1989 World Series
From BR Bullpen
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Oakland Athletics (99-63, AL) over San Francisco Giants (92-70, NL) |
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[edit] Introduction
While remembered best for the devastating earthquake that interrupted its progression, the 1989 World Series had many other subplots. It was the second straight all-California World Series, and the fourth overall as of 2008 (the others were in 1974, 1988, and 2002). It was the first World Series featuring teams in the same metro area since 1956. It featured one team that had been upset the previous Series and had a chip on its collective shoulder, versus a team that hadn't been to the Fall Classic in nearly three decades. The San Francisco Bay Area had largely been a laughingstock on the baseball frontier since the mid-1970s, but in October 1989, the eyes of a nation were transfixed as the Bay Area trotted out its two teams as combatants for baseball's ultimate prize.
[edit] Summary
| Game | Score | Date | Location | Attendance | Time of Game |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Giants – 0, A’s – 5 | October 14 | Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum (Oakland) | 49,385 | 2:45 |
| 2 | Giants – 1, A’s – 5 | October 15 | Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum (Oakland) | 49,388 | 2:47 |
| 3 | A’s – 13, Giants – 7 | October 27 | Candlestick Park (San Francisco) | 62,038 | 3:03 |
| 4 | A’s – 9, Giants – 6 | October 28 | Candlestick Park (San Francisco) | 62,032 | 3:07 |
[edit] The Games
[edit] Game 1: October 14
| 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 |
| W: Dave Stewart (1-0) L: Scott Garrelts (0-1) | ||||||||||||
The Series got underway at the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum on October 14. The pitching matchup featured two pitchers coming off fine years: Scott Garrelts for the Giants, a seven-year veteran but a first-year starter, a 14-game winner who captured the National League's ERA title with a 2.28 mark, going up against the menacing, formidable Dave Stewart, a 20-game winner for the third consecutive year, and a runner-up in the American League's Cy Young Award voting.
As the game got underway, things started off bleakly for Stewart. He gloved a weak grounder hit by Robby Thompson in the first inning, and promptly threw the ball away, allowing Thompson to reach second and putting the Giants in an early position to strike first blood. Unfortunately for them, Thompson didn't score, and neither did his teammates. After the inauspicious start, Stewart mowed the San Francisco lineup down to the tune of a 5-0 complete-game shutout.
[edit] Game 2: October 15
| 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 |
| W: Mike Moore (1-0) L: Rick Reuschel (0-1) | ||||||||||||
The next evening, Oakland rode a four-run fourth inning to a 5-1 victory. Three of those runs came on a home run by Terry Steinbach off 40 year-old Rick "Big Daddy" Reuschel in that fourth frame. Unbeknownst to Steinbach, manager Tony LaRussa had made a pregame prediction that the A's catcher would hit one out against Reuschel, citing that "Big Daddy" was a low-ball pitcher and Steinbach was a low-ball hitter.
[edit] Interrupted by Earthquake
Shortly before the start of Game Three on October 17, 1989, the Loma Prieta earthquake struck, rattling the Bay Area for 15 terrifying, agonizing seconds. Early reports had the magnitude at 6.9, but the final, official reading was 7.1. Due to the destructive nature of this earthquake, and the fact that both teams' cities were affected, the game was suspended and the Series was postponed for what would turn out to be ten days.
[edit] Game 3: October 27
| 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 |
| W: Dave Stewart (2-0) L: Scott Garrelts (0-2) | ||||||||||||
When the Series did resume, on October 27, at Candlestick Park, it was greeted by much fanfare, preceeded by a moment of silence. Singers on the field led the crowd of over 60,000 in the singing of San Francisco, while the Giants' pennant was hoisted up the flagpole. The ceremonial first pitches were thrown by the heroes who helped save lives - police, firemen, doctors/nurses, civilians - in the aftermath of the earthquake. Immediately afterward, on the field, the managers and the umpires met to discuss the ground rules that would be employed should an aftershock occur.
The game featured a rematch of starting pitchers from Game One: Stewart versus Garrelts. As they did in Game One, the Athletics struck early, pushing across two runs on a Dave Henderson double that hit off the top of the chain-link fence in right field. Matt Williams hit a home run in the second inning to cut the Athletics' lead in half. Both teams traded two runs in the fourth, but the A's pulled away in the fifth, tallying four runs on a three-run Canseco homer and a solo shot by Henderson. Oakland added one more in the sixth and four more in the eighth, effectively putting the game away. The Giants, resiliant all year, put up a four spot of their own in the bottom of the ninth but fell well short.
Losing the previous year's World Series in disappointing fashion had left a bitter taste in the A's mouths, but they knew that it would soon dissipate. They had history on their side; no team had ever lost a World Series after being up three games to none.
[edit] Game 4: October 28
| 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 |
| W: Mike Moore (2-0) L: Don Robinson (0-1) S:Dennis Eckersley | ||||||||||||
In Game Four, Oakland built an 8-0 lead before Kevin Mitchell blasted a two-run home run in the bottom of the sixth. The following inning, the Giants rallied for four more, cutting the A's lead to 8-6. In the top of the eighth, Steinbach drew a bases-loaded walk from Steve Bedrosian to give the Athletics an insurance run. As it would turn out, the A's wouldn't need it. Todd Burns retired the Giants in order in the bottom of the eighth, and Dennis Eckersley set them down in the ninth to seal the deal on Oakland's fourth World Series championship.
[edit] History sidenote
1989 was not the first time the Athletics and Giants franchises met in the World Series. They had clashed three times in the early 1900s, while the Giants were in New York and the Athletics were in Philadelphia.
In 1905, Christy Mathewson pitched three shutouts as the Giants triumphed four games to one. In 1911, the A's got revenge, beating the Giants four games to two. Just for good measure, the A's defeated the Giants again two years later (1913 WS).
The Athletics' victory was the 50th triumph for the American League in the history of the World Series.
[edit] Stats
[edit] Oakland Athletics=
[edit] Batting
Note: G = Games played; AB = At Bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting Average; HR = Home Runs; RBI = Runs Batted In
| Player | G | AB | H | Avg. | HR | RBI |
|---|
[edit] Pitching
Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
| Player | G | IP | W | L | ERA | SO |
|---|
[edit] San Francisco Giants
[edit] Batting
Note: G = Games played; AB = At Bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting Average; HR = Home Runs; RBI = Runs Batted In
| Player | G | AB | H | Avg. | HR | RBI |
|---|
[edit] Pitching
Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
| Player | G | IP | W | L | ERA | SO |
|---|
[edit] Related Sites
- Wikipedia article on the Loma Prieta Earthquake
- Blog gathering pictures of the A's, Giants, and the Loma Prieta Earthquake
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NL Championship Series (4-1) Giants over Cubs | |||
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World Series (4-0) Athletics over Giants | |||
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AL Championship Series (4-1) Athletics over Blue Jays |
| Modern Major League Baseball World Series
Pre-1903 Postseason Series |
