The 1989 World Series was the championship series of Major League Baseball's (MLB) 1989 season. The 86th 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 San Francisco Giants. The Series ran from October 14 through October 28, with the Athletics sweeping the Giants in four games. It was the first World Series sweep since 1976, when the Cincinnati Reds swept the New York Yankees.
This marked the third all-California World Series matchup, as well as the fourth World Series matchup, and first since 1913, between the Athletics and Giants. 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. As of , this is the last time in which two teams from the same state met in the World Series back-to-back, and it was the first time that it had occurred since the Yankees and Dodgers met in the World Series in 1955 and 1956.
Fay Vincent, who had just taken over as the 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.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. The ball features the World Series logo in Blue, traditional red stitch, and the printed signature of A. Bartlett Giamatti, Commissioner of MLB.
This Series was also known as the "Bay Bridge Series," "BART Series," "Battle of the Bay," and "Earthquake Series"; the two participant cities lie on opposite sides of San Francisco Bay, connected by the San Francisco–Oakland Bay Bridge and the Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) system, and the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake occurred before the start of Game 3. It was the first cross-town World Series (involving two teams from the same metropolitan area) since 1956, and only the third such series that did not involve New York City (the 1906 and 1944 World Series, which featured matchups between the Chicago Cubs and Chicago White Sox and the St. Louis Cardinals and St. Louis Browns respectively, were the others). Until 2023, this marked the last time that consecutive championships were won by different teams from the same state.
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, tying the 1981 World Series and surpassing the 1986 World Series by one day, even though the 1989 series only lasted the minimum four games.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. Had the Series run the full seven games, it would have ended on October 31 or November 1, potentially extending the season into November for the first time in history.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.
Background
This was the third all-California World Series (1974, 1988). The San Francisco Giants won the NL West division by three games over the San Diego Padres, then defeated the Chicago Cubs four games to one in the National League Championship Series. The Oakland Athletics won the AL West division by seven games over the Kansas City Royals, then defeated the Toronto Blue Jays four games to one in the American League Championship Series.
It was the Giants' first World Series appearance since , while the Athletics were playing in their second straight Fall Classic following the Series.
Summary
† Game 3 was originally slated for October 17 at 5:35 pm; however, it was postponed when an earthquake occurred at 5:04 pm.
Matchups
Game 1
Prior to Game 1, 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. 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.
A's designated hitter Dave 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.
Game 2
Little League World Series MVP and future NHL star Chris Drury threw out the ceremonial first pitch in Game 2. Oakland starter Mike Moore took on Giant Rick Reuschel.
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.
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.
The Loma Prieta earthquake
The 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake struck on October 17, 1989, at 5:04 p.m. Game 3 was scheduled to start at 5:35 p.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 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 5:04 p.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. On KGO-TV's feed, the telop graphic was replaced with a station identification slide, recycled from the network's 1986–87 "Together" campaign, with "Please Stand By" text on top of the Circle 7 logo, because of the station lost power for almost 15 minutes upon the start of the earthquake. 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. When the audio was restored, first to be heard was the sound of the fans cheering, and then Michaels began talking over a screen bumper, jokingly saying that the earthquake was the "greatest opening in the history of television, bar none!"Footage from the game broadcast, originally aired October 17, 1989
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."
ESPN reporters were at the stadium, but were not on air when it hit, and the channel was instead airing a bodybuilder contest at the time. Their equipment van was the only one with a generator, and their reporters went live at 5:22 p.m. with news coverage by Chris Berman and Bob Ley.
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 at 5:21 p.m., 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.After the Shock (1990) (TV)