MLB Baseball's Seasons: 1989

[Music] [Applause] [Music] welcome to baseball seasons 1989 seismic changes with a new decade on the horizon 1989 was a year packed with monumental change environmental awareness and democratic growth but perhaps the most seismic event featured the birth in England of a new frontier known as the World Wide Web the first step to connecting the globe with the click of a few keystrokes on the home front fans of the national pastime were still basking in the glow of a miraculous Fall Classic [Music] [Applause] oh my god as the championship echoes of 1988 subsided the Dodgers were in pre-production for a Hollywood sequel heading into the 89 campaign any night is completely different you're the world champions spring training completely different you know people are it's you're the big deal you're opening the season expectations were high for the Oakland A's expectations were also enormous coming off a 104 win season and hoping to avenge their painful loss to the duck [Applause] I could not believe I still have a hard time to this day believing that they lost to the Dodgers I know that all Hershiser and the Dodgers and Kirk gets his home run all those things ended up beating them but that team had everything you can imagine we were really good let me talk about a push-button Club it was really talented up and down the lineup it was really touted deep in the roster it was a dream team that went about it the right way I consider all con the best team in baseball I know there if anyone knew firsthand about Oakland's prowess it was the Boston Red Sox who had to come to the A's in the 88 LCS [Applause] but in 89 the Sox were primed to repeat in the AL East led by five-time batting champion Wade Boggs and AL MVP runner up with Mike Greenwell still there were other clubs to look out for like the Blue Jays who were also taking aim at the AL East title with the sense that all the ingredients were in place we had odd dates the pitcher in Jimmy key players standing team we were kinda I think the focus of the division last year our players I think realized that they let something slip through their hands last year last for the first time 89 wins 1 this division which is ridiculous and we had a good opportunity to win this division and they know they let it slip by and I think that they realized this happened I think there's a rededication of a part of our players not to let that happen again on the senior service the New York Mets were coming off their own disappointment in the NLCS but there was no denying a star-studded roster that had led the league in both home runs and we had offense we had defense and obviously during that great era of New York met baseball we had an outstanding pitching staff that basically was second to none I don't know if we thrive on being the favorite I think you know we have a lot of talent and then we realize that we're expected to win especially in New York and we're looking forward to that challenge one team hoping to be up for the challenge was the Chicago Cubs led by their own potent arsenal of offense and veteran pitching even if Don Zimmer's Club wasn't exactly viewed as favorites Chicago Cubs in 1989 I was the manager every sports writer in the country picked this last I was a writer I would have picked this last myself [Music] on the battleground of the NL West the defending champions would face challenges from their in-state rivals the Giants and Padres San Diego at its steady southpaw Bruce Hurst from Boston who joined batting champion Tony Gwynn as he took aim at a third straight title [Music] say you think you see what I'm saying you may have to go to the fence you may catch the ball here and sometimes may catch it here you don't know how you gonna get it the San Francisco Giants had the luxury of Hall of Fame advice to start their 89 campaign there you go very good third baseman turned outfielder Kevin Mitchell was entering his prime and hoping to form a powerful one-two punch with Slugger will Clark we're gonna sneak up on some people you know they they the way everybody's talking right now the Padres haven't won and dodges a defending world champs sneaked up on some people we're gonna give him a rough day at the dawn of the 1989 baseball season there were flickers of the donut democracy on the other side of the world in China when the death of former Communist Party Chairman who you bang touched off summer long protests in Beijing leading to the Tiananmen Square massacre which would produce startling images the world couldn't ignore meanwhile back in the US there was an escape from the unsettling news with the new season starting and the spotlight was a prodigious new talent looking to usher in a new era there's a young fella who is the story of spring training in the Mariners camp 19 years old of a normal 19 year old kid having fun he had something magical about first at-bat it's a double off of Dave Stewart well it doesn't take him long to show the big-league guys that he can swing the bat here - first at-bat in Kingdom hits a home run [Applause] swing at the Cato is a hover and they I just saw this young kid I'm like wow this kids special he just had all the tools run power had a great arm played a great outfield I just admire that how easy he made baseball look knowing how difficult the game really is as exciting as grit he made baseball for Seattle the Mariners were still building for the future which led them to trade away pending free agent ace mark Langston for a package of pitchers including a 6-foot 10-inch southpaw named Randy Johnson I remember sake how hard he throws off when he gets a and I don't really like that trade because we trade too many good players and I'm on it but the Expos were in window mode you gotta take some chances that you want to win you have to take meanwhile baseball's other Canadian franchise was making a midseason move as well as the Blue Jays were preparing to christen their new ballpark sky dome but first they added a few more memories and exhibition stadium and with the score tied in the ninth the Bell toll one week later the Bluejays began June in their new state-of-the-art home howdy this is Kelly Gruber the Toronto Blue Jays I'd like to welcome all of you from this week in baseball this fabulous maid place here that we call home our great home puts all of that get your eye on progress here it is how this dome is really over [Applause] the crime dog may have hit the first home run but the Brewers took the first win and yet there was more history ahead for the Jays as three weeks later they went