The final Fall Classic of the 1980's is not remembered for the games that took place within the two bay area ballparks. It is remembered for the tragedy and heroism that took place just outside of them. The San Francisco Giants had finally returned to post-season play after struggling for several years while rebuilding its once great dynasty. Their nearby rivals, the Oakland Athletics, had just been beaten by the Los Angeles Dodgers four games to one and were determined to make amends for their poor showing in the '88 affair.
The Athletics Dave Stewart took the first step in Game 1 and dominated the National League champions by pitching a five-hit, six-strikeout, shutout for the 5-0 opening victory. Game 2 looked very much the same as Oakland's rotation ruled the mound. Mike Moore (who went seven innings) and relievers Rick Honeycutt and Dennis Eckersley combined for a 5-1, four-hitter that was supported by Terry Steinbach's three run home run off Rick Reuschel. If it was respect the A's wanted, manager Tony La Russa's team was certainly on the right track.
As the Series shifted across the bay to San Francisco's Candlestick Park, 60,000+ fans were anxiously awaiting a home team comeback. At exactly 5:00 PM on October 17th, the pre-game formalities got underway as both line-ups took the field for their introductions. Four minutes later the earth shook violently as a 6.9 earthquake rocked the entire bay area. Amazingly, the crowd and players remained relatively calm despite the swaying press boxes and sudden loss of power. Most live radio and TV broadcasts were temporarily knocked off the air and many did not know the extent of the damage outside the walls of Candlestick. Luckily the ballpark had held up during the disaster saving many lives, but the surrounding area was not as fortunate. In the end sixty-seven people died and the miles of crumbled buildings and collapsed roads cost billions to repair. Commissioner Fay Vincent immediately announced the postponement of Game 3 and everyone was ordered to vacate the stadium before darkness set in. Twenty-four hours later it was decided that the contest would be postponed for ten days moving the third outing to October 27th. While some critics called for cancellation of the remainder of the Series (in respect to the earthquake victims) most felt that it would be better to move on as part of the area's healing process.
After the difficult period passed, Oakland returned just as they had left with a record-tying five home runs including two by Dave Henderson and one each by Jose Canseco, Carney Lansford and Tony Phillips. A well-rested Stewart held the Giants to three runs and five hits for the 13-7 triumph. The victory made Stewart, (winner of sixty-two 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 the Fall Classic. San Francisco was never able to recover as the A's cruised to an 8-0 lead after 4½ innings in Game 4. Rickey Henderson had started the rally with an opening homer in the first and Moore nailed a 0-2 pitch from Don Robinson for a two run double in the Athletics' four run outburst. The Giants rallied for two runs in the sixth and four more in the seventh, but the A's clutch relief pitching from Todd Burns and Eckersley, held on for a 9-6 victory that wrapped up the Series title.
In the end, the bittersweet championship was dedicated to the victims of the San Francisco earthquake and many residents though disappointed by the Giants loss, were grateful that baseball was there (as it always was) to help ease their pain.
"I was thinking, man, I was thinking of every possible situation, anything that could possibly happen out there. That way I couldn't be caught off guard. It was just plain and simply visualizing the things that could make me a success." - Dave Stewart
1989 World Series1989 World Series Official Program ← 1988 | Oakland Athletics (4) vs San Francisco Giants (0) | 1990 → |
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1989 World Series Fast Facts | |||
Game 1 | Date / Box Score | 10-14-1989 | |
Location | Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum | ||
1st Pitch | From | To | |
Marcus Giamatti (MLB Commissioner Bart Giamatti's Son) | Terry Steinbach | ||
Attendance | 49,385 | ||
National Anthem | The Yale Wiffenpoofs (A Cappella Group) | ||
Game 2 | Date / Box Score | 10-15-1989 | |
