If you search for opinions on the best World Series of all time, there’s a good chance you’ll see the 1991 Fall Classic between the Twins and Braves or the 2016 series between the Cubs and Indians at the top.
But this year’s insanely wild World Series between the Astros and Dodgers is quickly climbing the charts.
According to FiveThirtyEight, Game 5 on Sunday night was the “second-most thrilling in World Series history,” trailing only the 11 inning classic between the Cardinals and Rangers in the 2011 series.
They used an equation of sorts to determine how important each at-bat in the game was.
Neither Game 6 of 7 of the ’91 series made FiveThirtyEight’s list, which is fine because it’s a list based on math – not pure drama. Had the list been based off pure drama, the Twins and Braves would’ve had as many as five games make it.
1991 World Series featured five instant classics
1991 Game 2: Tied 2-2 in the eighth, the Braves threatened but failed to score. In the bottom of the eighth, Twins third baseman Scott Leius took future Hall of Fame left-hander Tom Glavine deep for the game-deciding home run.
1991 Game 3: A home run by Kirby Puckett in the seventh inning cut Atlanta’s lead to 4-2, and Chili Davis’ monstrous homer in the eighth tied the game 4-4. The game went 12 innings before Mark Lemke’s RBI single scored David Justice on a bang-bang play at the plate to give the Braves the win.
1991 Game 4: The Braves won 3-2 on a walk-off sacrifice fly by Jerry Willard, and the play at the plate was again bang-bang. Twins catcher Brian Harper lost his mind when he saw the home plate umpire call Lemke safe in the bottom of the 9th inning.
1991 Game 6: This is the Kirby Puckett game, of course. Not only did he make a leaping catch at the wall, but he hit the walk-off homer in the bottom of the 11th to give the Twins a 4-3 win and a chance to play Game 7.
1991 Game 7: It’s the greatest game ever pitched, right? Jack Morris and John Smoltz dueling all game long, with Morris pitching all 10 innings before Gene Larkin hit the walk-off winner to give the Twins their second championship in five years.
This year’s series has a chance to be as good as the Twins and Braves, but it’ll be nearly impossible to top it.
