end of the line as he would spend only 19 games with the Detroit Tigers in and 11 games with the Oakland Athletics in , seeing most of his playing time back at the AAA level. After being released by the A's following the 1987 season, his career was at a crossroads. Minnesota Twins Harper finally got his chance when he signed with the Minnesota Twins on 4 January, . Although starting catcher Tim Laudner had been the primary catcher since 1982, he never hit as well as the team had hoped and bottomed out during the 1987 season and despite hitting 16 home runs he would only bat .191. Similarly, the other catchers that the Twins had tried in 1987, Tom Nieto, Mark Salas, and Sal Butera, did no better at the plate and were thus not seriously considered as replacements. Given an opportunity to play a meaningful stretch of time at his natural position of catcher, Harper would flourish in 1988, hitting .295 in 182 plate appearances – the most Harper had received in a single season in the majors. Although Laudner would continue to be re-signed by the Twins through the 1990 season, Harper would be the primary catcher for the Twins and see game action in at least 123 games for the next five years. Harper would have one of his best seasons in 1991, finishing with a .311 average, 10 home runs and 69 RBI, and would help to propel the Twins team to the memorable 1991 World Series win in seven games over the Atlanta Braves. He endured a violent play-at-the-plate collision with Lonnie Smith early in the Series, holding onto the ball to preserve a run. Then in the deciding game, he caught the Game 7 masterpiece of Jack Morris, who threw 10 innings of shutout baseball. In the top of the 8th inning, Harper teamed up with first baseman Kent Hrbek to execute an outstanding 3-2-3 double play. After the World Series win, Harper re-signed with the Twins for another two years, including arguably his best season in 1993 in which he would hit .304 with 12 home runs and 73 RBI, playing in a career-high 143 games. Despite his career year, the small market Twins decided they could not afford Harper and his $2.4 million salary behind the plate, instead trading pitcher Willie Banks to the Cubs for a starting catcher