Editor's note: Fourth in a six-part series. The 1991 Stanley Cup Final started on May 15, and the 1992 Final Four came to a conclusion on April 6. A Minnesota team or venue was involved in those two major events and three more in between. What a run. We will look back at that stretch of Minnesota sports history each day this week.
The moves that really made the Twins 1991 World Series champions
Yes, Kirby and Jack became legends that October. But long before then, some moves were made that gave the Twins the roster they needed to shock us all.
July 14, 2021 at 4:11AM
Think about the moments, the thrills, the mental snapshots taken during one of the most memorable World Series ever.
Think about the characters who played a role in that wild ride 30 years ago. There was The Kirby Puckett Game and the MVP performance of Jack Morris. Kent Hrbek's ballet with Atlanta's Ron Gant at first base in Game 2. Dan Gladden's dashes home, and Gene Larkin's greatest pinch hit ever. Rick Aguilera saving two games. Brian Harper batting .381 in the series. Tom Kelly sending Morris back out for the 10th inning in Game 7.
Many other Twins had their own moments during their 1991 World Series run, the state's most recent pro sports championship in America's four largest leagues.
Three extra-inning games. Four games decided by one run. There might never be another series like it. There might not be another team assembled that can rumble for seven games like Kelly's Heroes.
The Twins finished last in their division in 1990, but General Manager Andy MacPhail filled in the blanks with several moves. Without those moves, without all the pieces falling into place, the magic of 1991 doesn't happen.
A couple of transactions fall through … a team pivots in a different direction … the roster takes a different shape … if any of this happens, some other city is allowing its title-winning team to drink for free.
Those scenarios could have happened here, as MacPhail pivoted more than once as he searched for the right players. Three decisions in particular — two of them vastly underrated — paid off in gold.
Fans of the current Twins team scratch their heads about how deliberate Derek Falvey and Thad Levine move to sign free agents. MacPhail didn't sign Jack Morris until Feb. 5, 1991. The three-year contract included the first-ever opt-out clause when MacPhail agreed to it as an icebreaker.
"My rationale was: a) If I don't do this, he's not likely coming. And b) Would I sign him to a one-year deal for $3 million?" MacPhail told me last week. "Of course I would."
Two other deals set up the title run after MacPhail changed his plans: Putting Mike Pagliarulo at third and plopping Chili Davis in the heart of the order.
Gary Gaetti joined the Angels following the 1990 season. Pagliarulo was not the clear choice for his replacement. Jim Presley, who hit 19 homers and drove in 72 runs for Seattle the previous season, was the scouts' choice. The scouts nearly won out, but MacPhail admitted to having an epiphany.
"Why would I stick my manager with a third baseman he doesn't want?" MacPhail asked.
So on Jan. 7, the Twins inked Pagliarulo, whose .279 batting average that '91 season was the highest of his career to that point. Presley, by the way, signed a month later with San Diego and played in just 20 games in what would be the final season of his major league career.
The search for another bat nearly led them away from Davis. MacPhail mentioned that the club had early interest in former World Series hero Kirk Gibson, a free agent who had played in just 160 games over the previous two seasons. But Gibson signed with Kansas City in early December 1990. Another option was Franklin Stubbs, who had belted 23 homers and 71 RBI the season before. But a few days after Gibson was inked by the Royals, Stubbs signed a two-year deal with Milwaukee.
MacPhail went into the new year without a designated hitter. Davis hit .265 with 12 homers and 58 RBI the previous year with the Angels. Much has been made of Puckett's role in getting Davis to sign with the Twins, but Gladden also sang Davis' praises. The two lived in the Phoenix area during the offseason and were teammates in San Francisco.
"I told them Chili was the perfect fit," Gladden said. "He's designated hitter. He's a switch hitter."
On Jan. 29, the Twins signed Davis to a two-year deal. And Davis provided what to that point was a career year: .277 average, 29 homers, 93 RBI, .892 on base-plus-slugging percentage while leading the club in several categories. Davis also homered in Games 2 and 3 of the World Series. And he was as popular in the clubhouse as much as he was needed in the lineup.
The ingredients used to cook up this roster had everything: a unique contract with Morris; farm system products like Puckett and Hrbek; trades for Aguilera and Kevin Tapani; free agents like Davis; minor league free agents like Harper; even a Rule 5 pick in Shane Mack. Together, they became a 95-67 juggernaut, beat Toronto in ALCS and completed the worst-to-first run against the Braves.
"You look back at that roster," MacPhail said, "and you didn't rely on one element at all. You used all of them."
America's Sports Capital
This week we look back 30 years at Minnesota's incredible 11 months of mega-sized sporting events:
Part 4: The Twins, Atlanta and the great '91 World Series.
Part 5: Buffalo and Washington ran up the score in the Metrodome in the '92 Super Bowl.
Part 6: Michigan's Fab Five was an even bigger Final Four deal than Christian Laettner and Duke.
lneal@startribune.com. • Twitter: @LaVelleNeal
Hall of Famer Rickey Henderson, the brash speedster who shattered stolen base records and redefined baseball's leadoff position, has died. He was 65.
