In his first full season as manager, Tom Kelly guided the Twins to their first World Series appearance since 1965. That one had been a seven-game loss to the Dodgers, marking Minnesota's only Fall Classic to date since the franchise relocated there from Washington in 1961.

The Twins' pitching staff was led by a tandem of Frank Viola (17-10) and Bert Blyleven (15-12), and an elite closer in Jeff Reardon (31 saves). Three players had finished the regular season with at least 30 homers -- Kent Hrbek (34), Tom Brunansky (32) and ALCS MVP Gary Gaetti (31) -- and a young All-Star center fielder named Kirby Puckett was right behind with 28. Minnesota ended its regular-season schedule with five consecutive losses, but it had won eight of 10 games before that. The question was which Twins team would show up, and that was quickly resolved.

Game 3 marked Detroit's only victory in the series, and even in that one the Tigers saw their early 5-0 lead wiped out and were forced to rally for a pair of runs in the eighth inning to win. But this was a Twins team coming into its own, on its way to an eventual World Series title against the Cardinals and then another ring in 1991. The Tom Kelly era at the Metrodome was just getting started.

Path to the ALCS: Minnesota (85-77) won the AL West by two games; Detroit (98-64) won the AL East by two games

Managers: Tom Kelly, MIN; Sparky Anderson, DET

MVP: Gary Gaetti