THE EARTHQUAKE

Author

Matthew Garringer
November 12, 2023

Good evening. This is Dead legends. The daily newsletter that loves baseball as much as Wild Bill Hagy loved the Baltimore Orioles.

Let’s dive in.

Today’s story is about a devastating earthquake that rocked the Bay Area and caused the World Series to be delayed.

It was the first time in 27 years that a World Series game was being hosted at Candlestick Park.

Game 3 of the ‘89 World Series - Giants vs A’s.

The series had been dubbed “The Battle of the Bay” and it was a once-in-a-lifetime matchup to crown the kings of California.

53,000 fans had showed up to the ballpark for the occasion, and both sides were ready to go, but before first pitch, things took a hard left turn.

Just a few minutes after 5:00pm, a massive 7.1-magnitude earthquake hit the stadium, sending everyone into a brief state of chaos.

Fans, players, and broadcasters were completely shocked, and although they were about 60 miles from the epicenter, it still caused some damage.

Particularly in section 53 where there was visible cracks in the stadium infrastructure.

Al Michaels was in the booth with Tim McCarver for ABC when the earthquake struck, and after being completely kicked off the air for about 20 seconds they returned with nervous laughter and an iconic quote.

“Folks, that’s the greatest open in the history of television - bar none!”

Nothing does it justice quite like the live footage though.

The game had to be cancelled and the stadium was evacuated.

Photo: San Francisco Chronicle

For the most part, the people who were at Candlestick that night escaped the quake with no significant damage, but unfortunately others weren’t as lucky.

The quake caused more than 60 deaths, over 3,700 injuries, and about $6 billion in damage.

Most of the deaths were caused by the collapse of the Bay Bridge and Interstate 880.

It’s honestly hard to watch.

Although it was a tragic day, it’s estimated that the World Series probably saved hundreds if not thousands of lives.

Usually, it would’ve been bumper-to-bumper traffic on the freeway during this time of day, but because many people had gone home early to watch the World Series, there was a lot fewer cars on the road.

The series was ultimately delayed for 10 days, and the teams took very different approaches during the time off.

The Athletics went down to Arizona and practiced at their Spring Training complex while the Giants stayed in the Bay Area and tried to help the local community.

A lot of people were giving the A’s flack for their approach - arguing that it was selfish to worry about the World Series when bodies were being pulled from the rubble back at home.

In my opinion, it’s tough to hold the players to that kind of ethical standard, but I can also see why people got angry over it.

The A’s ended up winning the World Series when play resumed, but the main thing everyone remembers is the ‘quake that shook baseball.

BASEBALL TRIVIA

Find the answer at the bottom of this email!

WHAT TO WATCH

Streams on: Amazon Prime, Tubi, Vudu

Why it’s awesome: We all know about Dock Ellis’ LSD no-hitter, but there’s a lot more to him.

He was one of the biggest characters that baseball has ever seen, and was probably one of the most outspoken as well.

If you want to go deeper on his story, I definitely recommend this doc (no pun intended).

STRANGE NAMES

If you're just joining us, we play this game every day where we try to find the weirdest names throughout baseball history.

Why? Don't ask us, it's just something we like to do.

If you've been rocking with us for awhile now, you know what time it is.

Today's winner is:

Sparky was one of the most dominant relief pitchers in baseball during the 70s.

His accolades definitely speak for themselves, but what his stat line doesn’t show is the fact that he was a prolific prankster as well.

One time he put a gold fish in the dugout water cooler.

He also loved hotfoots and cake sitting.

THE DEAD LEGENDS ARCHIVE

If you like this story, check out some of our past favorites:

BASEBALL TRIVIA ANSWER: Pete Rose