The greatest World Series ever

Posted: Fri October 17, 1997

Tim Kurkjian has covered baseball for Sports Illustrated since 1989. We asked him to share one of his favorite World Series memories.

The 1991 World Series was perhaps the greatest ever played. It was definitely the best of the 17 I've seen in person. The Braves and Twins—two teams that had finished last in their divisions in 1990—go to the 10th inning of Game 7 in a scoreless tie, a game extended by two mind-spinning double plays. It finally ends on pinch-hitter Gene Larkin's fly ball over the drawn-in outfield.

There are so many snapshots from that Series...36-year-old Jack Morris pitching all 10 innings for the Twins in the finale because, teammate Randy Bush would later say, "if anyone had tried to take him out, Jack would have killed him.''...the great Kirby Puckett singlehandedly winning Game 6, ending it with a homer off Charlie Leibrandt...Lonnie Smith of the Braves steamrolling Brian Harper at the plate...Twins second baseman Chuck Knoblauch deking Smith in Game 7, making him believe the ball was in the infield and preventing him from scoring on a Terry Pendleton double.

My most vivid memory comes from Game 3, the first World Series game played within 500 miles of Atlanta. The game lasted 4:04, ending at 12:42 a.m. It was a manager's delight—or nightmare. It was a maze of double-switches, pinch-hitters and pitching changes. A total of 42 players were used, including every available pitcher on the Minnesota staff. The Braves won, 5-4, in the 12th inning when second baseman Mark Lemke—the Lemmer, who became a folk hero in this series with his hitting, fielding and tales of how he lost his front teeth as a kid—singled home David Justice, who barely beat left fielder Dan Gladden's throw to the plate and narrowly avoided Harper's tag.

Lemke's game-winning hit came off Twins closer Rick Aguilera, who entered the game in the 12th. Aguilera liked to pitch only one inning per game. That brought up an intriguing question. For a few minutes almost immediately after the game was over, it was just me and Minnesota manager Tom Kelly in his office, so I had the chance to ask: "What if it had gone to the 13th or 14th inning?''

"Gladden would have pitched,'' Kelly replied without hesitation.

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"You would have pitched an outfielder in the World Series?"

"No question,'' said Kelly. "I can't burn Aguilera just to win one game. I need him tomorrow. I'll need him the next day. I need him for the rest of the Series. I can't use a starter. I'm going to need them the rest of the Series, also. This is a seven-game series. I have to win four games. This was one game.''

Gladden?

"He's pitched before,'' Kelly said.

He had pitched in a meaningless blowout in July. This was the World Series. But this was Tom Kelly, the maverick manager who doesn't give a damn what anyone thinks of him or his strategy. This was Tom Kelly, who never plays by the book, who, unlike most, manages without fear—the man who once said, "Hey, if you're afraid, get a dog.'' So instead of burning his closer or losing a starting pitcher, he would have pitched his left fielder.

That's the only thing that would have made the '91 Series any better.

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