This marked the fourth World Series matchup, and first since 1913, between the two franchises. The previous three matchups occurred when the Giants were in New York and the Athletics resided in Philadelphia. The then New York Giants defeated the Philadelphia Athletics in the 1905 World Series four games to one, the Athletics defeating the Giants in the 1911 World Series four games to two, and then again in the 1913 Fall Classic four games to one. The series would be historic in other ways as well: the 76-year gap between matchups was the longest in World Series history, a record this World Series would hold until 2018 when the Red Sox and Dodgers met for their first World Series meeting in 102 years; it also marked the first time two franchises had faced off in the World Series after having once played each other when both were based in a different city.
Fay Vincent, who had just taken over as Commissioner of Baseball after the sudden death of his predecessor Bart Giamatti in September, presided over his first World Series and dedicated it to his predecessor's memory.[1]
Prior to the start of Game 3 on October 17, at about 5:04 PM PDT, the Loma Prieta earthquake struck, damaging Oakland and San Francisco (particularly the Cypress Street Viaduct in the former and the Marina District in the latter) as well as the Bay Bridge's upper deck. Candlestick Park in San Francisco suffered damage to its upper deck as pieces of concrete fell from the baffle at the top of the stadium and the power was knocked out. The game was postponed out of concerns for the safety of everyone in the ballpark as well as the loss of power. The series resumed on October 27 and finished the next day.
At the time, October 28 was the latest end date ever for a World Series, surpassing the 1986 World Series by one day, even though the 1986 series went the maximum seven games and the 1989 series only lasted the minimum four games.[2] Had the Series run the full seven games, a Major League Baseball game would have been played in November for the first time in history.[3]
It was the Giants' first World Series appearance since 1962, while the Athletics were playing in their second straight Fall Classic following the 1988 Series.
Prior to Game1, a tribute to late Commissioner Bart Giamatti was held; Giamatti's son Marcus threw out the first pitch, and the Whiffenpoofs from Yale University (Giamatti's alma mater) sang the national anthem.[8]Dave Stewart, the Athletics' ace, took on Giants pitcher Scott Garrelts in Game 1 of the Bay Bridge series.
Oakland took the lead in the bottom of the second when Dave Henderson walked, advanced to second on a Terry Steinbach single, and scored on another single by Tony Phillips that moved Steinbach up to third. Walt Weiss then sent a soft ground ball toward first, but Giants first baseman (and NLCS MVP) Will Clark threw the ball low and to the right of catcher Terry Kennedy. Steinbach knocked the ball out of Kennedy's mitt, scoring the second run of the inning. Kennedy was charged with an error, and Phillips advanced to second. Rickey Henderson then drove in Phillips on a single to right field; the second inning ended with Oakland leading 3–0.[8]
A's designated hitterDave Parker tattooed a home run to lead off the third off of Garrelts, and Weiss added a lead off home run in the fourth. Oakland starter Stewart dominated the Giants, allowing five hits in a complete game, handing the A's a one-game edge in the Series. "We ran into a buzz saw", Clark said of Stewart's pitching.[8]
Game 2
Sunday, October 15, 1989 5:28pm (PT) at Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum in Oakland, California 58°F (14°C), mostly cloudy
Oakland got off to a fast start; Rickey Henderson led off the bottom of the first with a walk. Henderson promptly stole second, and scored one pitch later when Carney Lansford hit a double to right field. The Giants scored their first run of the Series in the top of the third; José Uribe reached first on a fielder's choice, advanced to third via a Brett Butler single, and scored on a Robby Thompson sacrifice fly.[8]
The A's regained the lead in the bottom of the 4th when Dave Parker drove a line shot off the wall that was both an inch from being foul and an inch from being a home run. Jose Canseco, who drew a walk earlier that inning, scored on the play. Parker stood at the plate for a moment to watch the flight of the ball, and started to run as soon as the ball hit the wall; Giants right fielder Candy Maldonado appeared to throw Parker out at second, but second base umpire Dutch Rennert called Parker safe. After Dave Henderson walked and Mark McGwire struck out, Terry Steinbach hit a three-run home run off Reuschel to left field, scoring both Parker and Henderson. The Giants had no answer for Oakland's relievers, and the A's won 5–1 and took a 2–0 lead in the Series.[8]
The 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake struck on October 17, 1989, at 5:04p.m. Game 3 was scheduled to start at 5:35p.m. at Candlestick Park in San Francisco, and thousands of people were already in the stadium when the quake hit. It was the first major earthquake in the United States to be broadcast by live television. Experts credit the timing of the World Series as a lucky break that prevented massive loss of life in the region; key in reducing the loss of life was the fact that many people on both sides of the bay had left work early or were staying late to participate in after-work group viewings and parties, reducing the traffic that would otherwise have been on the collapsed freeways at 5:04p.m. on a Tuesday (42 people had died in the collapse of the Cypress Street Viaduct in Oakland). A Goodyear Blimp that was covering the telecast was used to coordinate emergency efforts.
