WORLD SERIES EARTHQUAKE OF 1989
Nothing was like the world series earthquake of 1989. I grew up in southern California and had experienced numerous earthquakesthroughout my childhood but nothing like the earthquake of 1989. Some of the earthquakes I experienced were of enormous magnitude that shook all thedishes out of the cupboards and onto the floors. Cracked the pool and sent water gushing out. But the world series earthquake was truly devastating. I don't think anyone is truly prepared for an earthquake,especially like the world series earthquake. Itcan strike at any moment and change people's lives forever. And the world series earthquake of 1989 was no different. If anything, it was worse. The day started as any other day. My usual routine during the baseballseason. Sleep in late, get a good breakfast and start mentally preparingfor the day's game. This day was no different. I headed to theballpark eager to play another world series game and possibly get a chanceto play. The excitement was in the air. The 3rd game of the series was being played in candlestick park. At the ballpark the festivitiesof a world series atmosphere were already going on. People preparing forthe day's events. V.I.P. tents being assembled around the stadium that wouldhost special visiters. Media coverage everywhere. It truly was spectacular. I changed into my uniform and hit the field for stretching and battingpractice and to of course, talk to some of my friends on the opposing side.We took batting practice, I talked to some announcers and former playersand current players on the other side. We took our usual infield practiceand prepared for the game. I relaxed a bit and decided to head out to thefield. I stood at the base ofthe dugout and took everything in. It was an amazing sight.I had chillsjust being around this tremendous event. I than decided to walk out on thefield. It was around 5:00 or so. What happened next took me bysurprise and I think everyone in the stadium. As I walked past the lastdugout step and onto the field, I suddenly felt like I was losing my balanceand was going to fall to the ground. I remember thinking something is wrongwith me and that maybe I was passing out from all the excitement. I had just been almost shook to the ground. I thanheard screams of "earthquake!". After absorbing this for a minute I realizedthat we had just experienced a massive earthquake. A world series earthquake to say the least. Chaos ensuedover the next minutes and people were screaming. People were coming ontothe field. Police cars were coming in from centerfield onto the field. Isaw player's wives crying and coming onto the field to be with theirhusbands. I stood there taking in all that was happening.It was a scary timeof uncertainty. Who would have ever expected a world series earthquake? Over the next minutes we started hearing how badthe earthquake was. Players from inside the clubhouse said that the concretewas cracking above their heads. The lights were all out and it was pitchblack. They managed to find their way out to the field. We also heard of thebridge collapsing and of the devastation in the city. All the electricityin the city was out. The world series earthquake had left it's mark. Players were leaving the ballpark in theiruniforms and trying to get home. I lived about 20 minutes away from thepark but that night it took 4 hours to get home. The fitness coach of ourteam got a ride from me and wanted to be dropped off at his hotel whichwas only 10 minutes away. It took forever to get there and once we did thehotel was shut down due to structural damage. There was pieces of concretelaying in the streets from parts of the buildings coming down. The red crosshad already set up shop and was assisting. It looked like something out of ahollywood movie. I finally made it back to my place. No electricity, no phone service, nothing. My wife at the time was in Tucson, Arizona anddidn't know the outcome from the world series earthquake until the next day. I couldn't getahold of her. It was a long night. Fires were breaking out in the city, gasleaks, etc. The city was in shambles and there were people dying. It wastruly one of the most devastating things I have witnessed. Overthe next few days I volunteered to go around and help the homeless that had suffered through this event. Some of the players and I went on a busand visited shelters to help out. This went on for a few days. We weresupposed to resume the games in 3 days but there had been structural damageto the stadium so we would have to wait 10 days before the games resumed. The rest of the world seriesdid not have the same meaning. At that point the games seemed senseless. Wewere going to be playing the rest of the games while the city was in shambles.And while people had died. It wasn't the same and never would be. The last two games were played and we lost the world series but it does notcompare to the many people who suffered that dismal fall day in 1989. Myheart goes out to them. Than and now. world series earthquake baseball stories making the club venezuela world series homerun first at bat in yankee stadium first national league hit baseball in japan the edge 
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