1989 World Series
Team (Wins) Managers Season Oakland Athletics (4) Tony La Russa 99–63, .611, GA: 7 San Francisco Giants (0) Roger Craig 92–70, .568, GA: 3
Dates	October 14–28
Venue(s)	Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum (Oakland) Candlestick Park (San Francisco)
MVP	Dave Stewart (Oakland)
Umpires	Rich Garcia (AL),Paul Runge (NL),Al Clark (AL),Dutch Rennert (NL),Vic Voltaggio (AL),Eric Gregg (NL)
Hall of Famers	Athletics: Tony La Russa (manager) Dennis Eckersley Rickey Henderson Dave Parker Giants: none
Broadcast
Television	ABC
TV announcers	Al Michaels,Jim Palmer andTim McCarver
Radio	CBS KSFO (OAK) KNBR (SF)
Radio announcers	Jack Buck andJohnny Bench (CBS) Bill King andLon Simmons (KSFO) Hank Greenwald andRon Fairly (KNBR)
ALCS	Oakland Athletics overToronto Blue Jays (4–1)
NLCS	San Francisco Giants overChicago Cubs (4–1)
← 1988 World Series 1990 →

The1989 World Series was thechampionship series ofMajor League Baseball's (MLB)1989 season. The 86th edition of the World Series, it was abest-of-seven playoff played between theAmerican League (AL)championOakland Athletics and theNational League (NL)championSan 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 since1976, when theCincinnati Reds swept theNew York Yankees.

This marked the fourth World Series matchup, and first since 1913, between the two franchises. The previous three matchups occurred when theGiants were in New York and theAthletics resided in Philadelphia. The then New York Giants defeated the Philadelphia Athletics in the1905 World Series four games to one, the Athletics defeating the Giants in the1911 World Series four games to two, and then again in the1913 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 theRed Sox andDodgers 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.

Fay Vincent, who had just taken over as thecommissioner of baseball after the sudden death of his predecessorBart Giamatti in September, presided over his first World Series and dedicated it to his predecessor's memory.^[1]

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 ofSan Francisco Bay, connected by theSan Francisco–Oakland Bay Bridge and theBay Area Rapid Transit (BART) system, and the1989 Loma Prieta earthquake occurred before the start of Game 3. It was the firstcross-town World Series (involving two teams from the samemetropolitan area) since1956, and only the third such series that did not involve New York City (the1906 and1944 World Series, which featured matchups between theChicago Cubs andChicago White Sox and theSt. Louis Cardinals andSt. Louis Browns respectively, were the others). Until2023, 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 PMPDT, theLoma Prieta earthquake struck, damagingOakland andSan Francisco (particularly theCypress Street Viaduct in the former and theMarina 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 the1981 World Series and surpassing the1986 World Series by one day, even though the 1989 series only lasted the minimum four games.^[2] 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.^[3]

This was the third all-California World Series (1974,1988). TheSan Francisco Giants won theNL West division by three games over theSan Diego Padres, then defeated theChicago Cubs four games to one in theNational League Championship Series. TheOakland Athletics won theAL West division by seven games over theKansas City Royals, then defeated theToronto Blue Jays four games to one in theAmerican League Championship Series.

It was the Giants' first World Series appearance since1962, while the Athletics were playing in their second straight Fall Classic following the1988 Series.

ALOakland Athletics (4) vs. NLSan Francisco Giants (0)

† Game 3 was originally slated for October 17 at 5:35 pm; however, it was postponed when an earthquake occurred at 5:04 pm.

Prior to Game 1, a tribute to late CommissionerBart Giamatti was held; Giamatti's sonMarcus threw out the first pitch, and theWhiffenpoofs fromYale University (Giamatti's alma mater) sang the national anthem.^[8]Dave Stewart, the Athletics' ace, took on Giants pitcherScott Garrelts in Game 1 of the Bay Bridge series.

Oakland took the lead in the bottom of the second whenDave Henderson walked, advanced to second on aTerry Steinbach single, and scored on another single byTony Phillips that moved Steinbach up to third.Walt Weiss then sent a soft ground ball toward first, but Giants first baseman (andNLCS MVP)Will Clark threw the ball low and to the right of catcherTerry 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.^[8]

A'sdesignated hitterDave 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.^[8]

Little League World Series MVP and futureNHL starChris Drury threw out the ceremonial first pitch in Game 2. Oakland starterMike Moore took on GiantRick 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 whenCarney 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 afielder's choice, advanced to third via aBrett Butler single, and scored on aRobby Thompson sacrifice fly.^[8]

