Relive Viola's gem as Twins win in 1987

With their first World Series title in 26 years, the Minnesota Twins finally earned league-wide respect. As second baseman Steve Lombardozzi put it, they could no longer be called the "Twinkies."

The Twins, who were the Washington Senators until 1961, edged the Cardinals, 4-2, in Game 7 of the 1987 World Series to capture the franchise's first championship since 1924.

Every day from now to Spring Training, MLB.com Live will air a classic game on Baseball's Best. Game 7 of the 1987 World Series can be seen on Wednesday at 10 a.m. CT.

The Twins trotted out Frank Viola for the third time in the series, this time in a rematch of Game 1 against Cardinals rookie Joe Magrane. In Game 7, Viola outdueled Magrane for the second time, throwing eight innings of two-run ball in his second straight start on three days' rest. For his efforts, Viola earned World Series Most Valuable Player honors.

Though St. Louis tagged the left-hander for two runs in the second, taking a 2-0 lead, Minnesota slowly chipped away and claimed a 3-2 edge in the sixth. Dan Gladden's RBI double in the eighth provided closer Jeff Reardon a 4-2 cushion, not that he needed the extra help. Reardon pitched a 1-2-3 ninth to wrap it up. Minnesota finally had a professional sports championship to call its own.

Still, the title wasn't totally convincing for a few reasons.

The Twins went 85-77 in the regular season, the worst record for any World Series champion at the time. The Cardinals, who won the National League pennant for the third time in six years, were hindered in the series by injuries to star hitters Jack Clark and Terry Pendleton.

Also, if it had been 1986 or 1988, Game 7 would have been played at Busch Stadium. Before the All-Star Game determined home-field advantage, the American League champion earned the honors in odd-numbered years regardless of regular-season success. That gave the Twins a huge edge in hosting the final game, given the home team had won each of the first six contests and they had hit .184 in the three losses at St. Louis.

So the critics certainly had ammunition, not that the 55,000 screaming fans waving "Homer Hankies" cared.

"It doesn't matter how we did it, as long as we did it," third baseman Gary Gaetti told the Associated Press afterward.

For the first time in World Series history, the home team won every game. The series was played partially indoors for the first time, too. It marked the beginning of plenty of October baseball in the Metrodome.

Manager Tom Kelly piloted the club to another Game 7 triumph in the 1991 World Series and, 10 years later, handed the reins to Tom Gardenhire, who made Minnesota an annual playoff contender at the turn of the millennium. Clearly, Lombardozzi was onto something.

"We are not the Twinkies anymore," he famously shouted. "I don't ever want to hear that again. We are the Minnesota Twins."