The Story Of The 1987 MLB Season

Dan Flaherty MLB History, Sports History Articles

An upstart champion, a dramatic pennant race and the derailment of a potential dynasty were all a part of an exciting 1987 baseball season that included the following highlights…

*How the Minnesota Twins used a potent lineup and a top-heavy pitching staff, led by Frank Viola and Bert Blyleven, to navigate their way to a division title and ultimately to October glory.

*The sizzling AL East race put on by the Detroit Tigers and Toronto Blue Jays. Seven head-to-head games in the final week and a half. An epic collapse and one of the most consequential trade deadline deals in baseball history were all a part of this race.

*What happened to the New York Mets, who were supposed to be ready to build a dynastic run off their 1986 World Series title. No one accounted for the pesky St. Louis Cardinals rising up and beating out the Mets in another exciting division race, replete with a dramatic home run.

*How the San Francisco Giants won their first division title since 1971, thanks to some bold in-season trades and then catching fire after the All-Star break.

*How the ALCS, that was supposed to be a cakewalk for Detroit, got turned on its head with a Minnesota runaway.

*The outstanding seven-game NLCS battle between St. Louis and San Francisco, with Cardinal pitching finally taking over at the decisive moment.

*And a World Series that was all about location. The home team wins each game in the Minnesota-St. Louis matchup and sets off a celebration in the Twin Cities.

The articles below—one on each of the six teams noted above and then a game-by-game narrative of each postseason series, tell the story of the 1987 baseball season through the eyes of its best teams. Start reading today and wake up the echoes in all their glorious detail.