At the time the earthquake hit, ABC's crew was in the booth as Tim McCarver was presenting a highlight package. The earthquake hit while the video was playing and temporarily knocked the feed out, and just before it was knocked out Al Michaels could be heard on air saying "I'll tell you what, we're having an earth-" with the feed cutting out just before he finished. The feed ended up being replaced with a green ABC Sports "World Series" telop graphic as used for technical difficulties.[9] Michaels, McCarver, and third man in the booth Jim Palmer grabbed for whatever they could to brace themselves and grabbed on to one another's legs, leaving all three men with thigh bruises. The audio was restored, first to be heard was the sound of the fans cheering, then Michaels began talking over a screen bumper until the video was restored jokingly saying that the earthquake was the "greatest opening in the history of television, bar none!"[10]
By contrast, the broadcasting team in the CBS Radio booth next door, consisting of Jack Buck, Johnny Bench, and John Rooney, was off the air when the earthquake started because their show was in a pretaped segment being played from New York. Bench ran to a spot underneath a steel grate, to which Buck later quipped, "If he moved that fast when he played, he'd never hit into a double play. I never saw anyone move that fast in my life."
The ESPN live coverage of the Series[clarification needed] (ESPN and ABC at the time produced separate broadcasts) was interrupted during then-television analyst Joe Torre's pre-game report on the field. Their equipment van was the only one with a generator, and they continued their live coverage with Chris Berman and Bob Ley.
The collapse of the Bay Bridge forced Oakland players to return home via San Jose
In the immediate aftermath of the earthquake, ABC aired a rerun of Roseanne (and later, The Wonder Years) before Ted Koppel began anchoring news coverage from Washington, with Michaels acting as a de facto reporter. The Goodyear Blimp (which was already aloft for the game) provided video of structural damage and fires within the city. The ABC opening for this telecast (leading up to Al Michaels informing the viewers of the earthquake) was used at the beginning of a 1990 television movie (documenting the Loma Prieta earthquake) called After the Shock.[11]
As for the Series itself, Fay Vincent[12] decided to postpone Game 3 initially for five days, resulting in the longest delay in World Series history. Vincent told no one before doing so, resulting in an umpire protest, although the original reason for the postponement was loss of power in the stadium, concern about possible structural damage, and the danger of possible aftershocks.[13] It was postponed for another five days (until October 27) because of delays in restoring transmission links. Then San Francisco mayor Art Agnos wanted to wait a month before resuming it, with Vincent responding to Agnos by telling him that he might move it elsewhere if the delay would be that long. With that, Vincent quickly had several other National and American League parks put on standby, including Wrigley Field and Comiskey Park in Chicago, the Kingdome in Seattle, the Astrodome in Houston, or Yankee Stadium and Shea Stadium in New York City. (Moving the game to the opponents' stadium was not an option, because the Oakland A's were also based in the SF Bay area. Also, it was noted in the news media that there were threemajorleague stadiums in southern California.)
