The Narrative Of The 1987 MLB Season

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. The Twins survived a race with the Kansas City Royals and Oakland A’s to win what was a soft AL West. But the Twins were ideally built for the postseason and they turned that division crown into October glory.

*The sizzling AL East race put on by the Detroit Tigers and Toronto Blue Jays. The Tigers and Jays left the Yankees, who had led this race at the All-Star break, in the dust and August. It set up seven head-to-head games between the Tigers and Jays 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. The third-place Milwaukee Brewers didn’t make a serious run at first place in September, but with 91 wins and some historic streaks, they were on the radar all season long.

*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 both the Mets and the surprising Montreal Expos 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 to blow past what proved to be a disappointing Cincinnati Reds team.

*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 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.