History of the World Series – 1989
The on-field action was, in fact, mostly devoid of excitement. And yet the 1989 World Series — the first all-Bay Area classic — may well rank as the most unforgettable Series ever.
Game 1, though, was little more than a showcase event for A’s ace righthander Dave Stewart, who shut out San Francisco on five hits, walked only one batter and struck out six on the way to a 5-0 triumph in Oakland. The A’s struck for three second-inning runs against Scott Garrelts, the National League leader in earned-run average in 1989 with a 2.28 figure, and then got bases-empty home runs in the next two innings from Dave Parker and Walt Weiss. For Weiss, it was a rare show of muscle — he had hit only six homers in 247 regular-season games in the majors.
The next night, Mike Moore (seven-plus innings) and relievers Rick Honeycutt and Dennis Eckersley combined on a four-hitter and catcher Terry Steinbach lashed a three-run homer off Rick Reuschel. It was another workmanlike effort for Manager Tony La Russa’s A’s, who wound up 5-1 winners.
Ho-hum.
The Series shifted across the bay to San Francisco, where fans jammed Candlestick Park. Most of the 60,000-plus on hand October 17 were hoping the Giants’ robust offense, dormant in Games 1 and 2, would move center stage. It did not. Mother Nature did.
As the Candlestick Park throng awaited introduction of the lineups, an earthquake measuring 7.1 on the Richter scale rocked the Bay Area. The Candlestick press box swayed, the ballpark shook and electric power stopped. Amazingly, fans, players and the media remained generally calm and even exhibited some lightheartedness. But when reports of death and destruction around the area became known — many fans had portable radios and television sets at the park — the mood turned somber.
Commissioner Fay Vincent, told early that restoration of power any time soon would be impossible, announced the postponement of Game 3 long before being informed of the extent of the suffering and damage in the area. His decision ensured that everyone could vacate Candlestick before darkness set in.
The matter of winning and losing, seemingly so important an hour earlier, had lost all relevance. Now everyone was caught up in the matter of life and death.
Less than 24 hours after the earthquake, which took 67 lives and caused billions of dollars of damage, Vincent announced that major-league baseball’s “modest little sporting event” would be postponed for at least a week. Later, after finally meeting with San Francisco Mayor Art Agnos and being apprised of continuing logistics problems, the commissioner disclosed that the resumption of the Series would be delayed for another three days, to October 27.
The l0-day postponement and 12-day gap in games were the longest in World Series history and marked the first interruption for anything other than inclement weather. While some observers called for cancellation of the remainder of the Series in deference to the earthquake victims, most favored its continuation and even viewed the competition and resumption of all other normal events (sports and otherwise) as crucial to the area’s healing process.
While much had changed off the field in the previous 10 days, the A’s showed that little had changed on the field. They were dominant, as usual. Oakland blasted a record-tying five home runs — two by Dave Henderson and one each by Jose Canseco, Carney Lansford and Tony Phillips — and got effective pitching from Stewart (three runs and five hits in seven innings) en route to a 13-7 thrashing of the Giants.
The Athletics’ offense was the big story in Game 3, but the defense contributed, too. The Giants trailed, 4-3, with two out in the fourth inning and runners on first and second when A’s first baseman Mark McGwire made a diving stop to his right on Pat Sheridan’s ground ball. McGwire’s throw to Stewart, covering first, retired Sheridan on a close play and kept Oakland in the lead.
The victory made Stewart, winner of 62 regular-season games in the last three years, the first man in history to record two victories in the same season in both the League Championship Series and World Series.
” …I guess I’ve got something that I can stick out my chest about,” Stewart said.
Oakland, which never trailed in any game of the ’89 Series, breezed to an 8-0 lead after 4 1/2 innings of Game 4. Rickey Henderson belted a game-opening home run and Moore, in a rare batting appearance for the American League pitcher, stroked a 0-2 pitch from Don Robinson for a two-run double to highlight the Athletics’ four-run outburst in the first two innings. Steinbach’s two-run triple in the fifth was the big blow thereafter.
The Giants rallied for two runs in the sixth and four more in the seventh, but the A’s, getting stout relief pitching from Todd Burns and Eckersley, held on for a 9-6 victory that wrapped up the Series title.
The sweep was particularly gratifying for the Athletics, whose psyche was still reeling from the stunning upset loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers in 1988 classic. While the A’s had validated their greatness against the Giants, their thunder had been stolen once more. This time, in the 1989 World Series, it took more than mere mortals to do it. It took Mother Nature.