Players for the Oakland Athletics returned home, but had to travel via State Route 237 in San Jose, adding an extra 90 minutes due to the collapse of the Bay Bridge and the I-880Cypress Street Viaduct along with the closures of the San Mateo–Hayward and Dumbarton Bridges. Not long after returning, Jose Canseco (still in full uniform) and his wife Esther were spotted filling up their car at a self-service gas station. As noted in his later book Juiced, Canseco noted that someone wrote an article portraying him as chauvinistic forcing his wife to pump the gas, but that in reality, she told him to let her do it because if people saw him in his full uniform, it would cause a scene.
The earthquake would affect the National Anthem performances for the games at Candlestick Park as well. Stevie Wonder, who was slated to play the National Anthem on his harmonica at Game 3 on October 17, pulled out days following the earthquake, and in his place Larry Gatlin and the Gatlin Brothers, who had been slated to perform at Game 4 on October 18, would sing the National Anthem when Game 3 was finally played on October 27.[citation needed]
During the ten-day delay, Candlestick Park was inspected, and found to have only minor damage. This was quickly repaired, and the stadium was deemed safe to use. At the start of Game 3, emergency responders who had aided during the earthquake, including police officers and firefighters, were honored and threw out the ceremonial first pitch. The starters were the Game 1 starters, Stewart and Garrelts. The ten-day delay due to the earthquake allowed both staff aces to start.
Dave Henderson just missed hitting three home runs for the A's as his first inning shot bounced off the top of the wall for a double.
Giants catcher Bill Bathe became the fifth National League player in World Series history to hit a home run in his very first at-bat.
When Game 3 was originally scheduled for October 17, the scheduled starting pitchers were Bob Welch for the A's and Don Robinson for the Giants. Meanwhile, Ken Oberkfell was slated to start at third base for the Giants, with Matt Williams moving over to shortstop instead of the benched José Uribe. Also, Pat Sheridan was slated to take over for Candy Maldonado in right field for the Giants. Maldonado told ESPN that he was in the clubhouse getting ready when the earthquake hit. The first person he saw in the midst of all of this was his teammate, Robinson, who told Maldonado that he sensed that an earthquake was occurring. For Oakland, Ron Hassey was slated to be the starting catcher for Game 3 in place of Terry Steinbach, as Hassey was at the time Welch's personal catcher.
This game set a record for most combined HRs hit in a World Series game (7) as well as tying a record for most HRs hit by a single team (5) in a World Series game (the New York Yankees won Game 4 of the 1928 World Series against the St. Louis Cardinals, which like this series, would end in a sweep). This record for combined HRs in a World Series game would endure until Game 2 in 2017, in which the Astros and Dodgers combined for 8 HRs.[14]
Game 4
Saturday, October 28, 1989 5:28pm (PT) at Candlestick Park in San Francisco, California 63°F (17°C), clear
At the time, October 28 was the latest end date ever for a World Series, even though the series only lasted the minimum four games. (The 1981 Series, which went six games, had also ended on October 28. This record was tied again in 1995, and has since been surpassed several times, beginning with the terrorism-delayed 2001 Series, which ran from October 27 through November 4.
The World Series now regularly concludes at the end of October or beginning of November due to the addition of the Division Series and Wild Card Games to the postseason.) After Nell Carter sang the National Anthem, Willie Mays (who was initially scheduled to throw out the first pitch on October 17 and was about to be interviewed by ABC's Joe Morgan when the earthquake hit) threw out the ceremonial first pitch.
The A's led from the first batter of the game on as Rickey Henderson's home run set the tone. Kevin Mitchell's homer would bring the Giants closer as they cut an 8–0 deficit to 8–6 in two innings. But it would prove to be too little too late for San Francisco as they would lose 9–6.
This was also Candlestick Park's final World Series game. The Giants' four subsequent National League pennants have come since their move to Oracle Park, in 2002, 2010, 2012 and 2014 (with the last three appearances also ending in World Series championships).
