Down to the Last Pitch: How the 1991 Minnesota Twins and Atlanta Braves Gave Us the Best World Series of All Time

For both clubs, the turnaround was one for the ages. Minnesota and Atlanta rallied throughout the 1991 season around a crop of rising starsandmdash;Kirby Puckett, Kent Hrbek, Tom Glavine, John Smoltzandmdash;who each spirited their teamand#8217;s unlikely run all the way to the World Series. And what a Fall Classic it proved to be, with five of the seven games decided by a single run, four decided on the final pitch, and threeand#151;including game sevenand#151;ending in extra innings. When the final out was recorded, the cover headline in Baseball Weekly read: and#147;Best World Series Ever.and#8221;

In Down to the Last Pitch, Tim Wendel delivers all the hopes, dreams, and drama in a seasonandmdash;and a Seriesandmdash;touched by magic.

Never in baseball history had a last place team rebounded to take the pennant the following season. Yet in 1991, as author Tim Wendel vividly recounts in Down to the Last Pitch, lightning struck twice as the Minnesota Twins and the Atlanta Braves, a pair of cellar dwellers the year before, faced each other in an unforgettable World Series. When the final out was recorded, the cover headline in Baseball Weekly read: and#147;Best World Series Ever.and#8221;

and#147;Just when you think youand#8217;ve seen everything, read everything, along comes a book and an author in whose gifted hands the past comes alive and makes you believe in miracles all over again.and#8221;

and#151;Jane Leavy, author of The Last Boy

and#147;This is a winner.and#8221;and#151;San Francisco Book Review