By: HISTORY.com Editors
Oakland-San Francisco World Series game postponed because of earthquake
On October 17, 1989, a magnitude 6.9 earthquake rocks northern California during Game 3 of the World Series between the San Francisco Giants and Oakland Athletics at Candlestick Park, forcing postponement of the matchup. The series resumes 10 days after the earthquake, which kills 67, injures more than 3,700 and causes an estimated $5 billion in property damage.
Less than a half-hour before the game was to start, the quake hit, shaking Candlestick Park. "Well, folks," ABC's Al Michaels said during the pre-game television broadcast, "that's the greatest open in the history of television. Bar none."
When the shaking stopped, there was a brief lightheartedness at the ballpark—the Giants even blared Queen's "We Will Rock You" over the public-address system. Soon enough, however, reality set in.
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In perhaps the most iconic image of that early evening at Candlestick Park, A's catcher Terry Steinbach escorted his wife, Mary, off the field as she was crying, her hand covering her face.
"We are postponing the game because there is no power in the stadium," Major League Baseball commissioner Fay Vincent told the ballpark crowd. "We would like you to leave in an orderly way."
The A's won the Series in four games, "but it was sort of anti-climatic after (the earthquake)," the Giants' Will Clark said in the 2003 documentary, "100 Years of World Series."
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Citation Information
- Article Title
- Oakland-San Francisco World Series game postponed because of earthquake
- Author
- HISTORY.com Editors
- Website Name
- History
- Date Accessed
- October 29, 2026
- Publisher
- A&E Television Networks
- Last Updated
- May 27, 2025
- Original Published Date
- September 02, 2021
