| Tournament details | |
|---|---|
| Dates | October 8–27, 1991 [1] |
| Teams | 4 |
| Final positions | |
| Champions | Minnesota Twins (3rd title) |
| Runner-up | Atlanta Braves (5th World Series appearance) |
| Awards | |
| MVP | Jack Morris (MIN) |
The 1991 Major League Baseball postseason was the playoff tournament of Major League Baseball for the 1991 season. The winners of each division advance to the postseason and face each other in a League Championship Series to determine the pennant winners that face each other in the World Series.
In the American League, the Minnesota Twins returned to the postseason for the second time in five years, and the Toronto Blue Jays returned for the third time in the past seven years. This was Minnesota’s last postseason appearance until 2002.
In the National League, the Pittsburgh Pirates made their second consecutive appearance, and the Atlanta Braves made their first postseason appearance since 1982. This marked the first of fourteen consecutive postseason appearances for the Braves franchise from 1991 to 2005, excluding 1994, when the season was cancelled.
This was the first postseason since 1980 to not feature a team from California.
The playoffs began on October 8, 1991, and concluded on October 27, 1991, with the Twins defeating the Braves in seven games in the 1991 World Series. It was the Twins' second title in Minnesota and their third overall.
The following teams qualified for the postseason:
| League Championship Series (ALCS, NLCS) | World Series | |||||||
| East | Toronto | 1 | ||||||
| West | Minnesota | 4 | ||||||
| AL | Minnesota | 4 | ||||||
| NL | Atlanta | 3 | ||||||
| East | Pittsburgh | 3 | ||||||
| West | Atlanta | 4 | ||||||
Minnesota won the series, 4–1.
| Game | Date | Score | Location | Time | Attendance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | October 8 | Toronto Blue Jays – 4, Minnesota Twins – 5 | Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome | 3:17 | 54,766 [6] |
| 2 | October 9 | Toronto Blue Jays – 5, Minnesota Twins – 2 | Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome | 3:02 | 54,816 [7] |
| 3 | October 11 | Minnesota Twins – 3, Toronto Blue Jays – 2 (10) | SkyDome | 3:36 | 51,454 [8] |
| 4 | October 12 | Minnesota Twins – 9, Toronto Blue Jays – 3 | SkyDome | 3:15 | 51,526 [9] |
| 5 | October 13 | Minnesota Twins – 8, Toronto Blue Jays – 5 | SkyDome | 3:29 | 51,425 [10] |
This was the first postseason meeting between the Twins and Blue Jays. The Twins defeated the Blue Jays in five games to return to the World Series for the second time in five years.
In Game 1, the Twins' bullpen held off a rally by the Blue Jays to win 5–4. Juan Guzmán and Duane Ward helped the Blue Jays prevail by a 5–2 score in Game 2 to even the series headed home to Toronto. The Twins took Game 3 in extra innings thanks to a solo home run from Mike Pagliarulo in the top of the tenth. Jack Morris and Steve Bedrosian shut down the Blue Jays' offense in Game 4 as the Twins won in a blowout, 9–3, to take a 3–1 series lead. Game 5 was an offensive duel which was won by the Twins, as they overcame a 5–2 Blue Jays lead with six unanswered runs to clinch the pennant.
To date, this is the last time that the Twins won the American League pennant, as well as the last time that a team from the Minneapolis–St. Paul metropolitan area won a league or conference championship of the four major North American sports leagues. The Twins would only make one more ALCS appearance in 2002, where they lost to the eventual World Series champion Anaheim Angels in five games. The Twins currently hold the third longest pennant drought in the American League, which currently stands at 34 years.
The Blue Jays returned to the ALCS the next year, defeating the Oakland Athletics in six games en route to their first World Series title. Both teams would meet again in the Wild Card round of the 2023 postseason, where the Twins swept the Blue Jays.
Atlanta won the series, 4–3.
| Game | Date | Score | Location | Time | Attendance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | October 9 | Atlanta Braves – 1, Pittsburgh Pirates – 5 | Three Rivers Stadium | 2:51 | 57,347 [11] |
| 2 | October 10 | Atlanta Braves – 1, Pittsburgh Pirates – 0 | Three Rivers Stadium | 2:46 | 57,533 [12] |
| 3 | October 12 | Pittsburgh Pirates – 3, Atlanta Braves – 10 | Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium | 3:21 | 50,905 [13] |
| 4 | October 13 | Pittsburgh Pirates – 3, Atlanta Braves – 2 (10) | Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium | 3:43 | 51,109 [14] |
| 5 | October 14 | Pittsburgh Pirates – 1, Atlanta Braves – 0 | Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium | 2:51 | 51,109 [15] |
| 6 | October 16 | Atlanta Braves – 1, Pittsburgh Pirates – 0 | Three Rivers Stadium | 3:09 | 54,508 [16] |
| 7 | October 17 | Atlanta Braves – 4, Pittsburgh Pirates – 0 | Three Rivers Stadium | 3:04 | 46,932 [17] |
This was the first postseason meeting between the Braves and Pirates. It was also the first of eight consecutive appearances in the NLCS for the Braves, which ended in 1999. The Braves defeated the Pirates in seven games to return to the World Series for the first time since 1958, when the team was still based in Milwaukee (in the process denying a rematch of the 1925 World Series between the Pirates and Twins (who were then known as the Washington Senators)).
