The pitching staff excelled as well, with 20-game winner Scott Erickson, closer Rick Aguilera, and newly acquired free agent, St. Paul native Jack Morris, having all-star years.

[8] Following a late-season collapse in 1983, the Atlanta Braves had a string of seven consecutive losing seasons and finished last in the National League West three times in a row from 1988 to 1990.

However, pitching coach Leo Mazzone began developing young pitchers Tom Glavine, Steve Avery, and John Smoltz into future stars.

Aided by position players Dave Justice, Ron Gant, unexpected MVP third baseman Terry Pendleton and Cy Young Award winner Tom Glavine, 1991 was the franchise's best season since 1957.

[17] The Twins added three more runs in the fifth, as Kent Hrbek led off with a double, Scott Leius singled and shortstop Greg Gagne hit a three-run shot.

Leibrandt was pulled from the game after the home run, and reliever Jim Clancy promptly allowed Gladden and Knoblauch to reach base on an error and a walk.

After walking the first two batters to lead off the eighth, Morris was pulled from the game in favor of Mark Guthrie, who induced a double play off the bat of Terry Pendleton.

Leibrandt's poor performance resulted in his being removed from the rotation, although he did pitch in Game 6, facing just one batter and giving up the game-winning home run to Puckett.

Gladden reached third standing up, and Chuck Knoblauch subsequently flied out to allow him to score the first run of the game and end Avery's scoreless innings streak.

Erickson was pulled from the game after allowing Terry Pendleton and Justice to reach base, on a walk and an error by Knoblauch on a ground ball that should have ended the inning.

David West entered the game and walked two consecutive batters, forcing home an unearned run (charged to Erickson) and leaving the bases loaded for Terry Leach, who struck out Mark Lemke to end the inning.

Gladden was able to advance to third on the error, and with the go-ahead run in scoring position, Braves manager Bobby Cox brought in Kent Mercker to pitch.

Lemke (who had nearly caused a major Twins rally with his fielding error in the top of the inning) now entered the pantheon of World Series heroes by hitting a single to left that enabled Justice to just beat the throw home from Gladden.

The move backfired as Braves got the run back in the bottom of the inning when Smith made up for his baserunning gaffe and homered off Twins reliever Carl Willis to tie the game.

After Olson popped out, Lemke hit his third triple in his last four at bats, driving home Justice and Hunter, and scoring when Belliard singled to center.

He also lost Game 6 of the 1992 World Series by allowing an extra-base hit to the Blue Jays' (coincidentally Minnesota native) Dave Winfield for the eventual game- and series-winning runs, but was significantly more philosophical about that misfortune, saying, "I was devastated last year.

A symbolic moment for this Series occurred on the first at-bat when Braves leadoff hitter Lonnie Smith shook hands with Twins catcher Brian Harper just before stepping up to the plate.

The Twins were the first team to get a runner in scoring position, as singles by Brian Harper and Shane Mack with two out set Mike Pagliarulo up with a chance to drive in a run.

The Braves were then able to get two baserunners of their own in their next at bat, as a single by Rafael Belliard, a passed ball, and a walk to Smith put runners on with only one out in the top of the third inning.

Knoblauch and his fellow middle infielder Greg Gagne had set up a decoy system designed to confuse the baserunner, feigning going for a double play.

In the bottom of the eighth, Randy Bush pinch-hit for Gagne to lead off for the Twins, and singled off Smoltz, then was removed in favor of the faster Al Newman to pinch-run.

Peña faced Gladden to start the bottom half of the inning, and the Twins' leadoff hitter lifted a fly ball to left field after breaking his bat upon the impact.

Since he would not have needed to play him in the field, as he would have filled the designated hitter role if the game advanced beyond the tenth, Kelly decided to send Larkin to the plate.

On the first pitch he saw, Larkin drove a single into deep left-center over the drawn-in outfield, scoring Gladden with the series-winning run and giving the Twins their second world championship since moving to Minnesota.

After the Twins' triumph, the 1993 Phillies, 1998 Padres, 2007 Rockies and the 2008 Rays followed previous seasons' last-place finishes with a World Series appearance, but fell short.

After Game 7, CBS Sports analyst Tim McCarver consoled Atlanta fans by stating that this was an excellent team and that he expected they would "be around" for some time to come.

Francisco Cabrera's two-out single that scored David Justice and Sid Bream capped a three-run rally in the bottom of the ninth inning that gave the Braves a 3–2 victory.

In 1994, Puckett was switched to right field and won his first league RBI title by driving in 112 runs in only 108 games; a pace that projects to 168 RBIs over a full season.

Knoblauch was the last hitter of the 1991 team to remain in Minnesota, eventually forcing a trade after the 1997 season to the Yankees, with whom he won three additional World Series titles.

Although Buck continued to call games for the St. Louis Cardinals for the remainder of the decade, they did not reach the World Series again until 2004, two years after his death from lung cancer.