What World Series had an earthquake?

The One Where the Earth Shook: Remembering the Earthquake World Series

Baseball’s got its fair share of legendary moments, right? Walk-off homers, diving catches, improbable comebacks. But nothing quite compares to the 1989 World Series. Seriously, how many times does a natural disaster become part of the game? Dubbed the “Earthquake Series,” or the “Bay Bridge Series” if you’re local, this wasn’t just about the Giants and A’s battling it out. It was about something much bigger, something that literally shook things up.

Picture this: October 17, 1989. The clock strikes 5:04 PM, Pacific Time. Suddenly, the ground starts to roll. A 6.9 magnitude earthquake, later named Loma Prieta, rips through Northern California. Its epicenter? The Santa Cruz Mountains, about an hour south of San Francisco. Bad timing doesn’t even begin to cover it. Game 3 of the World Series was just minutes away from starting at Candlestick Park. The pre-game show was on, fans were buzzing… then, bam!

I remember watching it on TV as a kid. Al Michaels, doing his thing on ABC, was cut off mid-sentence. “I’ll tell you what, we’re having an earth-,” he started, before the screen went black. You could feel the confusion, the fear, even through the TV. Candlestick Park, packed with 60,000-plus fans, swayed like it was in a hurricane. Thankfully, the stadium held up pretty well, all things considered. But outside? That was a different story.

The Loma Prieta earthquake didn’t just rattle a stadium; it devastated the Bay Area. The Cypress Street Viaduct in Oakland, a raised freeway, collapsed, trapping countless people. The Bay Bridge, a lifeline for the region, suffered a partial collapse too. The numbers are staggering: 63 lives lost, nearly 3,800 injured, and something like $6 billion in damage. It was a mess.

So, what happens to the World Series when the world turns upside down? Well, they postponed it, of course. For ten long days, baseball took a backseat. It was the longest delay in World Series history that wasn’t weather-related. The focus shifted to rescue efforts, to helping those in need. Even the Goodyear Blimp, which was there to film the game, got in on the act, helping to coordinate emergency services. Talk about an assist!

When the Series finally resumed on October 27, it was like stepping back into a different world. The A’s, already up two games, finished the job, sweeping the Giants in four. But let’s be honest, the baseball almost felt secondary. The earthquake had changed everything.

The 1989 World Series. It’s more than just a baseball story. It’s a story about a community facing the unthinkable, about resilience, and about how even in the midst of disaster, life finds a way to keep going. It’s a reminder that sometimes, the biggest games are the ones we play off the field.