Keeping Track

1987 Rewind: World Series Game Four

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ST. LOUIS 7, MINNESOTA 2 IN ST. LOUIS

Date:  Wednesday, October 21.

Batting stars:  Greg Gagne was 1-for-4 with a home run.  Kirby Puckett was 1-for-4 with a hit-by-pitch and an RBI.  Al Newman was 1-for-3 with a walk.

Pitching stars:  Joe Niekro pitched two shutout innings, giving up a hit and a walk.  George Frazier struck out two in two shutout innings, giving up one hit.

Opposition stars:  Tom Lawless was 1-for-4 with a three-run homer.  Willie McGee was 2-for-4 with a double and two RBIs.  Jim Lindeman was 2-for-4 with a hit-by-pitch, scoring once and driving in two.

The game:  Gagne homered in the top of the third to give the Twins a 1-0 lead, but Lindeman singled in a run in the bottom of the third to tie it 1-1.  For the third time in four games, a big fourth inning made the difference.  This time it was the Cardinals who broke the game open in the fourth, scoring six runs.  Tony Pena walked, Jose Oquendo singled, and Lawless delivered a three-run homer to give St. Louis a 4-1 lead.  Frank Viola retired St. Louis pitcher Bob Forsch, but after walking Vince Coleman he was replaced by Dan Schatzeder.  He struck out Ozzie Smith, but Coleman stole second, leading to an intentional walk to Tom Herr.  Lindeman came through with another RBI single and McGee followed with a two-run double, making the score 7-1.  The Twins got a run back on Puckett's RBI single in the fifth.  They had the bases loaded with one out in the seventh, but Ken Dayley came in to strike out Gary Gaetti and retire Tom Brunansky on a foul popup.  The Twins did not threaten again.

Notes:  As those of us who were around will recall, Lawless was the least likely of any player on either team to hit a home run, possibly including the pitchers.  A seldom-used reserve infielder, he was playing third base because of an injury to Terry Pendleton.  He had played in only 19 games in 1987 and had only 25 at-bats, with a line of .080/.179/.120.  He had hit one major league home run in his career up to that point, in 1984 when he was with Cincinnati.  He would hit only one more, in 1988.  Over a nine-year career, he batted .207/.263/.258 in 531 at-bats...Tom Kelly elected to bring Viola back on short rest rather than go with Niekro.  Viola lasted only 3.1 innings, giving up five runs on six hits and three walks with four strikeouts.  Niekro pitched two scoreless innings of relief.  I don't remember if that led to second-guessing, but I remember that at the time I thought TK made the right decision and it just didn't work out...Lindeman's two hits made him 4-for-8 in the series to this point...St. Louis starter Greg Mathews came out after just 3.2 innings, giving up one run on two hits and two walks with three strikeouts.  I suspect he was injured--if not it was a really quick hook--but I could not quickly find out and did not have time to research the matter.

Record:  The best-of-seven series was tied 2-2.  Would Bert Blyleven be able to stop the Cardinals momentum and give the Twins their first road World Series win?  We'll see tomorrow.

57 thoughts on “1987 Rewind: World Series Game Four”

  1. Lawless angered me at the time. I was seven and I had the "play the game the right way" mind set already.

    To be fair, his home run was not Bautista's. It barely cleared the fence and he should have been running. But that was one epic bat flip. And now that I'm older and wiser I say good for him. If you're only going to hit three homers in your life, make it memorable. And I will never forget Tom Lawless.

    1. First of all, all these videos from this time period have led me to decide that the reason so many people have glasses is because they all thought their vision was going bad in the 80's and 90's is because tv's were sooooo bad.

