It was 5:04 PM. Candlestick Park was vibrating, but not because of the fans.
Al Michaels was on the air for ABC. He was talking over a replay of Game 2. Suddenly, the picture flickered. It hissed. The screen went to black-and-yellow static. Most of the country thought it was a simple broadcast glitch. In San Francisco and Oakland, people knew better. The ground wasn’t just shaking; it was undulating.
October 17, 1989, remains the most surreal date in Major League Baseball history. It was the day the World Series stopped.
We often talk about "the big one" in California as a future threat, but for the 62,000 people packed into that stadium, it arrived right during the pre-game ceremonies of Game 3. The "Bay Bridge Series" between the San Francisco Giants and the Oakland Athletics was supposed to be a regional celebration. Instead, it became a televised tragedy.
What Really Happened When the 1989 World Series Stopped
The Loma Prieta earthquake registered a 6.9 magnitude. It lasted about 15 seconds. That sounds short. It isn't. Not when you’re sitting under thousands of tons of concrete in a stadium built on reclaimed land.
The power cut out almost immediately. The Goodyear Blimp, usually used for scenic flyovers, suddenly became the only "eye in the sky" for emergency services. While the stadium itself held up remarkably well—only a few pieces of concrete fell from the upper deck—the surrounding infrastructure was failing.
I think the weirdest part of the footage, if you go back and watch the raw clips, is the sound. It’s a low, guttural roar. It sounds like a freight train is passing through the dugout. Michaels later recounted that he looked at his wife in the stands and just hoped the roof wouldn't collapse.
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The immediate aftermath in the parking lot
Players didn't go to the locker rooms. They ran onto the field. Then, they ran to the parking lot.
Seeing Jose Canseco and Mark McGwire in full Oakland uniforms, wandering around a dusty parking lot with their families, is an image that stays with you. There was no cell phone service. No internet. Nobody knew if their homes were still standing. Terry Kennedy, the Giants catcher, famously found a portable radio to listen to news reports. That’s how the players found out the Cypress Structure had collapsed. That's how they found out a section of the Bay Bridge—the very thing the series was named for—had fallen.
Why the Delay Lasted Ten Days
Commissioner Fay Vincent had a nightmare on his hands. He had only been on the job for a month after the sudden death of A. Bartlett Giamatti.
There was a lot of pressure to cancel the whole thing. People were dead. The Marina District was on fire. It felt wrong to play a game. Honestly, the optics were terrible.
Vincent, however, insisted that the series would continue eventually. He argued that baseball could provide a necessary distraction and a sign of resilience. He was right, but the logistics were a mess. Candlestick Park had to be inspected for structural integrity. The city's water lines were shattered. The transit system was a wreck.
The decision to wait
They waited ten days. It is the longest mid-series delay in the history of the Fall Classic.
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During that gap, the "Battle of the Bay" vibe evaporated. Players from both teams spent their time volunteering at shelters or checking on neighbors. The rivalry died. When Game 3 finally resumed on October 27, the atmosphere was somber. There were no sirens, no flashy player introductions. Just a quiet acknowledgment of what had been lost.
Misconceptions About the 1989 Earthquake
A lot of people think the earthquake killed hundreds of people at the stadium. That is totally false. No one died at Candlestick Park.
In a strange twist of fate, the World Series might have actually saved lives. Traffic on the Bay Bridge and the I-880 Nimitz Freeway was uncharacteristically light for 5:04 PM on a Tuesday. Why? Because everyone had left work early to get home and watch the game. If the Giants and A's hadn't been playing, those highways would have been packed. The death toll of 63 could have been in the hundreds.
Another common myth is that the Giants lost because they were "distracted" by the quake. Look, the 1989 A’s were a juggernaut. They had Henderson, Canseco, McGwire, and Dave Stewart. They had already won the first two games convincingly. The earthquake didn't change the outcome of the series; the A's were simply the better team that year. They swept the Giants in four games.
The Technical Reality of the "Blimp Feed"
When the series stopped, the technical hurdles were massive. ABC had spent millions on the broadcast. When the power went, they lost their primary satellites.
The only reason we have the footage of the immediate aftermath is because some cameras were running on battery backup and the Goodyear Blimp was still transmitting. Al Michaels eventually got a phone line out to the New York studio. That’s how he delivered the famous line: "I'll tell you what, we're having an earth—" before the signal cut.
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Impact on Stadium Engineering
After the day the series stopped, the way we build sports venues changed. Candlestick was built on "fill" dirt, which liquefies during a quake. It’s called soil liquefaction. Basically, the ground turns into quicksand.
Modern stadiums like Oracle Park (where the Giants play now) or Levi's Stadium are built with massive deep-foundation piles and seismic dampers. 1989 was a wake-up call for civil engineers. It proved that a stadium could "survive" but still be a death trap if the surrounding infrastructure failed.
Lessons From the Most Famous Postponement in Sports
If you’re ever in a situation where a major event is interrupted by a natural disaster, the 1989 World Series offers a blueprint for what to do—and what not to do.
First, communication is everything. In '89, the lack of information caused more panic than the shaking itself. Today, we have social media, but that brings its own set of problems with misinformation.
Second, the human element always trumps the game. The players weren't athletes that night; they were terrified parents and husbands.
Actionable Insights for Sports History Fans and Travelers:
- Visit the Memorials: If you’re in Oakland, go to the 1880 Freeway memorial. It’s a sobering reminder of the day the series stopped and the lives lost just miles from the ballpark.
- Watch "The 16th Man": There are several documentaries, but the raw ABC news footage from that night is the most visceral way to understand the scale of the chaos.
- Check Stadium Safety: If you're visiting older stadiums, it’s worth looking at their seismic retrofit history. Most modern US stadiums in earthquake zones are now among the safest places you can be during a tremor.
- Understand the "Soft Story" Risk: If you live in an earthquake zone, learn from the Marina District fires. The quake caused gas lines to break in buildings with weak first floors (garages). Ensure your own home is bolted to its foundation.
The 1989 World Series wasn't just a sweep by the Oakland Athletics. It was a moment when the real world crashed into our escapism. We realized that even the most scripted, high-stakes sporting events are ultimately at the mercy of the planet we live on.
When the series finally ended on October 28, there was no massive parade in Oakland. It didn't feel like a victory in the traditional sense. It felt like a relief. The game was over, and the long, slow process of rebuilding Northern California could finally become the sole focus.