1991 World Series
From SoSH
Series Information
Minnesota Twins (95-67) vs. Atlanta Braves (94-68)
The 1991 World Series matched up two teams that had finished at the bottom of their divisions the previous year. In 1991 the Minnesota Twins rebounded from their poor year in 1990 with a balanced attack of pitching and hitting. The Twins starting rotation boasted three pitchers that finished among the top ten in the Cy Young Award vote, with Scott Erickson placing second with a 20-8 record. The Twins offensive attack led the American League in hits and batting average at .280. The Braves, coming off their seventh consecutive losing season righted the ship with NL Cy Young Award winner Tom Glavine and a strong second season by Steve Avery to go along with NL MVP Terry Pendleton. After winning the AL West by 8 games the Twins took on the Toronto Blue Jays in the ALCS. The Twins easily handled the Blue Jays winning the series in five games. The Braves, who had won the NL West by only a game over the Los Angeles Dodgers, faced off against the Pittsburgh Pirates in the NLCS. The series was evenly matched going the full seven. Atlanta won Game 7 in Pittsburgh on the strength of a complete game shutout by John Smoltz.
The 1991 World Series went an exciting 7 games with the Minnesota Twins winning games 6 and 7 while facing elimination. Jack Morris cemented his status as Series MVP in game 7 pitching a 10 inning complete game shutout. It was the Twins second World Championship in five years
- Managers: Tom Kelly (Minnesota) and Bobby Cox (Atlanta)
- Venues: Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome (Minneapolis, MN) and Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium (Atlanta, GA)
- MVP: Jack Morris
Box Scores
Game One: Saturday, October 19, 1991 at Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Atlanta Braves | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 6 | 1 |
| Minnesota Twins | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | X | 5 | 9 | 1 |
| W: Jack Morris (1-0) L: Charlie Leibrandt (0-1) Sv: Rick Aquilera (1) | ||||||||||||
| HR: MIN – Kent Hrbeck (1), Greg Gagne (1) ATL – None | ||||||||||||
| Attendance: 55,108 | ||||||||||||
Game Two: Saturday, October 20, 1991 at Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Atlanta Braves | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 8 | 1 |
| Minnesota Twins | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | X | 3 | 4 | 1 |
| W: Kevin Tapani (1-0) L: Tom Glavine (0-1) Sv: Rick Aquilera (2) | ||||||||||||
| HR: MIN – Chili Davis (1), Scott Leius (1) ATL – None | ||||||||||||
| Attendance: 55,145 | ||||||||||||
Game Three: Saturday, October 22, 1991 at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Minnesota Twins | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 10 | 1 |
| Atlanta Braves | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 8 | 2 |
| W: Jim Clancy (1-0) L: Rick Aguilera (0-1) Sv: None | |||||||||||||||
| HR: MIN – Kirby Puckett (1), Chili Davis (2) ATL – David Justice (1), Lonnie Smith (1) | |||||||||||||||
| Attendance: 50,878 | |||||||||||||||
Game Four: Wednesday, October 23, 1991 at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Minnesota Twins | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 7 | 0 |
| Atlanta Braves | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 8 | 0 |
| W: Mike Stanton (1-0) L: Mark Guthrie (0-1) Sv: None | ||||||||||||
| HR: MIN – Mike Pagliarulo (1) ATL – Lonnie Smith (2), Terry Pendleton (1) | ||||||||||||
| Attendance: 50,878 | ||||||||||||
Game Five: Thursday, October 24, 1991 at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Minnesota Twins | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 7 | 1 |
| Atlanta Braves | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 3 | X | 14 | 17 | 1 |
| W: Tom Glavine (1-1) L: Kevin Tapani (1-1) Sv: None | ||||||||||||
| HR: MIN – Mike Pagliarulo (1) ATL – David Justice (2), Lonnie Smith (3), Brian Hunter (1) | ||||||||||||
| Attendance: 50,878 | ||||||||||||
Game Six: Saturday, October 26, 1991 at Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Atlanta Braves | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 9 | 1 |
| Minnesota Twins | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 9 | 0 |
| W: Rick Aguilera (1-1) L: Charlie Leibrandt (0-2) Sv: None | ||||||||||||||
| HR: MIN – Kirby Puckett (2) ATL – Terry Pendleton (2) | ||||||||||||||
| Attendance: 55,155 | ||||||||||||||
Game Seven: Sunday, October 27, 1991 at Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Atlanta Braves | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 0 |
| Minnesota Twins | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 10 | 0 |
| W: Jack Morris (2-0) L: Alejandro Pena (0-1) Sv: None | |||||||||||||
| HR: MIN – None ATL – None | |||||||||||||
| Attendance: 55,118 | |||||||||||||
Trivia
- Both the Atlanta Braves and the Minnesota Twins finished last in their divisions just the year before.
- The home team won every game of the series.
- Minnesota went 5-1 at the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome in the 1991 Playoffs, including 4-0 in the World Series.
- World Series MVP Jack Morris went 2-0 with a 1.17 ERA. Morris allowed only 18 hits and 3 runs in 23.1 innings pitched while striking out 15 batters.
- In 2003, ESPN ranked the 1991 World Series as the greatest World Series ever played.
- This Series featured 5 one run games and 3 extra inning games, including games 6 and 7.
External Links
- 1991 World Series Baseball-Almanac.com
- 1991 World Series Baseball-Reference.com
- 1991 World Series Box Scores and Play-by-Play Retrosheet.org
- 100 Greatest World Series ESPN.com
