Paranormal, Kirby Puckett and Me // (John Hinderaker).

Do you still remember where you were 31 years ago, on October 26, 1991? Most likely not. But I do. I arrived that day from London to be on business in Munich. Let’s go back.

The Minnesota Twins were in that World Series against the Atlanta Braves. I was part of a group that had season tickets to Twins games. We had purchased tickets when they were scarce and had great seats in the fourth row, right on the line between second and first base. I was there when the Twins won the first game in the 1991 Series. It was so comfortable that I could see the person sitting in front of me. Ted Turner, the Braves’ then owner, and Jane Fonda. Jane did the Tomahawk Chop for nine innings non-stop, but to no avail.

I flew to Europe the next day. I was aware that the World Series games were being broadcast in the middle of the evening, but I didn’t want to stay up late to see them. So I listened to the British press, which gave me a brief overview of each “side”.

On October 26, I flew from Chicago to Munich. I was off the weekend and went to work the next day, preparing a German witness to testify in a deposition. This was Friday night, and I was at my wits end. What did I do? I walked from my hotel across a small square to a nearby bar where I tried a draft Bavarian beer. It was delicious. It was delicious. I went back to my hotel a few hours later and went to sleep.

I had my only paranormal experience. In the middle of the night, a mysterious force woke me up and led me to crawl across my floor to a black and white TV that was sitting in the middle. I pulled the power button to turn on the TV.

I had already missed some heroics from Kirby Puckett by that point, such as this catch:

But I didn’t know this. I pulled the power button and the TV set was covered in snow. It slowly cleared. I didn’t need to change the channel. It was Game 6 live from the Metrodome. As the picture became clearer, I tried to focus my eyes on the set and try to figure out what was happening. It was not easy. The crowd was cheering and the announcers were talking at a mile an hour, which was too fast for my primitive German to keep pace with.

But I knew what would happen next: Kirby Puckett came on to the plate. One Braves left-hander threw two balls, then this, which I spotted on an old black-and-white set, to a torrential of German.

Kirby smoked the ball. The announcers and the crowd went wild. Puckett circled bases and was greeted at home plate by all the Twins. I went to bed and turned off the TV.

I woke up slightly grouchy the next morning and tried to figure out if I had briefly gotten up just in time for Kirby Puckett to win Game 6 with a homerun in extra innings or if I had dreamed the whole event. I didn’t know until I called my office hours later.

The greatest sporting event in Minnesota history was Game 6. It led to Game 7, an epic pitchers duel in which Jack Morris pitched ten innings for the Twins and the Twins won in the bottom tenth. Legend has it that Tom Kelly, the Twins manager, approached Morris after the top of the ninth and said something along the lines of, “Tremendous Game, Jack.” You’ve done everything you can. Morris didn’t respond positively. The story goes that Dick Such, pitching coach, joined the conversation and said, “I don’t know Tom. Jack still looks good. Kelly thought for a moment and then said, according to legend, “What the Hell.” It’s just a game.” And regardless of whether that conversation took place, it is a fact that Morris was sent out to get the 10th and win in the World Series.

Sports can be frustrating. It is difficult to win and there are many ways to lose. The teams you root for are almost always rebuilding, losing, or being outclassed. Every once in a while, things come together. You see the team you’ve been following through all the bad times, and they have enough talent and determination to make it work. Rarely, they make it all the way. This is what happened to the Twins in 1987, and again in 1991. They were the only Minnesota pro-sports franchise to win two championships. Even if your team fails, those moments are what make it worthwhile to be an avid sports fan.

The most memorable moment in the long-storied history of the 1991 season is Game 6. Due to an unfathomable impulse, I witnessed the climax in a Munich hotel room.