      Second, though because of the above its difficult to tell exactly, that ball looked like it might have hit just below that railing past the wall. I think with the height of it, it probably looked like a no doubter from his perspective. But yeah, solid bat flip there. Baseball sorely needs more bat flipping, especially in light of Ian Kinsler's recent WBC comments.... (which now makes me bummed PR didn't win)

    2. I still think it was a jerk move. Ball barely made it out of the park and he's a nobody. Run!

      1. I couldn't disagree more. Strutting and bat flipping is never a jerk move. Either you're good because its a home run or it becomes hilarious because you get thrown out at first or second (or only held to a single, or something).

        1. I don't know about never a jerk move, but I disagree with the idea that your level of ability should dictate whether or not you're allowed to celebrate a clutch hit or massive bomb.

          I think that it's kind of ridiculous and, dare I say, tacky when a person hits a home run when his team is way down and then makes a colossal deal of it, but this clearly wasn't that. I'd say, flip your bat like you just gave your team the lead in the World Series.

              1. I'm okay with that in a regular season game. Getting on base is hard and you usually fail. After a long at bat or late in a game, I'm fine with a two-second celebration after getting a hit.

        1. I've been thinking a lot about this this morning.

          Like Beau mentioned, the "play the game the right way" mindset was instilled in me too. But what makes it the right way? It's simply a cultural preference, right? The middle-class white guy culture says "act like you've been there before, having 'class' means acting like your achievements aren't achievements" and so on. Truth be told, if I was in the situation, I'd probably still act that way. It's my culture, and it appeals to me. I like it when football players just hand the ball to the ref, or whatever. But why should I impose that preference on others?

          1. I've been working hard (well, not that hard) on purging any and all "play the game the right way" or "act like you've been there before" thoughts from my head because things are far more fun when the players show some emotion. Plus, in my own personal athletic endeavors I do not "act like I've been there before". If I make a great curling shot, you're damn right I'm gonna yell and cheer about it. If I ever win a tournament, I'll probably loft my broom in the air or some such and I have no problem if someone did that while playing against me. The human element is just as enjoyable as the technical element.

            1. Yeah, I've watched plenty of old white guys who harp about sack dances and bat flips make a twenty foot putt and shout loud enough to hear three holes over.

              1. I don't have a problem with a fist pump, or a shout, or jumping around in the endzone, but I think that choreographed celebrations are over the top. If Lawless had thrown a fist in the air, sure, but a deliberated bat flip, he might as well have grabbed his crotch and stuck his tongue out at the opposing dugout. Kirby fist pumping in Game 6? Yes. Kevin Mitchell with one flap down? No thank you.

                1. he might as well have grabbed his crotch and stuck his tongue out at the opposing dugout.

                  If he had done that, he'd be my hero.

                  1. I'm with you CH (and Cheaptoy). It's a freakin' game. I have no problem if someone wants to hoot and holler, throw their bat in the air, celebrate, grab your crotch, etc. Obviously situational awareness should be part of it as a bat flip making a 1-7 game 2-7 is kind of dumb.

                    Also I don't care who you boo or if you storm the court/field etc after your favorite team wins. It's a game.

                    2. I had totally forgotten about boo guy. Love that guy. (although he was awfully show-boaty with the arm action.)

                3. For the record, Jeffrey Leonard was the one-flap down celebration (a little like Encarnacion's parrot).

                  Kevin Mitchell is more famously known for catching a fly ball bare-handed and eating himself out of the league.

          2. I grew up with that mindset, too, but I'm not really interested in the "having 'class'" aspect of the criticism around celebrations that is the default position for the McCann crowd. Celebrating a play after it's official is totally fine & perfectly human. Just don't celebrate too hard.

            On the other hand, if you're hyping your single to the dugout & first base stands and you get thrown out at first because the play isn't dead, I'd consider benching you right then & there.

            It's about playing heads-up baseball, not class. Yadi Molina's celebration was the sweetest in that inning for a reason.

            1. On the last part we totally agree. The game comes first and foremost. If you're not taking care of business out there, and if you're behaving in a way that actually harms your team (not paying attention while celebrating and getting picked off a base would definitely qualify), I would say that's a different matter entirely than how you carry yourself while the ball is dead.