Out of respect for the Loma Prieta earthquake victims, the Oakland Athletics chose not to celebrate their World Series victory with champagne, as is normally customary for the winning team in the World Series.[15]
This would be the last World Series that ABC would televise from start to finish (and also the last they would produce themselves), and Game 4 was the last MLB game on ABC until July 1994. The television rights would move exclusively to CBS the following year (ABC had shared coverage with NBC since 1976 up until the end of the 1989 season). ABC would next televise a World Series in 1995, but only broadcast Games 1, 4, and 5 (the other games were covered by NBC, who had a joint venture with ABC and MLB called The Baseball Network).
Due in part to the earthquake and subsequent interruption of play, as well as the four-game sweep by the Athletics, ABC only drew an overall Nielsen rating of 16.4 for the Series. This was the first World Series since the introduction of prime-time games in 1971 to draw a rating of less than 20.[17]
As previously mentioned, CBS Radio also covered the Series. Jack Buck returned for his seventh and last World Series as the radio voice for CBS, as he was to move to the television side the next year. He was joined by Johnny Bench as his analyst, who replaced Bill White when he was appointed to replace Giamatti as president of the National League earlier in the year. Buck was replaced by Vin Scully the next year, who made his return to CBS Radio following NBC Sports' loss of television rights to CBS. Bench covered four more World Series for CBS Radio with the 1993 series being his last.
Aftermath
1989 would turn out be the A’s final championship in Oakland, as the team left the city for Sacramento in 2024, to play as the Athletics, while preparing to relocate and play in Las Vegas as the Las Vegas Athletics in 2027.
The A's would return to the World Series the following season, making it three years in a row. However, they were unsuccessful in defending their championship as the Cincinnati Reds swept them in 4 games.
The Giants, meanwhile, failed to repeat as National League Champions and would not return to the playoffs until 1997, when they were swept by the Florida Marlins in the NLDS. The Giants would not return to the World Series until 2002, when they lost a seven-game series to the Anaheim Angels after holding a 3–2 series lead. It took the Giants until 2010 to get back to the World Series, and they won their first world championship since 1954, when the team was still located in New York, by defeating the Texas Rangers in five games. In 2012, the Giants would go back to the World Series and defeat the Detroit Tigers in a four-game sweep, and in 2014they would beat the Kansas City Royals in seven games to capture their third World Series crown in five seasons.
On the A's, players Mark McGwire and Jose Canseco would later play for other teams. McGwire would be traded to the St. Louis Cardinals in 1997, where he would beat Roger Maris' single-season home run record in 1998 and retire as a Cardinal in 2001. Canseco was traded during the 1992 season to the Texas Rangers and after that bounced around from team to team including a return to Oakland in 1997. He would later win the 2000 World Series with the New York Yankees. Canseco retired in 2001 after a stint with the Chicago White Sox. Manager Tony La Russa remained with the A's until 1995, when he resigned to take the managerial position in St. Louis, where he again got the chance to manage McGwire. La Russa would remain with the Cardinals through 2011 after having led the team to three World Series and two world championships. In 2021, he began a two-year stint as manager of the Chicago White Sox.
Kevin Mitchell would never regain the form that helped him win the National League MVP award in 1989, and after his production declined in the next two seasons he was traded to the Seattle Mariners in the 1991 offseason. Brett Butler would leave after one more season with the Giants, going to play for the Los Angeles Dodgers. Wins leader Rick Reuschel was gone after the following season, retiring in 1991. Finally, Will Clark was let go by the Giants after 1993 due to a decline in production thanks in large part to injuries that kept him out of the lineup for much of the previous three seasons. Clark signed with the Texas Rangers and despite not being able to escape the injury bug, he was a productive member of the team for the next five seasons. Clark retired following the 2000 season, where he made one last trip to the postseason as a member of La Russa's Cardinals.
On June 13, 2009, immediately prior to the second game of the interleague regular season meeting between the Giants and A's, the Giants honored 27 members of their 1989 team.
This would be the first time that the World Series ended in the last week of October, until the 2001 World Series when the 9/11 attacks delayed the NFL and MLB games for a week, and caused the World Series to end in November. The 1981 World Series also finished on October 28.