Location | Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum | ||
1st Pitches | From | To | |
Chris Drury (Member of 1989 Little League World Series Team) | Terry Steinbach | ||
Andy Paul (Member of 1989 Little League World Series Team) | Terry Steinbach | ||
Attendance | 49,388 | ||
National Anthem | The Whispers (R&B Group) | ||
Game 3 | Date / Box Score | 10-27-1989 | |
Location | Candlestick Park | ||
1st Pitch | From | To | |
Bay Area Public Servants | Steve Bedrosian | ||
Bob Brenly | |||
Jim Corsi | |||
Mike Gallego | |||
Lance Blankenship | |||
Atlee Hammaker | |||
Mike Krukow | |||
Craig Lefferts | |||
Gene Nelson | |||
Chris Speier | |||
Attendance | 62,038 | ||
National Anthem | The Gatlin Brothers (Country Music Group) | ||
Game 4 | Date / Box Score | 10-28-1989 | |
Location | Candlestick Park | ||
1st Pitch | From | To | |
Willie Mays | Terry Kennedy | ||
Attendance | 62,032 | ||
National Anthem | Nell Carter (Actress / Singer) | ||
1989 World Series Fast Facts |
1989 World Series
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1989 World Series Game 1 Capsule | ||||||||||||
Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
San Francisco | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 1 |
Oakland | 0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | x | 5 | 11 | 1 |
San Francisco Pitcher(s) | Oakland Pitcher(s) | |||||||||||
Scott Garrelts (L) Atlee Hammaker (5th) Jeff Brantley (6th) Mike LaCoss (8th) |
Dave Stewart (W) - - - |
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San Francisco Home Runs | Oakland Home Runs | |||||||||||
None - |
Dave Parker (3rd) Walt Weiss (4th) |
1989 World Series
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1989 World Series Game 2 Capsule | ||||||||||||
Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
San Francisco | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 0 |
Oakland | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | x | 5 | 7 | 0 |
San Francisco Pitcher(s) | Oakland Pitcher(s) | |||||||||||
Rick Reuschel (L) Kelly Downs (5th) Craig Lefferts (7th) Steve Bedrosian (8th) |
Mike Moore (W) Rick Honeycutt (8th) Dennis Eckersley (9th) - |
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San Francisco Home Runs | Oakland Home Runs | |||||||||||
None | Terry Steinbach (4th) |
1989 World Series
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1989 World Series Game 3 Capsule | ||||||||||||
Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
Oakland | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 13 | 14 | 0 |
San Francisco | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 7 | 10 | 3 |
Oakland Pitcher(s) | San Francisco Pitcher(s) | |||||||||||
Dave Stewart (W) Rick Honeycutt (8th) Gene Nelson (9th) Todd Burns (9th) - |
Scott Garrelts (L) Kelly Downs (4th) Jeff Brantley (5th) Atlee Hammaker (8th) Craig Lefferts (9th) |
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Oakland Home Runs | San Francisco Home Runs | |||||||||||
Dave Henderson (4th) Tony Phillips (4th) Jose Canseco (5th) Dave Henderson (5th) Carney Lansford (6th) |
Matt Williams (2nd) Bill Bathe (9th) - - - |
1989 World Series
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1989 World Series Game 4 Capsule | ||||||||||||
Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
Oakland | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 9 | 12 | 0 |
San Francisco | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 9 | 0 |
Oakland Pitcher(s) | San Francisco Pitcher(s) | |||||||||||
Mike Moore (W) Gene Nelson (7th) Rick Honeycutt (7th) Todd Burns (7th) Dennis Eckersley (9th) - |
Don Robinson (L) Mike LaCoss (2nd) Jeff Brantley (6th) Kelly Downs (6th) Craig Lefferts (8th) Steve Bedrosian (8th) |
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Oakland Home Runs | San Francisco Home Runs | |||||||||||
Rickey Henderson (1st) - |
Kevin Mitchell (6th) Greg Litton (7th) |
1989 World SeriesComposite Hitting Statistics |
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Name | Pos | G | AB | H | 2B | 3B | HR | R | RBI | Avg | BB | SO | SB |
Lance Blankenship Todd Burns Jose Canseco Dennis Eckersley Mike Gallego Dave Henderson Rickey Henderson Rick Honeycutt Stan Javier Carney Lansford Mark McGwire Mike Moore Gene Nelson Dave Parker Ken Phelps Tony Phillips Terry Steinbach Dave Stewart Walt Weiss |
