30 greatest World Series in MLB history
1. Atlanta Braves vs. Minnesota Twins, 1991
The 1991 World Series saw one of the greatest Game 7s in sports history, and capped off the greatest Fall Classic ever.
The series featured five one-run games. Three of those finished in walk-off fashion.
After the Twins opened up the series with two home victories at the Metrodome, the Braves responded. They picked up three consecutive wins in Atlanta, including back-to-back walk-off victories in Games 3 and 4. The Braves won Game 5 in a 14-5 blowout, sending Minnesota to the brink of elimination.
The Twins would not succumb to the pressure, however, and the final two games in Minnesota would provide just as much drama as the rest of the series had.
In Game 6, the contest went to extra frames after Braves infielder Mark Lemke scored a run in the seventh inning to tie the game at three. After three scoreless innings, Twins Hall of Fame outfielder Kirby Puckett stepped to the plate in the 11th. Puckett launched a solo shot over the left-center field fence to send the series to a dramatic seventh game.
Game 7 featured one of the greatest pitching duels in MLB history, as John Smoltz took the mound for the Braves and faced off against his boyhood idol Jack Morris. Neither pitcher allowed a run, and once again, the game went to extra innings. Smoltz had exited the game in the eighth inning, but Morris refused to yield to a reliever, staring down manager Tom Kelly when he attempted to remove him from the game.
Morris pitched another scoreless frame in the top of the 10th, sending outfielder Dan Gladden to the plate to start off the bottom half of the inning for the Twins. Gladden would reach second base on a double, his third hit of the game, and advanced to third on a sacrifice bunt. Atlanta reliever Alejandro Pena intentionally walked the next two batters, and Minnesota pinch-hit utility man Gene Larkin for designated hitter Jarvis Brown.
Larkin had recorded just two hits in seven at-bats that postseason, but it did not matter. He launched the first pitch he saw over the drawn-in outfield for a walk-off single, giving the Twins their third World Series title in franchise history.