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Al Michaels: Twins pumped crowd noise into ’87 World Series

By CM Towle

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Commentator Al Michaels says the Minnesota Twins pumped in fake crowd noise during the MLB‘s 1987 World Series.

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Al Michaels is known for covering many of the top sporting events since the 1970s and he’s been the announcer for eight World Series and nine Super Bowls over the course of his career. Earlier this week, Michaels visited Mike Florio on Pro Football Talk Live to discuss the recent news that the Atlanta Falcons have been pumping in fake noise at the Georgia Dome.

Michaels talked about the 1987 World Series between the Twins and the Cardinals, and said there was no question in his mind that the crowd noise during Game 7 was fake.

Michaels said he remembered the Metrodome being ridiculously loud and that it immediately struck him as unusual.

"“Wait a minute. This is a baseball game. Nobody is screaming like this when the fifth inning starts. To me, there was no question in my mind” that the crowd noise was fabricated,” Michaels said via the Star Tribune."

Needless to say, the Twins organization wasn’t happy with the comments. Twins President, Dave St. Peter, called Michaels’ comments comical, and mentioned that there was another conspiracy involving the team at the time, saying they pumped in air to make balls travel farther when the Twins were up to bat.

"“At the end of the day, it continues to demonstrate a lack of appreciation and respect for Tom Kelly, Frank Viola, Gary Gaetti, Kent Hrbek and Kirby Puckett, who came out of nowhere to win a championship,” St. Peter said. (via Star Tribune)"

Michaels also made mention of the fact that ABC had brought in a noise meter for the game and that it broke due to decibel levels comparable to an airport runway.

However, the Metrodome, where the Vikings played until 2013 and the Twins played until 2009, was always considered notoriously loud and the Vikings were often suspected to be pumping in fake noise. The Vikings continuously denied these suspicions, despite protests from opposing teams.

Despite understandable dislike of Michaels’ comments from the Minnesota end of things, it doesn’t seem like Michaels is trying to come after Minnesota teams and their fans, but rather making the observation that the fake crowd noise allegations aren’t new. What’s more unusual is the organization accused of the fake noise, actually admitting it, as the Falcons’ owner did this week.

H/T Awful Announcing

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