The (Un)official 1991 World Series Re-Watch: Game 2

Coming into the second game of the 1991 World Series, the Twins were coming off of a great overall team performance, led by Jack Morris and Greg Gagne. Going into Game 2, the Twins had to be going into it with a whole bunch of confidence, as they were running out Kevin Tapani. The Braves would provide a quality counter-punch, as they trotted out future Hall-of-Famer Tom Glavine. The second game would prove to be the precursor of what would become arguably the greatest World Series of all time.

(GAME 1 RECAP)

(GAME 2 LINK)

• Tom Glavine showed up to the stadium with his hair slicked back, looking like he was fresh out of Goodfellas.
• A lot of people know that Kevin Tapani was a quality pitcher, but did you know that he led the Twins in WAR (6.8) in 1991?
• “Country and western” star Charley Pride sang the national anthem. A wise man once said, “there are only two kinds of music: country and western.”
• First batter of the game for the Twins: Dazzle Dan hits a routine popup to right field, but Mark Lemke and David Justice collided and the ball dropped.
• One thought on that play: while conventional wisdom would say that is Justice’s ball, there’s no way Lemke could hear Justice behind him. That made for difficult communication, but if that ball was going to be caught, Justice could’ve probably let Lemke take care of it.
• Another thought: good on Dazzle to hustle out of the box.
• Speaking of David Justice.... that guy is a buffoon.
• I wonder if Leo Mazzone has back problems from rocking back and forth for all these years.
• It always enjoyable to see the young/skinny Gardy coaching third base.
• Chili Davis... DINGER
• A lot of the hoopla went to Jack Morris signing as a free agent with the Twins, but Chili may have been equally important, as he stabilized the middle of the order and clubbed 29 taters in 1991.
• Sid Bream had worse knees than Pinocchio.
• THE HRBEK PLAY! A few thoughts...
• Mr. Hrbek may indeed have slightly assisted Mr. Gant in extricating himself from first base.
• Ron Gant should’ve slid into first. If he does that, this beautiful play never would have happened.
• How did Ron Gant not get ejected? He threw his helmet near the umpire and was screaming at him. In 2020, he’s ejected, suspended, and there’s probably some sort of documentary shot about him.
• That ended up being a giant play, getting the Twins out of a dicey inning. Now back to the regularly scheduled game...
• Dazzle Dan made a terrific catch in left field, but he clearly donated most of the skin on his hand to the Metrodome carpet.
• It’s crazy how effortless Tom Glavine made things look. He made pitching look awfully easy (it’s not). He got on such a roll, he took the noise out of raucous Metrodome crowd.
• Turns out, not only is Greg Olson from Minnesota, he’s a cake eater.
• Kevin Tapani has a striking resemblance to Jerry Seinfeld.
• Not sure what Ron Gant’s batting helmet did to him, but that thing took a beating throughout the game.
• We had a Juan “Senor Smoke” Berenguer sighting in the Braves dugout.
• Sid Bream had a thick mustache and a limp, I’m pretty convinced he’s related to Joe Exotic somehow.
• Tapani and Glavine both got in a major groove, this game clipped along through the middle innings pretty quickly.
• Rafael Belliard stood next to Kent Hrbek, and it was very reminiscent of the Aaron Judge/Jose Altuve picture.
• Terry Pendleton made a feet-first slide into first base, and he displayed perfectly why you shouldn’t make a feet-first slide into first base.
• Scott Leius... DINGER. CLUTCH DINGER.
• Leius is from New York, and he looks like he’s from New York.
• Rick Aguilera had a nasty forkball.
• Aggy. Door closed. 3-2 Twins win.

It was once again fun to take a trip down memory lane! I’m looking forward to diving into Game 3 next week, as the mighty Twins travel to Atlanta to face their first road test. Hopefully all of the Twinkie Town faithful is staying safe and healthy!