Twenty years apart, two glorious Game 6s

Not long before the 4-hour, 33-minute Game 6 of the World Series ended late Thursday night with a David Freese home run and a 10-9 St. Louis Cardinals win over the Texas Rangers, Fox showed a montage of some other great Game 6s in Series history.

The Carlton Fisk home run in 1975. The Reggie Jackson 3-homer game in 1977. The Bill Buckner error in 1986. The Joe Carter homer in 1993.

And 1991.

The Kirby Puckett game. His catch against the Plexiglas. His game-ending homer.

I was there. I covered the four Minnesota games of that Atlanta-Minnesota Series. Game 7 was something else. It was on ESPN Classic the other night. I hadn't seen it since the night I nervously sat in the auxiliary press area among the fans in the Metrodome and wrote two separate columns, one in case the Braves won, the other in case the Twins prevailed. Minnesota won in 10 innings, 1-0.

Game 6, on a Saturday night, set up that finale. It was special, like last night's game. In the third inning, the 5-foot-8 Puckett made a leaping catch against the center-field fence to rob Ron Gant of an extra-base hit and saved a run. I was in the upper deck, third base side, and had a clear view of the play. You don't forget things like that.

Puckett had three hits and two RBI already when he came to bat against Charlie Liebrandt in the last of the 11th inning. You know the rest.

That video gives you an idea of how loud it was in the Dome. But trust me, it was much louder. If you had me list the 10 most-memorable moments of events I've covered, that's way, way, way up the ladder. I can still hear it, still feel it. Freese's homer after four-and-a-half tense hours produced the same noise and feeling further down the Mississippi River.

So it is that tonight I'll be in Minneapolis on the eve of the Iowa-Minnesota football game. And this year's Game 7 of the Series will be at the other end of the Avenue of the Saints, in downtown St. Louis. Twenty years, Puckett to Freese. I wonder if tonight's Game 7 can rival the one in Minneapolis 20 years and one day ago.

Given how this year's Series has played out, I fully expect it.