The big moments you know. Here are five of my favorite small moments, the ones that really tell you about the people who play the games.

1. PUCK, 1991
It was 2:15 on the afternoon of Game 6. With the Braves up 3-2, the Twins were back home in the Baggydome, where they'd never lost a Series game. Only a few lights were on, but Kirby Puckett was busy pulling the batting cage into position. "Hey, Petey," he shouted. (Kirby Puckett is the only person who's ever called me Petey.) "I haven't done a thing in this Series. Time to get going. You go on SportsCenter and tell 'em Puck's putting the Twins on his back. This is gonna be Puck's night!" He was right: an unforgettable game-saving catch and three hits, culminating with his 11th-inning homer off Charlie Leibrandt. Puck made possible what might have been the greatest Game 7 ever played, giving the Twins the victory in the best Series I've ever seen.

2. OREL, 1988
Long after Game 2, Orel Hershiser was still in uniform. He'd shut out the A's at Dodger Stadium, continuing a remarkable run that included his record 59-inning scoreless streak and a relief appearance to help beat the Mets. Jim Kaat and I sent in a request: If possible, we'd really appreciate it if he could come back out and do one more interview. Out he came. We thanked him, and during the 10 minutes he had to wait for the show, asked him if he wasn't worried about what all these innings might do to his arm. "Don't think about it, don't care," he said. "I'll never have this kind of ride again. I spent my childhood dreaming of this. Tomorrow? It is tomorrow."

3. EL TIANTE, 1975
In Game 4, working on the road with three days' rest after a masterpiece against the Reds, an exhausted Luis Tiant battled out of trouble in every inning after the fourth. His last pitch, his 163rd, was popped up by Joe Morgan with runners at first and second to give the Red Sox a 5-4 win-and a Series tie. "He had nothing that night," Carlton Fisk later said, "Nothing but his heart and soul."

4. BARRY, 2002
A kid named Frankie Rodriguez got Barry Bonds to ground out in the sixth inning of the Angels' Game 2 win. Later, in the ninth, Barry took Troy Percival deep into the Anaheim bleachers. Later still, on Baseball Tonight, I said K-Rod's cut fastball was tough for a left-handed batter to center the first time he sees it. "You're wrong," Bonds said the next day. "I just missed it. If he throws it again, I'll hit it farther than the ball I hit off Percival." In Game 6, it happened. When Barry walked out to left in the bottom of the inning, he pointed up to me on the ESPN set atop the left-field bleachers, then pointed to where he hit the ball. I'd really like to tell you it was farther than the one he hit off Percival; it wasn't, but it was close.