Twins pay tribute to '91 World Series champs

MINNEAPOLIS -- There's never a bad time to pay tribute to one of the greatest teams in franchise history and one of the best Fall Classics the sport has ever seen -- but this felt like a particularly appropriate time to bring the 1991 Minnesota Twins back together.

In celebrating the 30th anniversary of the club's most recent World Series championship in a half-hour-long pregame ceremony before Saturday's contest against the Rays, the Twins highlighted one of the most impactful sports teams in Minnesota history that soared all the way from a last-place finish in 1990 to the top of the baseball world in '91 following a dramatic Fall Classic that went the distance against the Atlanta Braves.

And what a ride that was in a captivating seven games, which featured three walk-offs, three extra-inning games, five one-run margins and two of the most impactful performances in franchise history in Kirby Puckett's walk-off Game 6 homer and Jack Morris' 10-inning shutout in Game 7.

"Many call it one of the best World Series of all-time," said longtime television play-by-play man Dick Bremer, who was behind the microphone in 1991 and hosted Saturday's ceremony. "Some consider it the best World Series of all-time."

Not only did this team bring Minnesota one of only three titles in franchise history (including the 1924 triumph by the Senators, which the club started to embrace last year), but that Fall Classic also marked the last championship in any major men's professional sport in the Twin Cities, now spanning 30 years and counting.

Twenty-four of the people responsible for those indelible memories gathered together Saturday at Target Field, highlighted by massive ovations for Minnesota natives Kent Hrbek and Morris. They were joined by teammates Terry Leach, Mark Guthrie, Carl Willis, Junior Ortiz, Al Newman, Scott Leius, Mike Pagliarulo, Gene Larkin, Randy Bush, Kevin Tapani, Scott Erickson, Brian Harper, Chili Davis, Dan Gladden, Greg Gagne and Rick Aguilera.

Alongside them were former team president Jerry Bell, general manager Andy MacPhail, assistant general manager Bob Gebhard, manager Tom Kelly, bench coach Tony Oliva and pitching coach Dick Such -- with video tributes to those who have since passed, including Puckett, bullpen coach Rick Stelmaszek and first-base base coach Wayne Terwilliger, who died in February.

"I will say that the importance of that group in the community here, they are highly thought of for so many reasons," current Twins manager Rocco Baldelli said. "There’s that connection that everyone that experiences something like that together always has and will always have. Probably the true highlight of a lot of people’s sports lives and memories, including every fan that was a part of this as well."

In addition to individual introductions for all in attendance, the Twins also played previously unseen behind-the-scenes footage from Guthrie's camcorder in 1991 and held a roundtable highlighting MacPhail, Davis and Hrbek.

They capped the occasion with a ceremonial first pitch highlighting the three club legends responsible for the walk-off win in Game 7. Morris handed the ball to Kelly, who had allowed the Hall of Fame right-hander to finish off the shutout in the 10th inning that evening, and the former skipper threw the ball to Larkin, the walk-off hero.

There's something to be said there for the fact that those Twins had been 74-88 in 1990, finishing seventh in the seven-team American League West before MacPhail and Kelly put trust in the existing core by adding free agents Pagliarulo, Davis and Morris to push the team over the top.

"We recognized that [despite] the team's performance, the talent level was such that we didn't need to do a lot to put the team back on track in '91," said MacPhail, who now serves as the president of the Philadelphia Phillies.

Much in that same way, the Twins of the present day hope they can rely on the production of their existing offensive core in their next winning team, featuring the likes of Trevor Larnach, Alex Kirilloff, Ryan Jeffers, Mitch Garver, Ryan Jeffers and Jorge Polanco -- with several young starting pitchers on the cusp of the big leagues.

It might not be a one-year turnaround to get from this year's fourth-place team to a World Series winner for these Twins, but this ceremony served as a testament to a group that already showed this state that such a surge for a promising and talented roster remains possible -- and those watching from the dugout will hope to duplicate that in the years to come.