              1. I'd go a little further even and say context matters. Live ball = all the context in the world. Team down big still = lots of context too. Team up big = lots of context. Playoffs vs. early season... playing against a rival... at home/away...

                I might find (a small amount of) offense in people celebrating when I wouldn't, but I won't find any offense in people celebrating how I wouldn't.

                1. I mean, we're getting almost NFL-ish about our "this is when and how you celebrate" rules, but in general, I'd agree with the Padre below.

                  But yes, context matters, unless you're going to go full Cheaptoy, and even he has his limits (for example, you are not allowed to both celebrate and be Kobe Bryant or Brian Wilson).

                  1. Just Kobe Bryant. Maybe I've forgotten my own position, but I believe my Brian Wilson opinion was not based on in-game celebrating but what I perceived as off-field douchism.

                    2. The closest you'll get to me discussing the Beach Boys is that Mike Love's son is really, really good at basketball.

                  2. No, we are not getting NFL-ish, because the players are nowhere near NFL-ish in their celebrations. What in MLB matches throat cutting and strutting after sacking a QB while down by 28 points?

          3. Like Beau mentioned, the "play the game the right way" mindset was instilled in me too. But what makes it the right way? It's simply a cultural preference, right? The middle-class white guy culture says "act like you've been there before, having 'class' means acting like your achievements aren't achievements" and so on. Truth be told, if I was in the situation, I'd probably still act that way. It's my culture, and it appeals to me. I like it when football players just hand the ball to the ref, or whatever. But why should I impose that preference on others?

            Late to the party, but yea. I was raised in the era of Bill Brown -- brush cut, and "act like you've been there before." I will never forget how Sammy White in, I think, his rookie season, started celebrating a touchdown catch on about the 5 yardline and got caught and fumbled through the endzone. He never did that again.

            that said, the bat flip stuff doesn't bother me (anymore), and the absurd lengths that baseball "rule" monitors go to to bitch about anything that might smack of, oh, I dunno, ethnic diversity in emotional expression, is ridiculous.

    3. For what it's worth, I have no problem with spontaneous celebrations of big plays. I don't particularly care for pre-planned celebrations, nor do I care for acts that are deliberately designed to show up the other team. Not only does that show a lack of class, it's also a good way to start a fight or a beanball war and get someone hurt.

      I will say, though, that these things bother me less than they used to. I think a lot of it is simply that these celebrations have become so commonplace that it's rare for one to stand out. I've gotten to where I just ignore it most of the time.

      1. I think the craziest thing about all of this is that obviously Lawless didn't plan this. I can't imagine he was ever like, "Man, when I hit a great homer I'm going to make a scene of it." There's no way he ever expected to hit one out and he probably didn't even know what it felt like to have a no-doubt homer go off his bat. It just makes his reaction all the weirder. Bautista's reaction made perfect sense, as he definitely knows what it feels like to hit a homer, and his reactions was instant. Lawless watched his for several seconds, but with a strut that he knew it was happening. I wonder if during that strut he was thinking about his bat flip.

        1. We should try to formalize this into some kind of continuum or plot. On one end of the X axis you have unlikely yard-goers like Tom Lawless, on the other you have [take your pick of slugging, post-homer bat flippers]. On the Y axis you have JI

          JIM THOME trotting around the bases like a walk-off is just any other homer on one end, and on the other you have i-i bat flipping on a pop out to the second baseman.

          1. I seem to recall Torii bat-flipping every time he hit anything anywhere; it was just how he let go of the bat.

          2. I wouldn't put this on one side of the X-axis necessarily. This is during game 4 of the World Series, a chance to tie the series in front of a home crowd of 50,000 screaming fans. I'll allow a little context of "swept up in the moment".

  4. I didn't find much content for this game (other than Lawless' homer), so here's a spliced-together home video of some guy named Lyle Peterson's trip to watch the Series in St. Louis:

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