My Dad worked
as an engineer for the Burlington Northern railroad, running trains between the
Twin Cities and Fargo, North Dakota. Because of this, he often worked odd hours
– a few days on and a few days off. While I was growing up, on the days he was
scheduled to make a trip north, he would set the VCR to tape (yes, tape) the
local sporting events. We had numerous tapes of miscellaneous Twins, Vikings
and even North Star games.
Over the
years, most of those copies were recorded over because of Cheers and Seinfeld
finales. However, I was able to rescue one for the clutches of oblivion: The
Game Seven of the 1987 World Series.
The ’87 World
Series was special. Even as a first grader, we had the sense that it was an
important moment. Having attended a catholic school, we were forced to wear
uncomfortable uniforms that seemed like they were made entirely out of
corduroy. When October rolled around, we were told we were free to wear
whatever we wanted, provided it was Twins gear (nuns love baseball). For that
stretch of time, our parents allowed to stay up late, watching the ends of the
games that stretch past our bedtimes. When they scheduled the parade downtown,
we were exempt from school, joining the rest of what felt like the world in the
downtown canyon cheering on the players as they drove by in their convertibles.
We high-fived random strangers in the street.
Still, being
just shy of seven years old, I never fully had a gauge on how the game actually
went. You can see by the box score that it was fairly close but you don’t get
the ebb-and-flow of how the game progressed like watching it unfold. That’s why
I There were several missed calls that went in the Twins favor. There was
hard-nosed plays at the plate – like Gary Gaetti pancaking Cards backup catcher
Steve Lake who somehow held on to the ball. There was Frankie Viola cutting
down the St. Louis offense with the aid of his changeup. This is why it has
been one of my most cherished possessions – it has given me context to what I
could not remember as a child.
The Game
Seven ’87 tape has traveled with me to college and has made the move to every
subsequent dwelling (and I moved a lot), receiving almost the same treatment as
the Stanley Cup has. But, even with the delicate handling, the tape still wore
down from use and age. So I had it converted to DVD this past spring. Prior to
the season, I fired up the game once again to relive one of the most memorable
games in Twins history.
While the ’87
series was special, it cannot compete with how the 1991 World Series influenced
my views on baseball and life.
For me, a
30-year-old, and others near my age group, the 1991 series could not have
happened at a more impressionable time in life. At 10 years old, you start to
absorb everything around you. It is the age right before puberty – the stage
when a human’s brain goes coo-coo haywire until their late 20s. The memories
you form at 10 seem to be less jaded than everything else that comes right after
it. For Upper Midwestern children around my age, we were taught valuable life
lessons. Game Seven starter, Jack Morris, taught us how to be men. You simply
take the ball inning after inning and not let go unless manager Tom Kelly is
forced to remove it from your cold, dead hand. Kent Hrbek taught us that – in
some respects – cheating is okay, so long as you do it with flair. Kirby
Puckett reaffirmed our childlike belief that heroes can indeed come through and
save the day at the last minute.
It is hard to
believe those memories were formed 20 years ago.
With this in
mind, A&E is releasing a pair of DVD sets to commemorate the 20th
anniversary of Minnesota’s second championship. In efforts to market virally,
they have contacted various Twins bloggers and have extended giveaways of these
DVDs. This is one more location in which you can possibly win Magic in
Minnesota: Remembering the 1991 World Series Championship and The Minnesota
Twins 1991 World Series Collector’s Edition. In addition to the DVDs,
winners will also receive a Game Six shirt
from DiamondCentric.
In order to
qualify, head to the DiamondCentric Facebook page and “like” this link and we
will select three winners at random.