Notes
↑ The black armbands that the Athletics and Giants wore were in memory of the deceased commissioner. In addition, the official World Series balls had Giamatti's signature on them. The Rawlings 1989 World Series Game Baseball.Archived October 22, 2006, at the Wayback Machine The ball features the World Series logo in Blue, traditional red stitch, and the printed signature of A. Bartlett Giamatti, Commissioner of MLB.
↑ The 1981 World Series, which went six games, had also ended on October 28. This record was subsequently tied again in 1995, and has since been surpassed several times, first in 2001 due to the interruption of that season caused by the September 11 attacks. This was later tied by the 2009 World Series, both of which ended on November 4. Currently, the latest in the calendar the World Series has ever been played is November 5, set by the 2022 World Series.
↑ The World Series now regularly concludes at the end of October or beginning of November due to the addition of the Division Series and Wild Card Series to the postseason.
The San Francisco Giants are an American professional baseball team based in San Francisco. The Giants compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West Division. Founded in 1883 as the New York Gothams, the team was renamed the New York Giants three years later, eventually relocating from New York City to San Francisco in 1958. The Giants play their home games at Oracle Park in San Francisco.
Candlestick Park was an outdoor stadium on the West Coast of the United States, located in San Francisco's Hunters Point area. The stadium was originally the home of Major League Baseball's San Francisco Giants, who played there from 1960 until 1999, after which the Giants moved into Pacific Bell Park in 2000. It was also the home field of the San Francisco 49ers of the National Football League from 1971 through 2013. The 49ers moved to Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara for the 2014 season. The last event held at Candlestick was a concert by Paul McCartney in August 2014, and the demolition of the stadium was completed in September 2015. As of 2019, the site is planned to be redeveloped into office space.
On October 17, 1989, at 5:04 p.m. local time, the Loma Prieta earthquake occurred at the Central Coast of California. The shock was centered in The Forest of Nisene Marks State Park in Santa Cruz County, approximately 10 mi (16 km) northeast of Santa Cruz on a section of the San Andreas Fault System and was named for the nearby Loma Prieta Peak in the Santa Cruz Mountains. With an Mw magnitude of 6.9 and a maximum Modified Mercalli intensity of IX (Violent), the shock was responsible for 63 deaths and 3,757 injuries. The Loma Prieta segment of the San Andreas Fault System had been relatively inactive since the 1906 San Francisco earthquake until two moderate foreshocks occurred in June 1988 and again in August 1989.
Alan Richard Michaels is an American television play-by-play sportscaster for Thursday Night Football on Amazon Prime Video and in an emeritus role for NBC Sports. He has worked on network sports television since 1971, with his most recent work being with NBC Sports after nearly three decades (1976–2006) with ABC Sports. Michaels is known for his many years calling play-by-play of National Football League (NFL) games, including ABC Monday Night Football from 1986 to 2005 and NBC Sunday Night Football from 2006 to 2021. He is also known for famous calls in other sports, including the Miracle on Ice at the 1980 Winter Olympics and the earthquake-interrupted Game 3 of the 1989 World Series.
David Lee Henderson, nicknamed "Hendu", was an American professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Seattle Mariners, Boston Red Sox, San Francisco Giants, Oakland Athletics, and Kansas City Royals during his 14-year career, primarily as an outfielder.
The 1988 World Series was the championship series of Major League Baseball's (MLB) 1988 season. The 85th edition of the World Series, it was a best-of-seven playoff played between the American League (AL) champion Oakland Athletics and the National League (NL) champion Los Angeles Dodgers, with the Dodgers upsetting the heavily favored Athletics to win the Series in five games to win their sixth championship.
Robert Lynn Welch was an American professional baseball starting pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Los Angeles Dodgers (1978–87) and Oakland Athletics (1988–94). Prior to his professional career, he attended Eastern Michigan University, where he played college baseball for the Eastern Michigan Hurons baseball team. He helped lead the Hurons, coached by Ron Oestrike, to the 1976 College World Series, losing to Arizona in the Championship Game.
