1987 World Series
Team (Wins) Managers Season Minnesota Twins (4) Tom Kelly 85–77 (.525), GA: 2 St. Louis Cardinals (3) Whitey Herzog 95–67 (.586), GA: 3
Dates	October 17–25
Venue(s)	Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome (Minnesota) Busch Memorial Stadium (St. Louis)
MVP	Frank Viola (Minnesota)
Umpires	Dave Phillips (AL),Lee Weyer (NL), Greg Kosc (AL),John McSherry (NL), Ken Kaiser (AL),Terry Tata (NL)
Hall of Famers	Twins: Bert Blyleven Steve Carlton (DNP) Tony Oliva (coach) Kirby Puckett Cardinals: Whitey Herzog (manager) Ozzie Smith
Broadcast
Television	ABC
TV announcers	Al Michaels,Jim Palmer, andTim McCarver
Radio	CBS KMOX (STL) WCCO (MIN)
Radio announcers	Jack Buck andBill White (CBS, KMOX) Herb Carneal andJohn Gordon (WCCO)
ALCS	Minnesota Twins overDetroit Tigers (4–1)
NLCS	St. Louis Cardinals overSan Francisco Giants (4–3)
World Series program
← 1986 World Series 1988 →

The1987 World Series was thechampionship series ofMajor League Baseball's (MLB)1987 season. The 84th edition of the World Series, it was abest-of-seven playoff played between theAmerican League (AL)championMinnesota Twins and theNational League (NL)championSt. Louis Cardinals. The Twins defeated the Cardinals four games to three to win the Series, their first inMinnesota and the first since last winning as theWashington Senators in1924. Twins pitcherFrank Viola was named as the 1987World Series MVP.

It was the first World Series to feature games played indoors, and the first in which thehome team won every game; this would happen again in1991 (also a Twins championship, over theAtlanta Braves) and in2001 with theArizona Diamondbacks defeating theNew York Yankees.

This was the third of six World Series played entirely onartificial turf, with the others in1980,1985,1993,2020, and 2023.

This is the first World Series in which the series logo appeared on the jerseys; only the Cardinals wore it. Both contestants in thefollowing year's World Series wore a patch. It was also the last World Series in which any games were played during the day as opposed to in the evening.

This was the third consecutive World Series to go the full seven games, a feat that has not occurred since.

The 1987 World Series was the first World Series games played in an indoor stadium (theHubert H. Humphrey Metrodome)^[1] and, to date, the last World Series game to start earlier thanprime time in the eastern United States (Game 6 started at 4:00 p.m.ET/3:00 p.m.CT), and it was the first World Series in which all games were won by the home team (four previous series had the home team winning the first six games, including the1965 World Series, when the Twins dropped Game 7 to theDodgers); as part of the format of the time, the American League hosted the Series due to it being an odd-numbered year.^[2] The bottom half of the ninth inning was never played in any game of this Series, the first and only time this has happened. In 1987,^[3] the Twins set the record for the worst (full 162 game) regular season win–loss record of any World Series championship team (85–77, .525). This record stood until it was broken when the Cardinals won the2006 Series after going 83–78 (.516).

Besides setting a record for the worst regular season winning percentage for a World Series winner and hosting the first World Series game indoors, the Twins were the first team to enter the World Series having been outscored in the regular season. The Twins, as a team, were outnumbered in virtually every major statistical category in 1987. As ABC play-by-play commentatorAl Michaels put it in the pre-game show for Game 1,"They were out everything!"

The Cardinals posted a 95–67 record during the regular season, but were hindered by injuries in the postseason, most notably with the loss of their lone home-run threat, first basemanJack Clark, who sprained his right ankle in a game in Montreal on September 9. During the regular season, Clark led the National League in on-base percentage and slugging percentage despite playing inBusch Memorial Stadium, which was reputed to be the league's most extreme "pitcher's park."^{[citation needed]} He hit 35 home runs in 131 games, and was the only person on the team to hit more than 12. The player on the team who hit 12, starting third basemanTerry Pendleton (though named to the World Series roster) was hampered with a ribcage injury. Normally a switch-hitter, Pendleton was only able to swing lefthanded during the World Series and was also unable to play the field and thus was relegated to pinch-hitting duties or being the designated hitter in the games in Minnesota started by right-handed starters.

