MLB.com

It marked the first time that the home team won all of its games in a series. It was also the first time that World Series games were played indoors, at Minnesota's Metrodome.

LINESCORE		1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
	Cardinals	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	6	1
	Twins	0	1	0	0	1	1	0	1	X	4	10	0

Watch the TV broadcast  Listen to the radio broadcast Starters: Joe Magrane vs. Frank Viola WP: Frank Viola   LP: Danny Cox

Inside were deafening crowds of more than 55,000 screaming fans. The "Homer Hanky" joined the baseball lexicon, as Twins fans waved them with frenzy.

Minnesota grabbed a 2-0 lead in the series and then dropped the next three games, played in St. Louis. After winning Game 6 by an 11-5 score, the Twins tabbed Frank Viola for his third start in the series to pitch Game 7 against Cardinals rookie Joe Magrane.

Viola and Magrane exchanged scoreless first innings, but St. Louis jumped out to a 2-0 lead in a four-hit second inning on RBI singles by Tony Pena and Steve Lake.

Those two runs were all the Cardinals could muster on Viola the rest of the game. The southpaw pitched sweet music from there and allowed two more hits. He worked through eight innings with no walks and seven strikeouts.

"It was just great to have an opportunity to pitch in Game 7 -- to start a Game 7," Viola told MLB.com recently. "To go eight innings and put the team in a position to win and then watch them finish it out in the last inning. It's just a great feeling all around."

While Viola did his part, the lineup supporting him slowly chipped away at Magrane and the Cardinals.

Don Baylor was thrown out at the plate trying to score in the bottom of the second inning on Tom Brunansky's single. Brunansky was on second when Steve Lombardozzi hit an RBI single that drove him home for Minnesota's first run.

It remained 2-1 until the fifth inning when future Hall of Fame center fielder Kirby Puckett tied the game with an RBI double off Danny Cox that scored Greg Gagne.

In the bottom of the sixth with one out, the Twins loaded the bases against reliever Todd Worrell. Gagne stroked a single that scored Brunansky with the go-ahead run.

An eighth-inning RBI double by Dan Gladden scored Tim Laudner with an insurance run for Minnesota, but closer Jeff Reardon made it unnecessary.

Reardon retired the side in order by getting the final batter, Willie McGee, to ground out to third baseman Gary Gaetti. For the first time, the Minnesota Twins were World Champions.

"You feel so numb that you could go in for surgery and not need any anesthetic," said Brunansky in describing the moment. "The sprint to the pile, the jumping on everybody – you don't feel your feet touching the ground. The moment lasts, it seems like it goes on and on."

With a 2-1 mark and 3.72 ERA in three games vs. St. Louis, Viola was named the World Series MVP. It cemented his status as one of the new superstars in the game.

A final sign of the Twins' comfort at home – they batted .329 with six homers and 33 runs scored at the Metrodome. At Busch Stadium, they were a .184 team with a homer and five runs.

But they had four games at the Metrodome, which was in this particular magical season, a key ingredient for claiming a championship.

Copyright 1987 by the Office of the Commissioner of Major League Baseball