What comes to mind when you think of the 1989 World Series?
If you lived through that moment in baseball history, chances are that “earthquake” is one of the first words you think of when reaching back to that Bay Area series.
And, to be sure, the sport took a back seat to real life that October, as the good folks in San Francisco dealt with the aftermath of the monstrous earthquake that rocked the city minutes before the scheduled start of Game 3 (see below).
But there was also some baseball played that month, and, although the Fall Classic went the minimum four games, there were plenty of moments worth celebrating.
With that in mind, here is a game-by-game remembrance of the 1989 World Series, illustrated with one baseball card that captures the atmosphere and events of each contest.
Play ball!
1989 World Series Game 1 – A’s 5, Giants 0
1989 Bowman Dave Stewart (#188)
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Dave Stewart won 20 games for the third time in a row in 1989 (he’d tack on a fourth in 1990), but he faced tough competition in the Cy Young Award race from Kansas City’s Bret Saberhagen.
In fact, it seemed that all during Stewart’s run of dominance, there was always at least one guy each year who was just a bit more dominant.
Of course, you can’t control what the competition is doing, right?
What Smoke could control, though was how he pitched each night.
And, when Tony Phillips singled home Rickey Henderson in the bottom of the second inning in Game 1, you got the feeling the game was probably in the bag.
Your feeling was right, because, although Oakland tacked on four more runs, Stewart didn’t need a one of them.
The Oakland workhorse threw 138 pitches in going the distance, and he struck out six while allowing just five hits and issuing a single walk in the shutout.
Like the man himself, Stewart’s 1989 Bowman card is oversized and downright intimidating.
1989 World Series Game 2 – A’s 5, Giants 1
1989 Starting Lineup Terry Steinbach (#36)
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Things were a little tougher for the A’s in Game 2 … but not a whole lot.
Henderson again scored the game’s first run, this time on the back of a Carney Lansford double in the bottom of the first, and then then the Oakland bats went quiet for awhile.
The Giants tied things up in the thirrd when Robby Thompson drove in Brett Butler, but otherwise Mike Moore and Rick Reuschel looked like they were going to be stingy moundsmen.
In the bottom of the fourth, though, leadoff man Jose Canseco walked, and Dave Parker drove him home with a double.
A Dave Henderson walk and a Mark McGwire strikeout brought up catcher Terry Steinbach with two on and one out.
On a 2-0 pitch from Reuschel, Steinbach slammed the ball into the leftfield stands, and the A’s were up 5-1.
The bullpens took over in the fifth (Giants) and sixth (A’s) and locked it down from there.
As for Steinbach, he went back to his day job behind the plate, a gig represented well by his 1989 Starting Lineup figure and card.
1989 World Series Game 3 – A’s 13, Giants 7
1989 Donruss Diamond Kings Dave Henderson (#20)
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Of course, Game 3 of this World Series is not remembered so much for what happened on the field as for the tragedy that delayed the contest a full week and a half.
With thousands of fans already in Candlestick Park for the 5:35 pm first pitch, the stadium began to rumble a little after five, and it didn’t take long before the locals figured out what was happening … earthquake!
The Loma Prieta quake didn’t last long, but it had devastating effects — dozens of deaths, thousands of injuries, billions of dollars in damage.
Suddenly, the World Series was an afterthought, and with the power gone and hunks of concrete falling from the upper deck, playing a game was pretty much an impossibility.
After ten trying days, though, and with the Bay Area still reeling, the A’s and Giants set up shop again in Candlestick.
And, for fans who needed to get their minds off the real world for awhile, this was just the ticket — a real slugfest!
The scoring started right off the bat (har!) and continued straight through the bottom of the ninth, when the Giants made a valiant comeback attempt with a four-run rally.
The two teams hit seven home runs between them, and tore through nine different pitchers. In the end, the Bash Brothers prevailed by a gaudy 13-7 score.
With that monster onslaught, how do you pick one guy as the face of the game?
Carefully, of course.
So … I’m going with the dude who got it all started … Dave Henderson. One of the heroes of the 1986 ALCS for the Red Sox, Hendu double off Scott Garrelts in the first to drive in Carney Lansford and Canseco.
Henderson wasn’t a one-hit wonder, either, as he went 3-for-4 with a homer, four runs batted in, and two runs scored in the contest.
You better believe Henderson was a king of the diamond that night, just as he was on his 1989 Donruss Diamond Kings card.
1989 World Series Game 4 – A’s 9, Giants 6
1989 Donruss Baseball’s Best Rickey Henderson (#78)
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