The background: The Twins failed to win more than 84 games in a season from 1977 through 1986, bottoming out at 60-102 in 1982.
Kent Hrbek
Key players: Kent Hrbek, Gary Gaetti, Randy Bush, Tim Laudner, Tom Brunansky and Frank Viola were rookies in '82 who were on the 1987 World Series championship team. A key addition came in 1984 with future Hall of Famer Kirby Puckett.
Kirby Puckett
Breakthrough: The young Twins were in a pennant race in 1984 before fading to 81-81. That experience ended up paying dividends, however.
Fans celebrate
The end result: The greatest era in Twins history included the team's only two World Series championships, in 1987 and 1991.
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