1991 – Jeff Bagwell is named N.L. Rookie of the Year, capturing 23 of 24 first place votes. His .294 average, 15 homers and 82 RBIs are just the first sign of things to come. The other vote goes to Pittsburgh’s Orlando Merced.
1991 – Minnesota Twins second baseman Chuck Knoblauch is named the American League Rookie of the Year. Knoblauch hit .281 and stole 25 bases in 30 tries. His fifteen post-season hits is a major league record for first-year players.
Terry Pendleton of the Atlanta Braves wins the National League Most Valuable Player Award. The third baseman led the National League in batting average (.319) and hits (187), tied for first in total bases (303) and was third in slugging average (517). Pendleton will also be named NL Comeback Player of the Year, becoming the first major player to raise his average 80 points and add 16 home runs (from 6 to 22). He also wins his third Gold Glove Award. Barry Bonds is runner-up, as the two will switch places next year.
The Cleveland Indians trade pitcher Greg Swindell to the Cincinnati Reds in exchange for Ps Jack Armstrong, Scott Scudder and Joe Turek.
1991 – Houston Astros first baseman Jeff Bagwell is named the National League Rookie of the Year, becoming the first Houston player to win the award. Bagwell hit .294 with a team-leading 15 home runs and 82 RBI. His 82 walks also led the Astros. Bagwell was picked in the fourth round of the 1989 amateur draft by the Boston Red Sox, then traded in the 1990 stretch drive for relief pitcher Larry Andersen.
Buck Showalter replaces Stump Merrill as the Yankee manager. During his four-year reign as the Bronx Bomber skipper, the 36 year-old will compile a 313-268 (.539) record, capturing the American League Manager of the Year award and AL East title in 1994, and the league’s first wild card the following year.
Braves skipper Bobby Cox becomes the first person to be named the Manager of the Year in both leagues when the BBWAA selects him as the National League’s top field boss. The 50 year-old former third baseman, who won the AL honor with the Blue Jays in 1985, led Atlanta to their first pennant after the team finished with the worst record in baseball during the previous season.
In Game 7 of the ‘Worst to First’ World Series, the Twins beat the Braves, 1-0, when Dan Gladden scores the winning run in the bottom of the tenth on Gene Larkin’s single, clinching its second world championship since relocating from Washington D.C. in 1961. Atlanta and Minnesota had both finished in last place in their respective divisions the previous season.
1991 – Outfielder Kirby Puckett prevents two Atlanta runs with a leaping catch in the 3rd inning and then lofts a sacrifice fly in the 5th to give the Twins the lead in Game 6 of the World Series. The Braves tie it in the 7th, but Puckett turns out the lights in the 10th with a home run to force a seventh game.
1991 – George Brunet dies of a heart attack in Poza Rica, Mexico at age 56. The lefthander made 22 appearances for the Colt .45s in their first two seasons as part of a 15-year major league career. After that, he continued to pitch in the minors and then in Mexico until he was 54.
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