I recently purchased the 1987 World Series Collector’s Edition DVDs and couldn’t resist discussing it here. Hey, it’s my blog and I’ll do what I want.
A few facts about the teams and series:
- The Cardinals’ starters entered the series with a combined 33 home runs. Think about that number. Now, every player hits 33 home runs.
- The Cardinals were without first baseman Jack Clark, who led the team with 35 home runs and 106 RBIs. Third baseman Terry Pendleton was also limited to spot duty in the series due to a ribcage injury. Pendleton, who could only hit left handed and couldn’t play the field against the Twins, hit .286 with 12 home runs and 96 RBIs. Oh those quaint 80′s numbers.
- Danny Cox had a great mustache!
- Twins third baseman Gary Gaetti grew up a Cardinals fan while living in Illinois. He attended several games as a kid. Cardinals pitcher Joe Magrane attended high school in Minnesota. Gaetti eventually played for the Cardinals.
- Bert Blyleven looked exactly the same back then as he does on current Twins broadcasts.
- Kent Hrbek was so awful against left-handed pitchers that Tom Kelly moved him down from fourth to seventh in the lineup. He was a sitting duck for any lefty with a good slider. He had some terrible swings. Ouch.
- Tim Laudner, who hit .191 during the regular season, was an unsung hero. He hit .318 with a homer and 4 RBI. Kirby Puckett had no homers and three RBIs for the series.
- Television graphics in the 80′s looked like they were made by a 6 year old. "Hey this looks really cool. Three colored lines with the team’s logo. It’s genius." Yuck.
Care to share your memories?
In 1987 Hrbek was half the man he is now.
Couldn’t resist the weight joke, could you? But you’re correct, Hrbek hasn’t missed to many trips to the Old Country Buffet. Pass the gravy please! He’s still one of my all-time Minnesota baseball heroes.
This absolutely made my morning… Awesome
I always remember from the 87 Series them cutting to the decibel meter to show how loud the Metrodome was. If I recall correctly, it broke after Hrbek’s grand slam.
you also forgot to mention the abundance of mullets in the 87 & 91 WS videos
Respect the mullet! I think everyone had that great hair style except Puck. I can’t believe nobody brought up the Homer Hanky. Remember the Cardinals ripping off the idea for their home games and calling it the Rally Towel? Nice.
Remember at the beginning of the broadcast, Tim McCarver was yammering about how the Twins weren’t very good and how great the Cardinals were and then Jim Palmer quietly stated that he “favored” the Twins. Why is Tim McCarver still doing network baseball and Jim Palmer is sitting at home living off all the money he made selling BVD’S???
I agree. Try the Website ShutupTimMcCarver.com. It’s full of gems from McCarver like this one: “Jason Giambi walks to much. He’s always clogging up the bases with all that walking.” And this: “A-Rod at the plate, K-Rod on the mound. I guess you could call this match up Rod-Rod.” Whew, that’s insight.
As Harry Doyle said, “He’s not the best color man in business for nothin!”
One of the cool things about the ’87 Twins was all the nicknames they had – Herbie, Puck, Sweet Music, Bruno, Rat, Wrench, Gags, Lombo, TK, Lauds, Geno, Bushie, Newmie. You could actually see the whole team hanging out together and having a few beers. I can still recite the batting order and tell you who the winning pitcher was for all four Twins wins in the series (can anyone else tell me who the Twins’ winning pitchers were???) – now if you asked me what I did yesterday, I may struggle a bit.
OK…Herbie, Bushie and Newmie don’t count. Those are just adding a different sound to the first syllable of their names. that’s just baseball speak that happens with every team. Listen to Gardenhire now: I think he has a condition where he adds “-zie” to to everyone’s name (i.e. Mauzie, Joneszie, etc.)
But Sweet Music, Rat, Wrench — classic.
I forgot – Hrbek also had the nickname Rex…short for T-Rex.
I’m still scratching my head over T.K. pulling Les Straker for “Senior Smoke”, Juan Berenguer in game 3. Straker had the Cardinals absolutely baffeled threw 6 innings of work. Then in an almost disasterous play in game 7, Frank Viola picked of Tommy Herr at 1st base putting him in the run-down. Lombordozi should’ve did the smart thing and threw the ball to Hrbek instead of Viola. But it all turned out alright. I think Herbie blocked the umpire’s view of what was going on. (Didn’t that same umpire pass away that following summer?)
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