The Athletics–Giants rivalry, formerly termed the Bay Bridge Series, or the Battle of the Bay, was a series of baseball games played between—and the rivalry of—Major League Baseball's Oakland Athletics of the American League and San Francisco Giants of the National League. The formerly termed Bay Bridge Series took its name from the San Francisco–Oakland Bay Bridge which links the cities of Oakland and San Francisco. Beginning in 2018, the winner of the annual series retained a trophy fashioned from a piece of the original bridge.
The 1989 American League Championship Series was a semifinal series in Major League Baseball's 1989 postseason played between the Oakland Athletics and the Toronto Blue Jays from October 3 to 8. A dominant Oakland team took the Series four games to one, en route to a sweep of their cross-bay rivals, the San Francisco Giants, in a World Series marred by the destructive Loma Prieta earthquake.
Walter William Weiss is an American former professional baseball shortstop and manager and current bench coach for the Atlanta Braves. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1987 through 2000 for the Oakland Athletics, Florida Marlins, Colorado Rockies, and Atlanta Braves. He managed the Rockies from 2013 through 2016. Weiss won the 1988 Rookie of the Year award. He was also a member of the 1998 National League All-Star Team.
The 1989 National League Championship Series was played between the National League West champion San Francisco Giants and the National League East champion Chicago Cubs. The Giants won the series four games to one, en route to losing to the Oakland Athletics in four games in the 1989 World Series.
Kelly Robert Downs is an American former professional baseball pitcher who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the San Francisco Giants and Oakland Athletics from 1986 to 1993. He wore uniform number 37 for his seven years with the Giants, and number 31 for his two seasons with the A's.
Kevin Cowherd is an American author, humorist and former award-winning sports and features columnist for The Baltimore Sun. He is the author, along with Hall of Famer Cal Ripken Jr., of The New York Times best-sellerHothead and five other baseball novels for young readers. Their latest book, The Closer, was published by Disney-Hyperion Books in March 2016.
The 1989 Oakland Athletics season saw the A's finish in first place in the American League West, with a record of 99 wins and 63 losses, seven games in front of the Kansas City Royals. Oakland dominated the American League, earning their second consecutive AL West title, as well as marking the second straight year in which they finished with the best record in all of baseball. A's pitcher Dave Stewart recorded his third straight season of earning 20 or more wins while Rickey Henderson put on a dazzling offensive performance in the postseason as he approached the prospects of landing a three million dollar contract for the following season. The team defeated the Toronto Blue Jays in five games in the ALCS, then swept their cross-Bay rivals, the San Francisco Giants, in an earthquake-marred World Series. The Athletics looked to be a future dynasty by the close of the 1989 season.
The San Francisco Bay Area, which includes the major cities of San Francisco, Oakland, and San Jose, hosts five major league sports franchises, with a major women's sports franchise soon to start play, as well as several other professional and college sports teams, and hosts other sports events.
The 1989 San Francisco Giants season was the Giants' 107th season in Major League Baseball, their 32nd season in San Francisco since their move from New York following the 1957 season, and their 30th at Candlestick Park. The Giants finished in first place in the National League West with a record of 92 wins and 70 losses. It was their second division title in three years. The Giants defeated the Chicago Cubs in five games in the NLCS. However, they were swept by their cross-Bay rivals, the Oakland Athletics, in an earthquake-marred World Series.
The 1989 Major League Baseball season saw the Oakland Athletics win their first World Series title since 1974.
In 1980, 22 teams took part in a one-year cable deal with UA-Columbia. The deal involved the airing of a Thursday night Game of the Week in markets at least 50 miles (80 km) from a major league park. The deal earned Major League Baseball less than $500,000, but led to a new two-year contract for 40-45 games per season.
The 1989 Major League Baseball postseason was the playoff tournament of Major League Baseball for the 1989 season. The winners of each division advance to the postseason and face each other in a League Championship Series to determine the pennant winners that face each other in the World Series.
The 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake is featured in films and television shows.
References
Neft, David S., and Richard M. Cohen. The World Series. 1st ed. New York: St Martins, 1990. (Neft and Cohen 430–434)
Forman, Sean L. "1989 World Series". Baseball-Reference.com – Major League Statistics and Information. Archived from the original on November 30, 2007. Retrieved December 9, 2007.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
