Greatest Twins Moments & Performances: A Twinkie Town Definitive List (Round 6)

• R1: Jack Morris Game 7 Shutout 1991

• R2: Kirby Puckett Game 6 Dominance 1991

• R3: First World Series championship 1987

• R4: AL Champions Metrodome welcome 1987

• R5: Game 163 wild victory 2009

I will never forget the emotions I experienced surrounding the wild Game 163 to end the 2009 season.

First, there were the four must-win victories just to get the team to a one-game playoff. Then, there was a “I can’t believe this is happening again” sort of mentality. Combined with being the last days of Metrodome baseball, sentiments were sky-high!

Then the game actually started—and provided almost no relief until Alexi Casilla sent Carlos Gomez pinwheeling around third base and into the playoffs proper. There’s a strong case I was never more morose as when Jesse Crain (my mortal enemy) gave up what looked for all the world like a season-ending RBI double. Conversely, seeing Joe Nathan induce an improbable game-saving double play and Michael Cuddyer chugging around the bases on an equally-as-unlikely “Dome triple” to keep the season alive were moments of pure sports fan ecstasy.

It’s possible I’ve had one or two more joyous moments as a Twins fan, but nothing has yet come close to the highs-and-lows rollercoaster of Game 163 in 2009.

The newbie: The playoff curse is broken in 2023!

• On 8/6/06, the Twins were 10.5 GB the Detroit Tigers for the AL Central top spot. Going into Game 162? Tied with the striped cats. After the Twins polished off the Chicago White Sox on the season’s final day, the entire Metrodome crowd stuck around to watch the Tigers lose to the Kansas City Royals on the Jumbotron scoreboard—triggering a celebration as massive as it was unlikely for the Smell ‘Em & Piranha Crew.

• On August 10, 1971, Minnesota masher Harmon Killebrew took Mike Cuellar deep in the 1st inning at Metropolitan Stadium. That home run gained Harm admittance into the 500 Home Run Club—only the 10th occupant of that roundtable at the time. The clout cemented The Killer as an all-time slugger.

• In 1965, the Twins appeared in their first World Series. Things were looking great—two wins at Metropolitan Stadium against the Los Angeles Dodgers—until the series shifted to Chavez Ravine where the Twins could not record a victory. So, Game 6 was a must-win back at The Met and The Mudcat (Jim Grant) was more than up to the task. Not only did he pitch a full 9 innings of one-run ball, but he pulled a Shohei Ohtani and homered in the 6th to put the game on ice and ensure another day of baseball in ‘65.

• One could argue that Kirby Puckett became a true star on a late-August 1987 weekend in Milwaukee. On Saturday, 8/29, he went 4-5 with 2 HR. The Sunday 8/30 encore: 6-6, 2 2B, & 2 HR. If you are counting along at home, that’s 24 total bases in less than 24 hours! Puck raised his average from .315 to .328 in that short span and his storied career was off to the races.

• Starting in 2004 and continuing through 2022, the Minnesota Twins lost 18 consecutive playoff games—a professional sports (of any kind) record. But in Game 1 of the 2023 AL Wild Card round versus the Toronto Blue Jays, Royce Lewis became The Exorcist and got MN into the October win column when Jhoan Duran polished off the save. The next day, the Twins sent the Blue Birds back over the northern border after Sonny Gray & Carlos Correa collaborated on a clutch pickoff. Meaningful baseball was revitalized in Minnesota!