstop in baseball. There were 3, 4, 5, 6 balls that most shortstops don't get to that he fielded. And he does it in such a way, such an efficient and unspectacular way that we've come to expect those plays. He's an absolute fantastic shortstop. The best all-around defensive one in the game right now.
SPEAKER: Tomorrow, a lot of fans are going to get out and pay their tributes to the Twins during the parade or watch on TV, listen to the radio, whatever the case may be.
HOWARD SINKER: Listen to you guys, right?
SPEAKER: I certainly hope so. Are we going to have the same-- have the chance to cheer that same team next year, or are they going to break up?
HOWARD SINKER: I think there'll be a couple changes. I wouldn't be surprised if Dan Gladden is history. The Twins have too many young outfielders on whom they're high. I think that despite what you read in the paper and despite what you hear about Tom Kelly not liking Brian Harper, catchers who hit 310 just don't come around every day. And I think that if the Twins have Harper and Lenny Webster catching for them next year, it's going to be one of the best one two punches in baseball behind the plate. Those are going to be the major changes and there'll be some minor ones. I wouldn't be surprised if guys like Bedrosian and Leach are gone, but that's-- now, you're talking about second tier players.
SPEAKER: So tomorrow we should say a special farewell to Danny Gladden?
HOWARD SINKER: That would be my guess right now.
SPEAKER: Well, it's been a great ride, Howard.
HOWARD SINKER: Oh, it's been more fun than anything.
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