2b p of p 2b-1,3b-1 of of p of 3b 1b p p dh-2 ph 2b-3,of-1 c p ss |
1 2 4 2 2 4 4 3 1 4 4 2 2 3 1 4 4 2 4 |
2 0 14 0 1 13 19 0 0 16 17 3 0 9 1 17 16 3 15 |
1 0 5 0 0 4 9 0 0 7 5 1 0 2 0 4 4 0 2 |
0 0 0 0 0 2 1 0 0 1 1 1 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 |
0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 |
0 0 1 0 0 2 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 1 1 0 1 |
1 0 5 0 0 6 4 0 0 5 0 1 0 2 0 2 3 0 3 |
0 0 3 0 0 4 3 0 0 4 1 2 0 2 0 3 7 0 1 |
.500 .000 .357 .000 .000 .308 .474 .000 .000 .438 .294 .333 .000 .222 .000 .235 .250 .000 .133 |
0 0 4 0 0 4 2 0 0 3 1 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 2 |
0 0 3 0 0 3 2 0 0 1 3 1 0 2 0 3 1 1 2 |
0 0 1 0 0 0 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 |
Totals | 146 | 44 | 8 | 3 | 9 | 32 | 30 | .301 | 18 | 22 | 4 | ||
1989 World SeriesComposite Hitting Statistics |
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Name | Pos | G | AB | H | 2B | 3B | HR | R | RBI | Avg | BB | SO | SB |
Bill Bathe Steve Bedrosian Jeff Brantley Brett Butler Will Clark Kelly Downs Scott Garrelts Atlee Hammaker Terry Kennedy Mike LaCoss Craig Lefferts Greg Litton Candy Maldonado Kirt Manwaring Kevin Mitchell Donell Nixon Ken Oberkfell Rick Reuschel Ernie Riles Don Robinson Pat Sheridan Robby Thompson Jose Uribe Matt Williams |
ph p p of 1b p p p c p p 2b-2,3b-1 of-3 c of of 3b p dh-2 p of 2b ss ss-4,ss-3 |
2 2 3 4 4 3 2 2 4 2 3 2 4 1 4 2 4 1 4 1 1 4 3 4 |
2 0 0 14 16 0 1 0 12 1 0 6 11 1 17 5 6 0 8 0 2 11 5 16 |
1 0 0 4 4 0 0 0 2 0 0 3 1 1 5 1 2 0 0 0 0 1 1 2 |
0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 |
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 |
1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 |
1 0 0 1 2 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 1 1 2 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 |
3 0 1 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 3 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 1 |
.500 .000 .000 .286 .250 .000 .000 .000 .167 .000 .000 .500 .091 1.000 .294 .200 .333 .000 .000 .000 .000 .091 .200 .125 |
0 0 0 2 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 |
0 0 0 1 3 0 1 0 3 0 0 0 4 0 3 1 0 0 1 0 0 4 0 6 |
0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 |
Totals | 134 | 28 | 4 | 1 | 4 | 14 | 14 | .209 | 8 | 27 | 2 |
1989 World SeriesComposite Pitching Statistics |
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Name | W | L | G | GS | CG | S | Sh | IP | ERA | H | SO | ER | BB |
Todd Burns Dennis Eckersley Rick Honeycutt Mike Moore Gene Nelson Dave Stewart |
0 0 0 2 0 2 |
0 0 0 0 0 0 |
2 2 3 2 2 2 |
0 0 0 2 0 2 |
0 0 0 0 0 1 |
0 1 0 0 0 0 |
0 0 0 0 0 1 |
1.2 1.2 2.2 13.0 1.0 16.0 |
0.00 0.00 6.75 2.08 54.00 1.69 |
1 0 4 9 4 10 |
0 0 2 10 1 14 |
0 0 2 3 6 3 |
1 0 0 3 2 2 |
Totals | 4 | 0 | 13 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 36.0 | 3.50 | 28 | 27 | 14 | 8 |
1989 World SeriesComposite Pitching Statistics |
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Name | W | L | G | GS | CG | S | Sh | IP | ERA | H | SO | ER | BB |
Steve Bedrosian Jeff Brantley Kelly Downs Scott Garrelts Atlee Hammaker Mike LaCoss Craig Lefferts Rick Reuschel Don Robinson |
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 |
0 0 0 2 0 0 0 1 1 |
2 3 3 2 2 2 3 1 1 |
0 0 0 2 0 0 0 1 1 |
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 |
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 |
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 |
2.2 4.1 4.2 7.1 2.1 4.1 2.2 4.0 1.2 |
0.00 4.15 7.71 9.82 15.43 6.23 3.38 11.25 21.60 |
0 5 3 13 8 4 2 5 4 |
2 1 4 8 2 2 1 2 0 |
0 2 4 8 4 3 1 5 4 |
2 3 2 1 0 3 2 4 1 |
Totals | 0 | 4 | 19 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 34.0 | 8.21 | 44 | 22 | 31 | 18 |
The 'Series By The Bay' earthquake shook people in their seats, made the pressbox sway and caused the electricity to turn off in the ballpark.
During Game 4, the San Francisco Giants, as a team, hit for the cycle (had at least one single, one double, one triple and one home run) yet still lost the game 9-6.
Dave Stewart pitched / started two (2) games, won two (2) games, struck out fourteen (14) hitters in sixteen (16) innings of work, had an overall Series earned run average of 1.69 and won both World Series Most Valuable Player Awards.