Page One in '91: Twins beat Atlanta to win the World Series

Nice, huh? Maybe you heard the words after the game. It won't hurt to hear them again.

"It was probably the greatest World Series ever," said Fay Vincent, the commissioner of baseball. "I was proud to be here."

What a game! What a Series! What an ending!

t took 10 innings and words won't describe it as well as rewinding the videotape and watching it over and over and over and over. . . . Sometimes words can't compete.

Watch the tape. See Gene Larkin's fly ball sail deep into left center for a single. See Dan Gladden cross home plate, stomping and being surrounded by a cheering pinstripe mob. See the Twins win 1-0.

Grab some bench, America. Watch Minnesota party.

"It's some kind of feeling, isn't it?" rookie Chuck Knoblauch yelled at the crowd a few minutes after the game, when the Domeboys commandeered the stadium's public address system.

"This is the craziest place I've ever seen in my life," said Mike Pagliarulo, who used to play for the Yankees. So he knows crazy.

"I love all these guys and I love all of you," shouted Jack Morris, who pitched all 10 innings, alpha to omega, telling the manager he wasn't coming out after nine.

"Words can't describe the respect I have for that man," said Atlanta outfielder David Justice.

The World Series' most valuable player award, which was won by Morris, does justice to what Justice could not describe.

Many of the 55,118 fans remained in their seats a half-hour after the game, listening to the best team in the world scream back at them.

Remember, this was a classic. Remember it always. Atlanta was good. Darn good. Too bad there had to be a loser, huh?

Just kidding.

Never had there been three extra-inning games in a World Series. Game 7 had gone into extra innings only once, back when Calvin Coolidge was president.

"I don't think there are a classier bunch of people than the Braves, and I'm not just blowing smoke because I don't do that," Twins manager Tom Kelly said. "When Lonnie Smith shook Brian Harper's hand (before the game) and said, `Let's have a good one.' That was class. It was unbelievable."

So was this season. Worst to first, remember? It's never been done that way, going back to 1903 when the first World Series was played.

In Game 7 of the 88th World Series, Morris stalked the mound like a caged ex-Tiger. He paced and stomped and kicked the pitching rubber, working at whatever pace he felt necessary. In the hairiest moments, he took even more time, knowing that Minnesota's chances and emotions were being carried to a large extent by his right arm and gruff demeanor.

It was his third start against Atlanta, his second against John Smoltz, the 24-year-old Michigan native who talked freely last week about how Morris was a childhood hero.

Morris didn't want to hear about it. He just wanted the ball. Minnesota wanted him to have it, too.

His cocky words after Game 6 - "Let's get it on" - offered an extra spark of confidence.

The public wasn't going to bring an even keel to the ballpark, so why should the ace be immune from the passion? Smoltz brought a calmer demeanor to the mound, breaking off curves that had some Twins reaching for pitches that were better ignored. The starting pitchers controlled the evening - the tempo, the batters, the emotions.

The emotions. Didn't you see Morris jump off the mound in glee when he ended the fifth inning by getting Ronnie Gant to take a called third strike? Then there was the eighth.

The fifth was a test run for the eighth, when Morris showed that a 36-year-old veteran can react to success with the reserve of a 16-year-old high school junior. Without any, that is. Smith led off with a single and Terry Pendleton doubled. The string of zeros that Morris and Smoltz had collected was in grave danger.

Gant tapped a grounder halfway to first, an easy mark for Kent Hrbek's tag while the runners stayed put. The bullpen was firing away, two Twins warming up. Kelly came to the mound, and made a popular decision. He stuck with Morris. Justice got an intentional walk, loading the bases for Sid Bream. His grounder went right to Hrbek, who started the double play by throwing to catcher Brian Harper and finished it by taking Harper's return throw.

Morris jumped off the mound - once, twice, bent knees reaching his shoulders. Fans who copied the move inside the Metrodome probably have the bruised knees to show for it. Doing it in an apartment building probably woke the baby sleeping one floor below.

In the bottom of the eighth, Smoltz yielded singles to Randy Bush and Knoblauch, putting Twins on first and third with one out. A breakthrough? With Puckett coming to plate, no less? Smoltz was replaced by Mike Stanton, and Atlanta's plan was not to give Puckett a swing. Not in the eighth. Not the way it was going. He got an intentional walk.

The crowd transferred its plea. "Kirby! Kirby! Kirby!" became "Herbie! Herbie! Herbie!"

Atlanta's strategy triumphed over Minnesota's hope. Hrbek's soft line drive nestled in second baseman Mark Lemke's glove. Lemke stepped on his base. Another zero, a loud round of groans. Two innings later, the only groans came from the Atlanta side.

"You guys can ask me all the questions in the world and I'll tell you just one thing," Chili Davis said. "It's done."

The greatest World Series ever. Remember, it's the commissioner who said it. So you can believe the hype.