1991 Minnesota Twins

1991 Minnesota Twins / Franchise: Minnesota Twins / BR Team Page[edit]

Record: 95-67, Finished 1st in AL Western Division (1991 AL)

Clinched Division: September 29, 1991

World Series Champs

Managed by Tom Kelly

Coaches: Terry Crowley, Ron Gardenhire, Tony Oliva, Rick Stelmaszek, Dick Such and Wayne Terwilliger

Ballpark: Hubert H Humphrey Metrodome

History, Comments, Contributions[edit]

The 1991 Minnesota Twins went from last place in the AL West in 1990 to first place in all of baseball in 1991. Along with the players who made the All-Star team or received postseason honors, their stars included Scott Erickson, Kent Hrbek, and Chili Davis. However, it was the relatively obscure utility player Gene Larkin who delivered the game-winning single in Game 7 of the memorable 1991 World Series against the Atlanta Braves.

The team caught the media's attention when they put together a 15-game winning streak from June 1-16. It the longest winning streak in franchise history and made everyone forget about a 2-9 start to the season. The Twins were still just sputtering along at the end of May, having gone 23-25 until then, before they caught fire. By the end of the 14 games, they were in first place by a half game. They lost to the Baltimore Orioles in walk-off fashion on June 17th, then reeled off another six wins over their next seven games to put them comfortably on top of the AL West standings. They never left first place after that, although for a couple of days when they were tied for first. They went 22-6 in June and had another strong performance in July, going 16-10 for the month, and never let up after that. They finished the season at 95-67, with an 8-game lead on the second-place Chicago White Sox. They ended the season by losing two of three games to the Toronto Blue Jays, the winners of the Eastern Division title, and even though the Jays had a worse overall record at 91-71, they were considered favorites in the ALCS. The Twins made short work of them however, winning the series in five games, to set a meeting with the Braves in the so called "worse-to-first" World Series.