Seasons
SEASON: 43 | YEAR: 1991
HEAD COACH: WARREN SPANNAUS
Game 398 | January 22, 1991 | Jerry Seeman
A native of Plainview, Minnesota, Seeman was an outstanding college athlete at Winona State University. He officiated high school and small college football games from 1963-1972, the year he became a referee in the Big Ten. He was hired by the National Football League in 1975 and was promoted to senior director of officiating in the NFL in 1991.
Game 399| February 14, 1991 | Gov Arne Carlson
When scandal rocked the Minnesota gubernatorial campaign of Republican nominee John Grunseth, Carlson became a last-minute replacement on the ballot. Well-known to voters for his years in the legislature and as state auditor, he out-polled Rudy Perpich by three percentage points and was sworn into office a month before he appeared at Dunkers.
Game 400 | March 29, 1991 | John Anderson, Visiting Coaches
Gopher baseball coach Anderson did his usual good job of assembling quality teams for his Oscar Meyer Classic. This year's field included Notre Dame, UCLA and Stanford. The Gophers lost to unranked UCLA, but defeated Notre Dame (18), and Stanford, the top-ranked team in the nation. Brent Gates was named an All-American at the end of the season in which the Gophers finished second in the Big Ten.
Game 401 | April 25, 1991 | Pat Reusse
A native of Fulda, Minnesota, Reusse has been a prolific commentator on the local sports scene since the 1970s. When he appeared in front of Dunkers in 1991 he was writing four columns a week for the Star Tribune and had co-hosted a Saturday sports talk show with Joe Soucheray since 1983.
Game 402 | May 1, 1991 | Hale Irwin
With the U.S. Open at Hazeltine quickly approaching, Irwin was the winner of the 1990 U.S. Open. That victory, which came after he qualified for a playoff against Mike Donald by holing a 45-foot birdie putt on the 72nd hole, was his third U.S. Open title. He won 20 championships on the PGA Tour between 1971 and 1994.
Game 403 | May 14, 1991 | Tom Kelly, Jack Morris, Chuck Knoblauch
When the Twins manager and two players appeared before Dunkers in May, it was hard to imagine that all three would play key roles in the Twins' improbable World Series win that fall. Kelly, in only his sixth year as manager, would lead the Twins to their second championship. Knoblauch, who hit .281 and stole 25 bases as the team's second baseman, was named American League Rookie of the Year. Morris finished 18-12 and pitched the Twins to victory over Atlanta in the seventh game of the World Series in what many rank as one of the greatest World Series pitching performances in history.
Game 404 | May 29, 1991 | Charles Mecham
Already a success in two different careers, the 60-year-old Mechem was a surprising choice as commissioner of the Ladies Professional Golf Association in 1990. Mechem was in town to promote the Northgate Computer Classic at Edinburgh USA Golf Club in Brooklyn Park. Glenwood, Minnesota, native Cindy Rarick won the event.
Game 405 | June 13, 1991 | Phil Rizzuto, Bobby Murcer
The two former Yankee stars teamed as Yankee broadcasters in 1983-1984 and again from 1991-1996. Rizzuto spent 40 years as part of the Yankee broadcast team. The Hall of Famer died in 2007 at age 89. Murcer, once unfairly hailed as the next Mickey Mantle, died in 2008 at age 62.
Game 406 | June 28, 1991 | John Rooney, Jimmy Rodgers
A popular member of the Minnesota Twins broadcast crew in the 1980s, Rooney returned as a member of the Chicago White Sox television crew where he teamed with Wayne Hagin and Ed Farmer. He also worked for CBS Radio from 1984-2003, doing play-by-play on major league baseball, NFL football and college football and basketball games. Rodgers, the new coach of the Minnesota Timberwolves, was back in November for a more in-depth look at the 1991-'92 team.
Game 407 | July 17, 1991 | Jerry Burns
The rapidly approaching NFL season would be the last for Burns as the Vikings' head coach. The team's performance declined after the Herschel Walker trade, and in 1991 finished 8-8, third in the NFC Central Division.