The A's regained the lead in the bottom of the 4th whenDave 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 fielderCandy Maldonado appeared to throw Parker out at second, but second base umpireDutch Rennert called Parker safe. AfterDave Henderson walked andMark 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.^[8]

The1989 Loma Prieta earthquake struck on October 17, 1989, at 5:04 p.m. Game 3 was scheduled to start at 5:35 p.m. atCandlestick Park inSan Francisco, and thousands of people were already in the stadium when the quake hit. It was the first major earthquake in theUnited 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 theCypress Street Viaduct in Oakland). AGoodyear 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 asTim 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 outAl 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.^[9] Michaels, McCarver, and third man in the boothJim 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!"^[10]

By contrast, the broadcasting team in theCBS Radio booth next door, consisting ofJack Buck,Johnny Bench, andJohn 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,^[11] and the channel was instead airing abodybuilder contest at the time.^[12] Their equipment van was the only one with a generator, and their reporters went live at 5:22 p.m. with news coverage byChris Berman andBob Ley.

In the immediate aftermath of the earthquake, ABC aired a rerun ofRoseanne (and laterThe Wonder Years) beforeTed Koppel began anchoring news coverage from Washington at 5:21 p.m.,^[11] 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. TheABC opening for this telecast (leading up to Al Michaels informing the viewers of the earthquake) was used at the beginning of a 1990television movie (documenting the Loma Prieta earthquake) calledAfter the Shock.^[13]

As for the Series itself,Fay Vincent^[14] decided to postpone Game 3 initially for five days, resulting in the longest delay in World Series history. Vincent told no one before doing so, resulting in an umpire protest, although the original reason for the postponement was loss of power in the stadium, concern about possible structural damage, and the danger of possible aftershocks.^[15] It was postponed for another five days (until October 27) because of delays in restoring transmission links. Then San Francisco mayorArt Agnos wanted to wait a month before resuming it, with Vincent responding to Agnos by telling him that he might move it elsewhere if the delay would be that long. With that, Vincent quickly had several other National and American League parks put on standby, includingWrigley Field andComiskey Park inChicago, theKingdome inSeattle, theAstrodome inHouston, orYankee Stadium andShea Stadium inNew York City. (Moving the game to the opponents' stadium was not an option, because the Oakland A's were also based in theSF Bay area. Also, it was noted in the news media that there werethreemajorleague stadiums insouthern California.)

Players for theOakland Athletics returned home, but had to travel viaState Route 237 inSan Jose, adding an extra 90 minutes due to the collapse of theBay Bridge and theI-880Cypress Street Viaduct along with the closures of theSan Mateo–Hayward andDumbarton Bridges. Not long after returning,Jose Canseco (still in full uniform) and his wife Esther were spotted filling up their car at a self-service gas station. As noted in his later bookJuiced, Canseco noted that someone wrote an article portraying him as chauvinistic forcing his wife to pump the gas, but that in reality, she told him to let her do it because if people saw him in his full uniform, it would cause a scene.

The earthquake would affect the National Anthem performances for the games atCandlestick Park as well.Stevie Wonder, who was slated to play the National Anthem on his harmonica at Game 3 on October 17, pulled out days following the earthquake, and in his placeLarry Gatlin and theGatlin Brothers, who had been slated to perform at Game 4 on October 18, would sing the National Anthem when Game 3 was finally played on October 27.^{[citation needed]}

During the ten-day delay, Candlestick Park was inspected, and found to have only minor damage. This was quickly repaired, and the stadium was deemed safe to use. At the start of Game 3, emergency responders who had aided during the earthquake, including police officers and firefighters, were honored and threw out the ceremonial first pitch. The starters were the Game 1 starters, Stewart and Garrelts. The ten-day delay due to the earthquake allowed both staff aces to start.

Dave Henderson just missed hitting three home runs for the A's as his first inning shot bounced off the top of the wall for a double.

Giants catcherBill Bathe became the fifthNational League player in World Series history to hit a home run in his very first at-bat.

When Game 3 was originally scheduled for October 17, the scheduled starting pitchers wereBob Welch for the A's andDon Robinson for the Giants. Meanwhile,Ken Oberkfell was slated to start at third base for the Giants, withMatt Williams moving over to shortstop instead of the benchedJosé Uribe. Also,Pat Sheridan was slated to take over forCandy Maldonado in right field for the Giants. Maldonado toldESPN that he was in the clubhouse getting ready when the earthquake hit. The first person he saw in the midst of all of this was his teammate, Robinson, who told Maldonado that he sensed that an earthquake was occurring. For Oakland,Ron Hassey was slated to be the starting catcher for Game 3 in place ofTerry Steinbach, as Hassey was at the time Welch'spersonal catcher.