Game 7 was won by Minnesota on the 35th birthday of the Twins' Roy Smalley – and was also the last game of his career. Smalley appeared in four games as a pinch-hitter and reached base all four times on a double, an error, and two walks.

ALMinnesota Twins (4) vs. NLSt. Louis Cardinals (3)

A raucous, sold-out Metrodome met the Cardinals on October 17, stunning the visitors with crowd noise that could exceed 110decibelsSPL. The Cardinals struggled defensively, with outfielder Willie McGee losing sight of pop flies against the Metrodome's white roof in the fourth and eighth innings, and infielder Tom Lawless committing an infield error in the sixth inning. None of those miscues, however, contributed to Twins runs. The Twins' aggressive play further compounded the problems of the Cards, and the game ended as a 10–1 blowout. Starting pitcherFrankie "Sweet Music" Viola had little trouble with the Cardinals' potent lineup. For the Twins,Dan Gladden hit agrand slam and totaled five RBIs, capping off a seven-run fourth inning, withSteve Lombardozzi adding a two-run homer, whileKent Hrbek had two RBIs.

Frank Viola was scheduled to be best man at his brother's wedding, but had to cancel when the Twins reached the World Series as it fell on the same night as Game 1, in which he was scheduled as starter. ABC showed clips of the wedding throughout the game's broadcast.

Coincidentally, the song "U Got The Look" peaked in popularity (#2 on theBillboard singles chart) on this date. The song was written and performed byPrince (a Minneapolis native) and contains the line "boy versus girl in the World Series of love".

While improving on their Game One performance, the Cards were again unable to hold the Twins offense and fell behind 7–0 before beginning to rally. The Cards' total of nine hits was just one short of the Twins but they managed only one double, against three doubles and two home runs hit by Minnesota.Gary Gaetti hit a homer in the second inning. The Twins broke the game open in the fourth, scoring six runs resulting in starter Danny Cox being pulled from the game. The final score was 8–4.Randy Bush andTim Laudner each came through with a pair of two-run-scoring hits in the fourth, with Laudner's being a home run and Bush's being a double.Bert Blyleven pitched seven innings of two-run baseball for the win.

Traveling down theMississippi, to the open air ofBusch Stadium, Game 3 saw a tense pitching duel between Twins starterLes Straker andJohn Tudor of the Cardinals. This match-up was also notable for Straker being the firstVenezuelan to pitch in a World Series game.

After five scoreless innings by both teams, the Twins broke through in the top of the sixth inning.Greg Gagne walked to lead off the inning, andKirby Puckett walked to move Gagne into scoring position.Tom Brunansky's RBI single looked like all the offense the game would see. But, in the bottom of the seventh,Juan Berenguer, in relief of Straker, surrendered leadoff back-to-back singles toJose Oquendo andTony Peña.Terry Pendleton sacrificed the runners to second and third, andVince Coleman slammed a two-run double to give the Cards a 2–1 lead.Ozzie Smith followed by singling in Coleman for the final run, andTodd Worrell closed out saving the win for Tudor.

In Game 4, the Twins scored first onGreg Gagne’s home run, but the Cardinals tied it on aJim Lindeman RBI single.Tom Lawless hit a three-run homer in the fourth off Viola (only his second Major League homer after going 2 for 25 during the regular season), one of Viola's five earned runs in the game and six runs in the fourth. The Cards, however, weren't done scoring;Dan Schatzeder allowed another RBI single to Lindeman and a two-run double toWillie McGee.Joe Niekro andGeorge Frazier shut the Redbirds out the rest of the game.Bob Forsch got the win with2+2⁄3 innings of one run relief. StarterGreg Mathews aggravated a quadriceps injury in the fourth inning (the injury went back to Game 5 of the NLCS), had to be removed from the game and was unable to play for the rest of the series.Ken Dayley got the save.

