Euphoria Squared: The Great Metrodome Victory Celebration, Oct. 12, 1987 VIDEOS

The Twins 9-5 victory over the Detroit Tigers to win the 1987 ALCS was unprecedented not only for ending the team's 17 year absence from post-season play, but just as much for that game's aftermath. The outpouring of fan joy that greeted the team as it set foot on the springy Metrodome surface that evening was truly an occasion never before seen in Minnesota.

It was a hastily organized "Welcome Home" at the H.H.H. Metrodome for team players, coaches, trainers, and execs fresh off landing at Minneapolis-St. Paul Airport. It was a Monday night, a school night, and event organizers weren't expecting much better than a polite turnout - Minnesotans aren't like New Yorkers, news flash. They're famous for keeping the kiddies home, early to bed, feed the cats, put on the nightcap...you get the idea.

 For Minnesota fans so long accustomed to ignominious defeat in four Superbowls, and being the butt of flyover land jokes, or of ill-fated closers (let's not mention the name "Ron Davis,") the return of the AL Champs from Detroit was an excuse to let loose the emotional floodgates and "Party Like It's 1999."

I well remember waking up every morning after a Twins win late in the season, my head a-swirl with giddiness about what seemed to be happening, breathing it all in, and yet not wanting to let go of my disbelief...yes, giddiness, euphoria...it was like being at a month-long Grateful Dead or Pink Floyd concert.

With that as context, you can hold back on your urge to have Viking Alan Page materialize and blindside the whistle-blowing Twins players' wives, or muzzle over-eager television sports reporters. God knows I had to.

Can someone tell me where Juan Berenguer got the idea for this get-up?

Listen closely at the 4:00 minute mark of the second vid. John Rooney correctly reminds fans that Bert Blyleven predicted an '87 pennant. He's 100 percent spot-on; I heard him say it live at the Dome, after the '86 season-ending game; it was a fan appreciation ceremony, with player speeches. My brother Kevin and I turned to each other - and laughed out loud. Sure, Bert, whatever!

What this evocative group of videos helps me remember is the fun of a completely unexpected pennant race. It was seeing grizzled veterans* like Steve Carlton, Joe Niekro, Don Baylor, Bert Blyleven and Roy Smalley mesh seamlessly with the Class of '82 players like Kent Hrbek, Tom Brunansky, Gary Gaetti, Tim Laudner, Randy Bush (and later) Greg Gagne, Kirby Puckett, Frank Viola, Dan Gladden, Jeff Reardon, et. al., to create an improbable, crazy-quilt patchwork of a playoff contender. This was all 1-2 years ahead of the timetable, in the estimation of youthful Vice President Of Player Personnel, Andy McPhail. Blueprints? Who needs blueprints?

*Could have included Rod Carew, discussion in '86 The Sporting News article

If you actually made it to the second and third videos, consider yourselves "real" men and women, in the stout-hearted Norseman sense. By all means, you now should be able to weather AND enjoy this vintage '87 newspaper account about that great evening in downtown Minneapolis.

I enjoy how the giant baseball behind Kent Hrbek's head make's it look as if he's wearing a sombrero. Which only would have been fitting, as it WAS a huge fiesta for 55,000 people. That alone should make you want to go to the link...so, check out the Google docs version of this report, and click on "+" for a larger view.

Hope you enjoyed Herb Carneal in the above videos! May as well let him have the last word:

"So long, everybody!"

The Gipper, TK, & Lefty in The Rosegarden: Sept. 29, 1987

The Twins had made it to the pinnacle. The 1987 World Series champs had basked in the warm glow of Twin Cities victory parades, and the interviews on national and local television. The hurricane now concluded with their congratulatory meeting with President Ronald Reagan in the White House Rose Garden (the transcript of the entire proceedings can be found at this link). You can view some video of the scenes edited for rebroadcast here: TC Media Coverage of Rosegarden Ceremony. It is a super document of how the event looked, complete with player reactions to the Ceremony - my thanks to TC Media for posting it! 

From L-R: Carl Pohlad, Roy Smalley Jr., Tom Kelly, Frank Viola, Howard Fox,
Steve Carlton, (in back) Kent Hrbek, Sal Butera, & The Leader Of The Free World.
Ronnie couldn't resist a trip down his own memory lane, back to his days as an announcer.

Kent Hrbek ( here, tucked in the back row, behind Reagan and Sal Butera), in particular, had been a modern-day Ulysses in the aftermath. His odyssey had him shuttling between Minneapolis-St. Paul, to New York to film his appearance on the David Letterman show, and now to stand near the Commander In Chief for the crowning finale in D.C.

Little wonder he went from the return jet to Minneapolis straight to a waiting camper to escape the hurricane, and relax with friends on a hunting trip. This episode also marked the final hurrah for "Lefty" Steve Carlton. The Hall of Fame pitcher made himself oddly conspicuous in his choice of eye wear, peeking over longtime Twins employee and then-president Howard Fox to catch the festivities. Though a marginal member of the staff that season (see gamelogs), he merited a spot on the plane ride to the capitol if only to salute his veteran, star status.

Patrick Reusse chronicled the event for "The Sporting News."

Fox (holding jersey), was the only visible holdover from the old Twins regime of Cal Griffith. It had to be a sweet payback after all the years of no success on the field (1971-86), and being Billy Martin's punching bag (1966 incident). That it was Pohlad, and not Griffith holding court along with the core group of players he drafted as Twins owner, made for an ironic twist. It was Carl's third full year as Twins owner.

Again, the transcript of the entire proceedings can be found at this Google docs link. You might find it interesting!

As our old friend and broadcaster Herb Carneal so quaintly put it:

"So long everybody!" - Herb Carneal