This game set a record for most combined HRs hit in a World Series game (7) as well as tying a record for most HRs hit by a single team (5) in a World Series game (theNew York Yankees won Game 4 of the1928 World Series against theSt. Louis Cardinals, which like this series, would end in a sweep). This record for combined HRs in a World Series game would endure untilGame 2 in 2017, in which theAstros andDodgers combined for 8 HRs.^[16]

AfterNell Carter sang the National Anthem,Willie Mays (who was initially scheduled to throw out the first pitch on October 17 and was about to be interviewed by ABC'sJoe Morgan when the earthquake hit) threw out the ceremonial first pitch.

The A's led from the first batter of the game on as Rickey Henderson's home run set the tone. Kevin Mitchell's homer would bring the Giants closer as they cut an 8–0 deficit to 8–6 in two innings. But it would prove to be too little too late for San Francisco as they would lose 9–6.

This was also Candlestick Park's final World Series game. The Giants' four subsequent National League pennants have come since their move toOracle Park, in2002,2010,2012 and2014 (with the last three appearances also ending in World Series championships).

Out of respect for the Loma Prieta earthquake victims, theOakland Athletics chose not to celebrate their World Series victory withchampagne, as is normally customary for the winning team in the World Series.^[17]

1989 World Series(4–0):Oakland Athletics (A.L.) beatSan Francisco Giants (N.L.).

ABC play-by-play manAl Michaels, who spent three years inSan Francisco as an announcer for theSan Francisco Giants, was nominated for anEmmy Award for news broadcasting after giving an eyewitness account of the aftermath of the earthquake atCandlestick Park.

This would be the last World Series thatABC would televise from start to finish (and also the last they would produce themselves), and Game 4 was the last MLB game on ABC until July 1994. Thetelevision rights would move exclusively toCBS the following year (ABC had shared coverage withNBC since 1976 up until the end of the1989 season). ABC would next televise a World Series in1995, but only broadcast Games 1, 4, and 5 (the other games were covered by NBC, who had a joint venture with ABC and MLB calledThe Baseball Network); this was caused in this case by thestrike during the1994 season which cancelled the1994 World Series, which ABC would have televised; NBC would have had the exclusive rights to the 1995 World Series.

Due in part to the earthquake and subsequent interruption of play, as well as the four-game sweep by the Athletics, ABC only drew an overallNielsen rating of 16.4 for the Series. This was the first World Series since the introduction of prime-time games in1971 to draw a rating of less than 20.^[19]

This was also the last World Series to be simulcast on theGlobal Television Network in Canada. Global had aired the World Series in odd-numbered years whileCTV had aired in even-numbered years. CTV would hold exclusive World Series rights from 1990 until 1996.

As previously mentioned,CBS Radio also covered the Series.Jack Buck returned for his seventh and last World Series as the radio voice for CBS, as he was to move to the television side the next year. He was joined byJohnny Bench as his analyst, who replacedBill White when he was appointed to replace Giamatti as president of the National League earlier in the year. Buck was replaced byVin Scully the next year, who made his return to CBS Radio followingNBC Sports' loss of television rights to CBS. Bench covered four more World Series for CBS Radio with the 1993 series being his last.

1989 would turn out be the Athletics'final championship as an Oakland-based franchise, as the team left the city for Sacramento in 2024, to play as the Athletics (with no city name), while preparing to relocate and play in Las Vegas as the Las Vegas Athletics by 2028.

The A's would return to the World Seriesthe following season, making it three years in a row. However, they were unsuccessful in defending their championship as theCincinnati Reds swept themin 4 games.

The Athletics have not returned to the World Series since then and has only made two appearances in theAmerican League Championship Series—losing in1992 to theToronto Blue Jays and in2006 to theDetroit Tigers—and a total of 12 times in the postseason (1992,2000,2001,2002,2003,2006,2012,2013,2014,2018,2019 and2020) since the 1990 Series. At the time of the 1989 World Series, the Athletics had not seen a World Series win since1974.

The Giants, meanwhile, failed to repeat as National League Champions and would not return to the playoffs until1997, when they were swept by theFlorida Marlins in theNLDS. The Giants would not return to the World Series until2002, whenthey lost a seven-game series to theAnaheim Angels after holding a 3–2 series lead. It took the Giants until2010 to get back to the World Series, andthey won their first world championship since1954, when the team was still located in New York, by defeating theTexas Rangers in five games. In2012, theGiants would go back to the World Series and defeat theDetroit Tigers in a four-game sweep, and in2014they would beat theKansas City Royals in seven games to capture their third World Series crown in five seasons.

