A Camp Point Native Was a Part of The World Series Earthquake

As the World Series begins tomorrow night in California, it reminds me of another World Series played in California. I remember it vividly.  Al Michaels and Tim McCarver were broadcasting Game Three of the 1989 World Series between the Oakland A's and the San Francisco Giants when all of a sudden the TV went black and all you could hear was Michaels talking.  The audio quality went from clear to phone-like and after a few seconds he began to realize that an earthquake had just occurred.

How ironic was it that the two teams playing in the series that year were Oakland and San Francisco. Both are in the Bay Area and both were jolted by the quake. It was a destructive quake that registered 7.1 on the Richter scale.  It claimed 67 lives, injured over 3 thousand people and caused over 47 billion dollars worth of damage and destroyed over 100-thousand buildings.   When the TV came back on from the ballpark you could see stunned people walking around . Players with their families standing on the field. No one knew if the stadium was even safe to be in so the field seemed to be the safe haven.

I remember the sight of Camp Point native, Rick Reuschel walking with his family on the field.  Rick was pitching for the Giants that year and was part of the World Series action. I am sure he didn't expect that kind of action.

Game three was postponed by then Commissioner of Baseball, Fay Vincent.   Baseball and the World Series just didn't seem so important all of a sudden.  The series didn't resume until 10 days later in what eventually became a four game sweep of the Giants by the A's.

It's hard to believe, but that took place 28 years ago on October 17, 1989.  It was a World Series we will all remember.