Game 408 | July 30, 1991 | Ernie Harwell
Owner of one of the great voices in broadcasting, the articulate Harwell did play-by-play on major league baseball games for 55 years, 42 of them with the Detroit Tigers. In 1948 he became the only announcer in baseball history to be traded for a player when Dodgers' general manager Branch Rickey traded catcher Cliff Dapper to the Atlanta Crackers in exchange for breaking Harwell's contract.
(LtoR) Pat Murray, Norm McGrew, Warren Spannaus, Ernie Harwell, Rick Bay (physician)
Game 409 | August 7, 1991 | Jan Stenerud
While attending Montana State on a ski jumping scholarship, the Norwegian-born Stenerud proved to be a natural at place kicking. He was drafted by the Kansas City Chiefs and kicked for them for the next 13 years, including their Super Bowl IV victory over the Minnesota Vikings when his field goals accounted for the Chiefs' first nine points. He left Kansas City for Green Bay and finished his career with the Vikings in 1984-'85.
Game 410 | August 22, 1991 | John Gutekunst
Attendance was falling at the Metrodome, and Gopher football coach Gutekunst told Dunkers he realized he was under pressure to produce a winner in 1991. The team beat Purdue 6-3 in its second Big Ten game, but lost its final six Big Ten games. Gutekunst was fired after finishing the season in last place with a 2-9 record. His six-year Gopher coaching record was 29-36-2.
Game 411 | September 17, 1991 | Kevin Tapani, Willie Banks, Denny Naegle
With pennant fever building, Dunkers welcomed three of the newer additions to the Twins' pitching staff. Tapani, obtained two years earlier in the trade that sent Frank Viola to the Mets, went 16-9 with a 2.99 earned run average for the 1991 Twins. Banks, a product of the team's farm system, made a late-season debut, winning one game. Naegle, a draft choice out of the University of Minnesota, appeared in only seven games.
Game 412 | October 9, 1991 | Jim Kaat, Dick Stockton
Although Jack Buck and Tim McCarver drew the television broadcast assignments for the 1991 World Series, Kaat and Stockton were doing features for CBS. For Kaat it marked a return to the area where he had made his first World Series appearance as a pitcher for the Minnesota Twins. Stockton told Dunkers of meeting his wife, sportswriter and broadcaster Leslie Visser, while both covered the 1975 World Series.
Game 413 | October 22, 1991 | Scott Studwell
An outstanding college linebacker at Illinois, Studwell was a ninth-round draft selection of the Minnesota Vikings in 1977. Despite his low position in the draft, Studwell quickly adjusted to the NFL and played 14 seasons with the Vikings, being named All Pro in 1984, 1988 and 1989. He retired after the 1990 season. He holds the Viking career record for tackles and, in 1990, was named to the Illinois All Century team at linebacker along with Dick Butkus and Ray Nitschke.
Game 414 | November 6, 1991 | Clem Haskins, Doug Woog
Gopher basketball performance improved this season with the arrival of Vashon Lenard and Arriel McDonald as starting guards. The team finished 16-16 and improved from ninth to sixth in the Big Ten. Woog's high-scoring team was led by Larry Olimb, Trent Klatt, Craig Johnson, Darby Hendrickson and Travis Richards. They finished tied for first in the WCHA with a 26-6 record. They lost to Lake Superior State in the NCAA West Regional.
Game 415 | November 12, 1991 | Frank Gifford
Ratings for Monday Night Football peaked during the years when Gifford teamed with Don Meredith and Howard Cosell. The Vikings had lost to the Bears the night before Gifford appeared at Dunkers. At that time the MNF crew consisted of Gifford, Al Michaels and Dan Dierdorf. Gifford, a former star running back for the New York Giants, remained an MNF football regular through 1997.
(LtoR) Pat Murray, Norm McGrew, Warren Spannaus, Frank Gifford, Jim Blake (physician)