Published October 11, 2009 08:18 pm -
From the perspective of a Twins fans (most of us), the biggest drawback to Tuesday’s Game 163 was that there was little time to savor the game. And it was a marvelous game, riddled with turning points, mistakes, breaks, rallies and Houdini pitching escapes.
Dome saves its best for (almost) last
Edward Thoma
Free Press Staff Writer
From the perspective of a Twins fans (most of us), the biggest drawback to Tuesday’s Game 163 was that there was little time to savor the game.
And it was a marvelous game, riddled with turning points, mistakes, breaks, rallies and Houdini pitching escapes.
You know it’s a great game when even players on the losing side call it one of the best they’ve ever been in.
So three days later the Twins lost Game 2 of the division series to the Yankees, and — viewed objectively — there were a lot of parallels between that and Game 163.
Not as many lead changes, but a dramatic ninth-inning comeback. A bases-loaded, nobody-out escape — aided, as in Game 163, by an umpire’s error. Two glaring baserunning blunders, one by each team, one of which cut short a rally, the other costing a run.
It was a truly outstanding game, probably a cut below Tuesday’s on the basis of one less inning and fewer lead changes.
But it’s not one Twins fans are going to recall fondly — no more than Braves fans view either Game 6 or game 7 of 1991, or than Detroit followers will Tuesday’s.
So ranking these gems are all a matter of where one sits.
Still, the question arises: Was Tuesday’s game the greatest game at the Metrodome?
As you may have heard, this was the last season for the Twins in the mutant mushroom.
The Twins spent the season counting down the 100 greatest “moments” in the Dome. No. 1 on the Twins’ list: Game Six of the 1991 World Series. The Puckett Game. No. 2 was the welcome home for the 1987 team after they won the LCS in Detroit; No. 3 was Game 7 of the ’91 Series — The Morris Game.
The Star Tribune also had a list, this of the Top 10. The top three there were the same, but with the Morris Game No. 2 and the welcome home third. The Puckett Game topped their list.
I happened to be at all three contests — lucky me. Which is my choice?
Time dulls some of the memories. What I remember of Game 6 is slightly more than the oft-replayed highlights (Puckett’s catch off Ron Gant; Puckett’s home run off Charlie Liebrandt). I also remember Puckett’s first-inning triple and his stolen base. And I remember being utterly convinced that Scott Erickson had nothing and could not possibly survive as long as he did (six innings, three runs allowed.)
The Twins never trailed in that game, and won it 4-3 in 11 innings.