October 17, 1989: Game 3 of the World Series, the 1st ever between the 2 teams of the San Francisco Bay Area, the San Francisco Giants and the Oakland Athletics. The A's have a 2 games to none lead.
At 5:04 PM Pacific Time -- 8:04 Eastern Time, hence the time on this post -- ABC is showing highlights of Game 2 when the screen flickers. The ground starts shaking. In ABC's broadcast booth at Candlestick Park are Al Michaels, Jim Palmer and Tim McCarver. Michaels, who had lived in California, figured out what was happening, and said, "I'll tell you what, we're having an earth-- "
At 5:04 PM Pacific Time -- 8:04 Eastern Time, hence the time on this post -- ABC is showing highlights of Game 2 when the screen flickers. The ground starts shaking. In ABC's broadcast booth at Candlestick Park are Al Michaels, Jim Palmer and Tim McCarver. Michaels, who had lived in California, figured out what was happening, and said, "I'll tell you what, we're having an earth-- "
And the screen goes black. ABC puts a "Please Stand By" card up. A few minutes later, audio is restored, although video takes a little longer, and Michaels explains that there was, indeed, an earthquake.
The official World Series highlight film shows fans at Candlestick reacting with a sense of fun, since nobody inside the ballpark got hurt. One fan, who'd brought white cardboard panels and magic markers to make up signs on the spot, had on one side, "That was nothing, wait till the Giants bat," and on the other, a jagged line, supposed to be a quake-caused crack, and, "Welcome to Candlestick."
Back in the Giants clubhouse, Giant legend Willie Mays, who had been introduced as part of the pregame ceremony, said, "That's the first time I've ever been scared in Candlestick. I've been knocked down a lot, but that's the first time I was scared." Asked why, he said, "The ground was shaking, man!"
But this was before social media, so it wasn't immediately know how bad the quake was. On the highlight film, the camera then shifts to a man in a Giants cap with headphones on, and he develops a look that shows he's just found out how serious the situation really is. There are fires all over the city. Many houses in the Marina District are burning. A section of the upper level of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge has collapsed onto the lower level, killing 3 people. Worst of all, a section of the double-decked Nimitz Freeway, Interstate 880, has collapsed in Oakland, killing 42.
The quake registers a magnitude of 7.1 on the Richter scale. At first‚ it's believed that over 200 people were killed. When everyone is accounted for, it is determined that the quake killed 67 people, and did $7 billion in damage -- about $13.4 billion in today's money.
Commissioner Fay Vincent has Candlestick evacuated, and the remainder of the Series postponed. Everyone was lucky: The stadium then had a baseball seating capacity of 62,000, and if it had collapsed, or even if a part of the stadium had collapsed, the death toll almost certainly would have exceeded the nearly 3,000 in the World Trade Center attacks of 12 years later.
The official World Series highlight film shows fans at Candlestick reacting with a sense of fun, since nobody inside the ballpark got hurt. One fan, who'd brought white cardboard panels and magic markers to make up signs on the spot, had on one side, "That was nothing, wait till the Giants bat," and on the other, a jagged line, supposed to be a quake-caused crack, and, "Welcome to Candlestick."
Back in the Giants clubhouse, Giant legend Willie Mays, who had been introduced as part of the pregame ceremony, said, "That's the first time I've ever been scared in Candlestick. I've been knocked down a lot, but that's the first time I was scared." Asked why, he said, "The ground was shaking, man!"
But this was before social media, so it wasn't immediately know how bad the quake was. On the highlight film, the camera then shifts to a man in a Giants cap with headphones on, and he develops a look that shows he's just found out how serious the situation really is. There are fires all over the city. Many houses in the Marina District are burning. A section of the upper level of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge has collapsed onto the lower level, killing 3 people. Worst of all, a section of the double-decked Nimitz Freeway, Interstate 880, has collapsed in Oakland, killing 42.
The quake registers a magnitude of 7.1 on the Richter scale. At first‚ it's believed that over 200 people were killed. When everyone is accounted for, it is determined that the quake killed 67 people, and did $7 billion in damage -- about $13.4 billion in today's money.
Commissioner Fay Vincent has Candlestick evacuated, and the remainder of the Series postponed. Everyone was lucky: The stadium then had a baseball seating capacity of 62,000, and if it had collapsed, or even if a part of the stadium had collapsed, the death toll almost certainly would have exceeded the nearly 3,000 in the World Trade Center attacks of 12 years later.
But Candlestick Park, the most maligned venue in the history of North American sports, held firm, with only a few small concrete chunks dislodged. In the San Francisco Bay Area's darkest hour since the 1906 earthquake and fire, The 'Stick did its duty, and saved lives.
It would be 10 days before the Series was resumed, and 12 rescue workers -- 6 from San Francisco, 6 from Oakland -- were chosen to throw out ceremonial first pitches. When the game was played, the A's won, 13-7. They clinched the next day.
It would be 10 days before the Series was resumed, and 12 rescue workers -- 6 from San Francisco, 6 from Oakland -- were chosen to throw out ceremonial first pitches. When the game was played, the A's won, 13-7. They clinched the next day.
With the San Francisco 49ers having won Super Bowl XXIII 9 months earlier, this gave the Bay Area a rare MLB-NFL double, which the 49ers extended by winning Super Bowl XXIV. Oakland alone had an even rarer MLB-NBA double with the 1974 A's and the 1975 Golden State Warriors. But there has never been a "double" with just San Francisco teams. It almost happened in 2013, when the 49ers reached the Super Bowl shortly after the Giants won the 2012 World Series, but they lost.
It took until 1997 for the Nimitz Freeway, a vital artery for the Bay Area, to reopen.
*
October 17, 1989 was a Tuesday. There were no NFL games played that day. The NBA was preparing for a new season. But there were 5 games played in the NHL season that had just started. The New Jersey Devils were not among the teams playing:
* The New York Rangers played the Chicago Blackhawks, to a 3-3 tie at Madison Square Garden.
* The New York Islanders lost to the Minnesota North stars, 6-3 at the Nassau Coliseum.
* The Calgary Flames and the Quebec Nordiques played to an 8-8 tie at the Colisee de Quebec.
* The Pittsburgh Penguins beat the Toronto Maple Leafs, 7-5 at the Civic Arena.
* And the Boston Bruins beat the Los Angeles Kings, 3-2 at the Great Western Form in the Los Angeles suburb of Inglewood, California.
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