On the A's, playersMark McGwire andJose Canseco would later play for other teams. McGwire would be traded to theSt. Louis Cardinals in 1997, where he would beatRoger Maris'single-season home run record in1998 and retire as a Cardinal in2001. Canseco was traded during the 1992 season to theTexas Rangers and after that bounced around from team to team including a return to Oakland in1997. He would later win the2000 World Series with theNew York Yankees. Canseco retired in 2001 after a stint with theChicago White Sox. ManagerTony La Russa remained with the A's until1995, when he resigned to take the managerial position in St. Louis, where he again got the chance to manage McGwire. La Russa would remain with the Cardinals through2011 after having led the team to three World Series and two world championships. In 2021, he began a two-year stint as manager of the Chicago White Sox.

Giants managerRoger Craig (affectionately known as "Humm Baby") was fired after the1992 season and replaced byDusty Baker, who managed the team to their next World Series. The final member of the 1989 team,Matt Williams, was traded to theCleveland Indians after the1996 season in a trade that brought future Giants starJeff Kent to the team. Williams would eventually win aWorld Series as a member of theArizona Diamondbacks in 2001, and retired in2003.

Kevin Mitchell would never regain the form that helped him win the National League MVP award in 1989, and after his production declined in the next two seasons he was traded to theSeattle Mariners in the1991 offseason.Brett Butler would leave after one more season with the Giants, going to play for theLos Angeles Dodgers. Wins leaderRick Reuschel was gone after thefollowing season, retiring in 1991. Finally,Will Clark was let go by the Giants after1993 due to a decline in production thanks in large part to injuries that kept him out of the lineup for much of the previous three seasons. Clark signed with theTexas Rangers and despite not being able to escape the injury bug, he was a productive member of the team for the next five seasons. Clark retired following the2000 season, where he made one last trip to the postseason as a member of La Russa's Cardinals.

On June 13, 2009, immediately prior to the second game of theinterleague regular season meeting between theGiants andA's, the Giants honored 27 members of their 1989 team.

The A's victory continued a string of success for anyBay Area-basedprofessional sports team. TheSan Francisco 49ers of theNFL continued its '80s dynasty by winningSuper Bowl XXIII andXXIV in between the Athletics' World Series triumph. The next championship for the city ofOakland came in 2015, when theGolden State Warriors of the NBA won the2015 NBA Finals. Later, theGolden State Warriors would win the2017 and2018 NBA Finals, defeating theCleveland Cavaliers.

This was the only official postseason match-up featuring two opposingNorthern California teams in the four major American sports until the2023 NBA First Round match-up between theSacramento Kings and theGolden State Warriors.

This would be the first time that the World Series ended in the last week of October, until the2001 World Series when the9/11 attacks delayed the NFL and MLB games for a week, and caused the World Series to end in November. The 1981 World Series also finished on October 28. As of today, with multiple postseason rounds being added in theWild Card era (1995-present), World Series regularly end during the first week of November.

• 1989 Japan Series
• List of World Series sweeps

• Neft, David S., and Richard M. Cohen. The World Series. 1st ed. New York: St Martins, 1990. (Neft and Cohen 430–434)
• Forman, Sean L."1989 World Series".Baseball-Reference.com – Major League Statistics and Information.Archived from the original on November 30, 2007. RetrievedDecember 9, 2007.

• 1989 World Series atWorldSeries.com viaMLB.com
• 1989 World Series atBaseball Almanac
• 1989 World Series atBaseball-Reference.com
• The 1989 Post-Season Games (box scores and play-by-play) atRetrosheet
• History of the World Series - 1989 atThe Sporting News. Archived fromthe original in May 2006.
• 1989 World Series LIVE right before the earthquake
• Swept Away at SI.com
• 1989 Oakland Athletics at baseballlibrary.com
• 1989 San Francisco Giants at baseballlibrary.com
• Don Knapp, 10/89 – Giants vs A's in the World Series
• San Francisco earthquake rocks World Series
• Thirteen years ago, NL champions – Unforgettable events followed Giants' last pennant
• October 9, 1989
• TEN YEARS AFTER: FIRST IN A WEEK-LONG RETROSPECTIVE OF THE LOMA PRIETA QUAKE.
• Giants Clubhouse: '89 Earthquake^{[permanent dead link]}
• Loma Prieta Earthquake AnniversarySan Jose Mercury News
• Al Michaels on 1989 WS earthquake^{[permanent dead link]}

• 1989 Major League Baseball season
• Oakland Athletics postseason
• San Francisco Giants postseason
• World Series
• Baseball competitions in San Francisco
• 1989 in San Francisco
• 1980s in Oakland, California
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• 1989 in sports in California

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