Doug Drabek out-dueled Tom Glavine as the Pirates took Game 1 by a 5–1 score. The Braves evened the series in Game 2 with a 1–0 shutout victory, as Steve Avery out-dueled Zane Smith. Game 2 was the Braves’ first victory in a postseason game since Game 4 of the 1958 World Series. When the series shifted to Atlanta, John Smoltz pitched six solid innings as the Braves blew out the Pirates, 10–3, to take a 2–1 series lead. The Pirates evened the series in an extra-inning Game 4 as Mike LaValliere scored the winning run with an RBI single. In Game 5, Smith outdueled Glavine as the Pirates won 1–0 to take a 3–2 series lead headed back to Pittsburgh, now one win away from their first NL pennant in 12 years. Game 6 was another pitchers' duel, which featured Avery and Drabek. It would be won by the former as the Braves won 1–0 to force a seventh game. Smoltz pitched a complete-game shutout in Game 7 as the Braves won 4–0 to clinch the pennant.
The Braves and Pirates would meet again in the NLCS the next year, with the Braves coming out on top yet again in an even closer 7-game series. This was the first pennant won by the Braves during the 1990s. They would win it in seven games over the Pirates again the next year, as well as in 1995, 1996, and 1999.
Minnesota won the series, 4–3.
| Game | Date | Score | Location | Time | Attendance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | October 19 | Atlanta Braves – 2, Minnesota Twins – 5 | Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome | 3:00 | 55,108 [18] |
| 2 | October 20 | Atlanta Braves – 2, Minnesota Twins – 3 | Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome | 2:37 | 55,145 [19] |
| 3 | October 22 | Minnesota Twins – 4, Atlanta Braves – 5 (12) | Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium | 4:04 | 50,878 [20] |
| 4 | October 23 | Minnesota Twins – 2, Atlanta Braves – 3 | Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium | 2:57 | 50,878 [21] |
| 5 | October 24 | Minnesota Twins – 5, Atlanta Braves – 14 | Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium | 2:59 | 50,878 [22] |
| 6 | October 26 | Atlanta Braves – 3, Minnesota Twins – 4 (11) | Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome | 3:46 | 55,155 [23] |
| 7 | October 27 | Atlanta Braves – 0, Minnesota Twins – 1 (10) | Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome | 3:23 | 55,118 [24] |
This was the first World Series ever played in the Deep South. It was also the first World Series since 1987 to not feature a team from California, and where neither team won a road game. In what is considered to be one of the greatest World Series ever played, the Twins defeated the Braves in seven games to win their second title in five years.
This series was notable for several grueling contests, with five of its games decided by one run. Jack Morris pitched seven solid innings in Game 1 as the Twins won 5-2. In Game 2, the Twins jumped out to an early lead, but the Braves tied it thanks to a sacrifice fly from Rafael Belliard. In the bottom of the eighth, Scott Leius hit a solo home run to put the Twins ahead for good, giving them a 2-0 series lead headed to Atlanta. In the first World Series game played in the Deep South, the Braves prevailed in a grueling twelve-inning battle thanks to an RBI single from Mark Lemke that scored David Justice. Game 3 was also notable for Twins manager Tom Kelly running out of hitters. At four hours and four minutes, Game 3 was the longest game in World Series history until Game 3 of the 2005 World Series, which lasted five hours and 41 minutes. Lemke would again lead the Braves to victory in Game 4 after umpire Terry Tata called him safe in a controversial call in the bottom of the ninth. Tom Glavine pitched five solid innings as the Braves blew out the Twins in Game 5 to take a 3-2 series lead headed back to Minneapolis.
Games 6 and 7 were the most notable games of the series as both went into extra innings. In Game 6, the Braves forced extra innings thanks to an RBI single from Ron Gant that drove in Lemke in the top of the seventh. The game remained scoreless until the bottom of the eleventh, when Kirby Puckett hit the game-winning home run, which was famously called by CBS’ Jack Buck with the line "And we'll see you tomorrow night!" [25]
Game 7 was the most famous contest of the series - despite a few attempts by both teams to win the game, as both teams managed to load the bases at least once, the game remained scoreless through all nine innings of regulation thanks to lights-out pitching from Morris. As the game went into the top of the tenth, Morris refused to leave the mound, and retired the Braves in order. The Twins then loaded the bases in the bottom of the tenth, and Gene Larkin drove in the game-winning run, securing the championship.
This was the first of five World Series appearances for the Braves during the 1990s - they would return to the World Series the following year, only to lose to the Toronto Blue Jays in six games. They would eventually win the World Series in 1995 over the Cleveland Indians in six games. They also made the World Series in 1996 and 1999, but lost both to the New York Yankees.
To date, this is the last World Series appearance and title for the Twins, and their last postseason appearance until 2002. This is currently the last championship of the four major North American sports leagues won by a team from the Minneapolis–St. Paul metropolitan area.
This marked the second year of a four-year agreement with CBS to televise all postseason games nationally in the United States.