Just prior to Game 4,Reggie Jackson, who was working as a field reporter forABC's coverage of the 1987 World Series, admitted that he didn't know who Tom Lawless was.

Game 5 was a much closer contest, with the Cardinals coming out victorious by a score of 4–2.Curt Ford hit a two-run single in the sixth, breaking a scoreless pitcher's duel betweenDanny Cox andBert Blyleven. By the end of the seventh, the Cards were up 4–0. The Twins scored two in the eighth on a triple byGary Gaetti off relieverTodd Worrell to make a game of it, but eventually relinquished the save to him as Gaetti failed to score. The Cardinals stole five bases in Game 5, the most for any team since the1907 Chicago Cubs.

The Series returned to the Metrodome with the Twins facing elimination (a position they would find themselves infour years later against theAtlanta Braves). ABC allowed the game to be played at 3 p.m.CT (4 p.m.ET) on Saturday afternoon – the only day game of the series, and the last World Series game to date to be played in the daytime (although as the game was played in the Metrodome, the game took place under artificial lighting).

The Cardinals drew first blood offLes Straker on aTommy Herr home run in the first, and the Twins countered with two in their half of the first on RBI singles byKirby Puckett andDon Baylor. The Cardinals soon tied it in the second on aJose Oquendo RBI single.

In the fourth, the Cards chased Straker whenDan Driessen led off with a double to right and went to third on aWillie McGee single. McGee took second on the attempted throw home by center fielderKirby Puckett.Terry Pendleton followed by singling home Driessen and Oquendo hit a sacrifice fly to make it 4–2. Another run scored for the Cards in the fifth when leftyDan Schatzeder walkedOzzie Smith. Smith went to second on a groundout, to third on a flyout, and scored on another McGee single.

In the bottom of the fifth, however, the Twins began to claw their way back againstJohn Tudor. Puckett led off with a single and was doubled in byGary Gaetti. Benefitting from use of thedesignated hitter in their home ballpark, the Twins then tied it on a mammoth home run by their DH,Don Baylor. AfterTom Brunansky followed with a single, the Twins took the lead for good whenSteve Lombardozzi singled him in with two out on a close play at the plate.

The Twins then blew the game open in the sixth.Greg Gagne led off with an infield single and Puckett walked. Apassed ball byTony Peña advanced the runners. With first base open and one out, Cards veteranBob Forsch intentionally walked Baylor to load the bases. Baylor had played only 20 regular season games with the Twins after being traded fromBoston andTim McCarver in the ABC broadcast booth argued that he should be pitched to rather than walked, despite the home run in the previous inning. BothJim Palmer andAl Michaels agreed, as Palmer didn't like the idea of loading the bases with the risk of giving up multiple runs, and Michaels pointed out that left-handerKen Dayley might have to be brought in earlier than normal.^[11] After Brunansky popped out, Dayley was indeed brought in to face the lefty-hittingKent Hrbek. Hrbek finally broke out of his slump and hit agrand slam to the deepest part of center field.

Brunansky drove in the final run in the eighth and the Twins had staved off defeat. This was the last day game in World Series history to date.

Game 7 forced aNational Football League game between theDenver Broncos and theMinnesota Vikings, originally scheduled for that afternoon at the Metrodome, to be played the following night (also onABC).

Joe Magrane of theSt. Louis Cardinals became only the sixth rookie pitcher to start the seventh game of a World Series.^[12] He also is the only pitcher in World Series history to start Games 1 and 7 of a World Series without any starts in between, as the Cardinals' Game 4 starter,Greg Mathews, had to be removed early due to an injury and was unavailable for the remainder of the Series. Magrane had actually started the 1987 season pitching for the CardinalsTriple-A team, theLouisville Redbirds.

In the second, the Cardinals looked poised to sendFrank Viola to anearly shower. Three straight no-out singles byJim Lindeman,Willie McGee, andTony Peña plated the first run. Viola settled down to retire the next two hitters, but thenSteve Lake singled in McGee for a 2–0 lead. Viola settled into a groove, however, and allowed only two more hits and no runs in eight strong innings.

