Prior to the start of Game 3 on October 17, at about 5:04 PM PDT, the Loma Prieta earthquake struck, damaging Oakland and San Francisco (particularly the Cypress Street Viaduct in the former and the Marina District in the latter) as well as the Bay Bridge's upper deck.

Candlestick Park in San Francisco suffered damage to its upper deck as pieces of concrete fell from the baffle at the top of the stadium and the power was knocked out.

[8] Dave Stewart, the Athletics' ace, took on Giants pitcher Scott Garrelts in Game 1 of the Bay Bridge series.

Rickey Henderson then drove in Phillips on a single to right field; the second inning ended with Oakland leading 3–0.

Oakland starter Stewart dominated the Giants, allowing five hits in a complete game, handing the A's a one-game edge in the Series.

[8] Little League World Series MVP and future NHL star Chris Drury threw out the ceremonial first pitch in Game 2.

[8] The 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake struck on October 17, 1989, at 5:04 p.m. Game 3 was scheduled to start at 5:35 p.m. at Candlestick Park in San Francisco, and thousands of people were already in the stadium when the quake hit.

Experts credit the timing of the World Series as a lucky break that prevented massive loss of life in the region; key in reducing the loss of life was the fact that many people on both sides of the bay had left work early or were staying late to participate in after-work group viewings and parties, reducing the traffic that would otherwise have been on the collapsed freeways at 5:04 p.m. on a Tuesday (42 people had died in the collapse of the Cypress Street Viaduct in Oakland).

At the time the earthquake hit, ABC's crew was in the booth as Tim McCarver was presenting a highlight package.

The feed ended up being replaced with a green ABC Sports "World Series" telop graphic as used for technical difficulties.

"[10] By contrast, the broadcasting team in the CBS Radio booth next door, consisting of Jack Buck, Johnny Bench, and John Rooney, was off the air when the earthquake started because their show was in a pretaped segment being played from New York.

Their equipment van was the only one with a generator, and they continued their live coverage with Chris Berman and Bob Ley.In the immediate aftermath of the earthquake, ABC aired a rerun of Roseanne (and later, The Wonder Years) before Ted Koppel began anchoring news coverage from Washington, with Michaels acting as a de facto reporter.

Vincent told no one before doing so, resulting in an umpire protest, although the original reason for the postponement was loss of power in the stadium, concern about possible structural damage, and the danger of possible aftershocks.

Not long after returning, Jose Canseco (still in full uniform) and his wife Esther were spotted filling up their car at a self-service gas station.

At the start of Game 3, emergency responders who had aided during the earthquake, including police officers and firefighters, were honored and threw out the ceremonial first pitch.

Dave Henderson just missed hitting three home runs for the A's as his first inning shot bounced off the top of the wall for a double.

Giants catcher Bill Bathe became the fifth National League player in World Series history to hit a home run in his very first at-bat.

Meanwhile, Ken Oberkfell was slated to start at third base for the Giants, with Matt Williams moving over to shortstop instead of the benched José Uribe.

The Giants' four subsequent National League pennants have come since their move to Oracle Park, in 2002, 2010, 2012 and 2014 (with the last three appearances also ending in World Series championships).

The television rights would move exclusively to CBS the following year (ABC had shared coverage with NBC since 1976 up until the end of the 1989 season).

Due in part to the earthquake and subsequent interruption of play, as well as the four-game sweep by the Athletics, ABC only drew an overall Nielsen rating of 16.4 for the Series.

Jack Buck returned for his seventh and last World Series as the radio voice for CBS, as he was to move to the television side the next year.

The Giants, meanwhile, failed to repeat as National League Champions and would not return to the playoffs until 1997, when they were swept by the Florida Marlins in the NLDS.

Kevin Mitchell would never regain the form that helped him win the National League MVP award in 1989, and after his production declined in the next two seasons he was traded to the Seattle Mariners in the 1991 offseason.

Finally, Will Clark was let go by the Giants after 1993 due to a decline in production thanks in large part to injuries that kept him out of the lineup for much of the previous three seasons.

Clark signed with the Texas Rangers and despite not being able to escape the injury bug, he was a productive member of the team for the next five seasons.

Clark retired following the 2000 season, where he made one last trip to the postseason as a member of La Russa's Cardinals.

The San Francisco 49ers of the NFL continued its '80s dynasty by winning Super Bowl XXIII and XXIV in between the Athletics' World Series triumph.