The Twins came back in their half of the second on aSteve Lombardozzi RBI single, but not before a missed call at home plate by umpireDave Phillips had already cost the Twins a run. Twins DHDon Baylor reached base on a hit-by-pitch by Magrane to lead off the inning andTom Brunansky singled him to second. With one out,Tim Laudner singled to left and Baylor was called out at home on a throw fromVince Coleman in left, while replays clearly showed Baylor was safe. Lombardozzi then singled in Brunansky.

In the fifth, the Twins tied the score whenGreg Gagne reached on an infield hit andKirby Puckett drove him in with a double. Incidentally, replays showed Gagne to be out on his infield hit, thus this run served to counteract the run the Twins lost in the second on the missed call on Baylor at the plate. The Twins seemed on the verge of taking the lead whenGary Gaetti followed Puckett with a walk and went to second when Puckett was thrown out by Lake trying to advance to third on a wild pitch that was deflected when it hit the home plate umpire in the face-mask. Baylor followed with a single to left, but Coleman threw out Gaetti at the plate in a violent collision with Lake. Coleman became the first outfielder to throw two runners out at the plate in one World Series game.

The sixth inning proved to be controversial. In the top of the sixth,Tom Herr had hit a single with one out. WithJim Lindeman at bat, the third missed call of the game would occur. On a 3-2 count, Herr would get caught in a rundown and Lombardozzi ran him back to first whereKent Hrbek was standing off the bag near the basepath. Lombardozzi tossed the ball towards Hrbek and the ball sailed past him but into the glove of Viola behind the bag. Viola had come over to take part in the rundown. Herr was hindered by Hrbek returning to the bag, but clearly reached the bag safely before Viola tagged him. However, first base umpireLee Weyer called Herr out. Weyer's view was blocked byKent Hrbek and, according to the broadcast crew, Viola made the tag late and Hrbek should have been called for obstruction. Had this been called, Herr would have been safe, awarded second base, and the Cardinals would have had a runner at second with one out. It was the third missed call of the game for the normally highly regarded Weyer—often considered one of the best umpires in baseball—-and the fourth of the game total with Phillips’ missed call on Baylor in the 2nd. Two of the four missed calls had direct effects on the score, but they cancelled each other out, as one cost the Twins a run while another led to their scoring a gift run in the 5th. The Herr call did not directly affect the score because on the next pitch, Lindeman flied out to right field to end the 6th inning and Viola also retired the first batter of the following inning.^[13] The Twins then took the lead in the bottom of the inning, offDanny Cox, who had relieved Magrane the previous inning. Cox walked Brunansky and Hrbek to lead off, and was replaced byTodd Worrell. As Cox was leaving, he got into an argument with home plate umpireDave Phillips and was ejected as he was leaving the field. As of 2020, Cox is the last non-manager to be ejected from a World Series game. After retiring the first batter he faced, Worrell walked pinch-hitterRoy Smalley and struck outDan Gladden for the second out. The next batter, Gagne, reached first on an infield hit as Brunansky scored the go-ahead run.

The Twins' final run came in the eighth on an RBI double byDan Gladden off Worrell, who stayed in the rest of the game for the Cardinals.Jeff Reardon retired the side in the ninth to give Minnesota their first World Series victory.

With the victory,Tom Kelly became, at 37, the third youngest manager (and the youngest non-playing manager) to win a World Series. OnlyJohn McGraw, who won the1905 World Series at 32, andFrank Chance, who won the1907 World Series at 30, are younger.

1987 World Series(4–3):Minnesota Twins (A.L.) overSt. Louis Cardinals (N.L.)

Twins managerTom Kelly became the youngest non-playing manager to win the World Series sinceJohn McGraw in1905.

This was the first major professional sports championship won by aMinneapolis-St. Paul-based team since1954, when the then-Minneapolis Lakers completed theNBA’s first three-peat before their move toLos Angeles.

By winning in the regulation nine innings, the Twins ensured the 1987 World Series was the first in which no games needed the bottom of the ninth inning. No other World Series since then has had that happen, as the two other Fall Classics in which the home team won every game—1991 and 2001—both included extra inning games and walk-off wins in the bottom of the ninth.^[15]

AlthoughSteve Carlton was not on the Twins' playoff roster, he still attended theWhite House to be congratulated byPresidentReagan. While making a photo op with the president, local newspapers listed the names of all of the Minnesota Twins. The only man who wasn't listed (and simply identified as aSecret Service agent) was a tall man wearing dark sunglasses in the back. The man in question was Carlton.

After their defeat in the '87 Series, the Cardinals' reign of dominance in the '80s ended. They failed to win their division again until1996, did not return to theWorld Series until2004 and did not win until2006 in a season where they won two fewer regular season games than the 1987 Twins.

In 1988, theTwins actually won more games than in their championship season, finishing with a 91–71 record. In spite of this improvement, they finished 13 games behind the AL West championOakland A's, who won 104 games. The Twins eventually sank towards the bottom of the standings, finishing last in1990. In 1991, theTwins returned to the playoffs by beating theBlue Jays in theALCS and winning what many call the greatestWorld Series ever played, over theAtlanta Braves.

The 1987 World Series featured at least two players who went on to winManager of the Year awards. The Twins'Don Baylor won it in 1995 for his work with theColorado Rockies while the Cardinals'Tony Peña won it in 2003 for his efforts with theKansas City Royals.

The success of the 1987 Twins inspiredBrandon Walsh (Jason Priestley) inBeverly Hills 90210 to explain why the Twins were the ultimate definition of a team, thus enabling him to win the Dreyer Scholarship. His interview, however, included a factual inaccuracy; he said Gladden hit a grand slam in Game 4, when in fact Gladden hit one in Game 1, and Hrbek hit one in the pivotal Game 6.

Some years after the conclusion of the series it emerged that a lone Metrodome technician had, at his own initiative, tried to influence games on the Twins behalf by adjusting the air conditioning fans while the Twins were at bat. It remains unclear whether this had any effect on game play, or in particular, on games played at the Metrodome during the 1987 World Series.^[16]

In a February 2015 interview, sportscaster and authorAl Michaels (who, as previously mentioned, did play-by-play forABC's television coverage of the 1987 World Series) alleged the Twins pumpedartificial crowd noise into the Metrodome during the 1987 World Series. Responding to Michaels' theory, Twins PresidentDave St. Peter said that he did not think the Twins needed "conspiracy theories" in order to win the World Series. Instead, he argued that "appreciation and respect" should be paid to players like Frank Viola, Gary Gaetti, Kent Hrbek, and Kirby Puckett, who, he said, "came out of nowhere to win a championship."^[17]

The 1987 World Series was the final one that ABC aired that went the full seven games. The next time that ABC broadcast a World Series, in1989, theOakland Athletics swept theSan Francisco Giants in four games. For the final World Series that ABC would broadcast to date,1995, they split the coverage withNBC. ABC only covered Games 1, 4 and 5, and would have broadcast a seventh game had it been necessary.

As of 2023, this is also the last time where three consecutive World Series went to seven games (1985,1986, 1987).

• 1987 Japan Series

• Neft, David S.; Cohen, Richard M. (1990).The World Series (1st ed.). New York: St Martins. pp. 419–424.
• Forman, Sean L."Major League Statistics and Information: 1987 World Series".Baseball-Reference.com.Archived from the original on December 17, 2007. RetrievedDecember 9, 2007.

• 1987 World Series atWorldSeries.com viaMLB.com
• 1987 World Series atBaseball Almanac
• 1987 World Series atBaseball-Reference.com
• The 1987 Post-Season Games (box scores and play-by-play) atRetrosheet
• History of the World Series - 1987 atThe Sporting News. Archived fromthe original in May 2006.
• Sweet Music at SI.com
• 1987 St. Louis Cardinals at baseballlibrary.com
• 1987 Minnesota Twins at baseballlibrary.com
• A set of 10 play-by-play audio clips from ABC's coverage of the series
• Pictorial 1987 Minnesota Twins Roster

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