into Baltimore with new manager cito Gaston setting up a baseball first tonight that baseball history will be made here at Memorial Stadium it's the Orioles Frank Robinson and the Blue Jays cito Gaston become the first black managers to oppose each other in a major league game to me it seemed normal so I guess that's the best thing you can say is that when you're looking out you see baseball players you don't see races or where they're from the Orioles 116 to 6 another highlight of a surprising start that had lifted them into first there was no expectations going in for our team and then all of a sudden there was momentum that was built the birds had lost a hundred seven games in 88 that 89 was a new campaign with a fresh batch of young time unlike the upstart O's the A's had been expected to lead their division and sure enough strong pitching pushed them to the top of the ALS back in the senior circuit that Cubs were holding a narrow lead over Montreal while the Giants were atop the west and opening eyes with their play big paw out there and grab the hold of it you know you're gonna be on every highlight reel for the rest of your life and as this season headed toward the all-star game more highlights were on the horizon on the night of July 4th 1989 in America's birthplace there came a reminder than in the national pastime just because something happens once doesn't mean it can't happen again it has been less than 10 months since Browning's perfect game in Cincinnati and now in Philly he bid for another through 24 Phillies came to bat and browning retired everyone but then Dickey thon led off the night [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] you never had somebody doing it twice and my hair I going on the ninth inning trying for my second time you know always always just thought I'd just run a little bit out of gas reception very warm in Baltimore a surprising team was earning big tears of their own [Applause] [Music] we started to believe in ourselves the fans certainly started to believe in the product that we were putting out in the field they started posing the question why not why not going from you know being worse than the wig the first in one year at the all-star break Baltimore held a five and a half game edge in the AL East while out west the Angels for the moment had a narrow lead on the A's the national was just this tight with the Expos topping the East by a game and a half and the Giants up two in the West thanks in big part to a dynamic duo threatened will Clark and Kevin Mitchell how about those guys in the next of a career year Kevin Mitchell was more confident than ever the NL home run leader reached a milestone on July 8th in st. Louis with his 30th last of the season [Applause] and three innings later Mitchell unloaded again that night like so many other times in 89 Mitchell and his slugging partner shared the power fever [Applause] [Music] with a 330 average and one of the sweetest swings in the game will Clark's popularity was borne out in the all-star voting I'd like to thank the fans it certainly is a thrill and a great surprise to be an L vote getter his al counterpart was the Royals Bo Jackson and in Anaheim for his first all-star game the two sports phenom would shine the brightest I wanted to go out and see if I could compete on the same level with all of the other major league baseball players that were selected to the all-star game [Applause] [Music] [Applause] when he hit that ball I said oh my gosh it was a sight to watch it really was I was gonna be [Applause] the back-to-back bomb is tied to score and gave the AL a momentum they would never relinquish bo was the game's MVP and with the second half ahead the stars of the game we're focusing on more big things on the way to October as the second half of the 89 season began the division battles continued to intensify in the AL eats the Orioles were clinging to a narrow lead over the Red Sox but another club was coming on strong Fred McGriff George Bell and Kelly Gruber were the big bats in Toronto though it was pitcher that got the Jays August started in dramatic [Applause] it was a familiar feeling for Steve who in his last two starts in 88 had lost no-hit bids with one out to go once against the coming down to that Nathan and slider [Music] [Applause] well it is disappointing but I've been through before and we won the game two to one and that's really what matters and the Jays would keep on winning going 20 and 9 in August and landing in first place by month's end in the NL West the Giants were leading the pack led by a now familiar pair and then there was Dave dravec who a year earlier had been diagnosed with a cancerous tumor in his pitching arm they had taken out most of his shoulder muscle the doctors told him that there was no way that he would ever pitch in but on August 10th rebecky remarkably returned to the marriage going eight innings in a 4-3 win over the Reds it was an amazing story when he came back from it was a one-of-a-kind thing but for as heartwarming a story as his first game was the second game was just so sad it was in the sixth inning in Montreal kravecki threw a pitch and his arm just snapped first one there and he looked at me he said well I'm in so much pain it was pretty devastating when we were out there the broken arm and Trebek his season was over but the pitcher stayed with the Giants remaining a source of inspiration for his team back in Chicago the Cubs were inspired by second-year manager Don Zimmer Plano consistently as the season progressed [Applause] after a streaky first half the Cubs went 46 and 30 the rest of the way behind Ryan Sandberg Mark Grace and leading Rookie of the Year Canada Jerome Walton the guy has just been a heck of a player for us he's hit right at the 300 mark the whole year the one on a 30 game hitting streak was hit streak was the second longest ever by a rookie meanwhile a 42 year old legend was showing he wasn't too old for the record books [Applause] there was definitely a sense of elation in that Stadium and something we'd never really felt before it at that point it was probably the single most dramatic moment in Ranger his though he flailed that night against Ryan Henderson had been a huge spark for the years since being reacquired from the Yankees in June we were already a very good team when we had in him it's what took us to the next level and for the second straight year the A's were heading to the postseason [Music] the Cubs clinched the NL East in this season's final with the division decided the Giants final series of the season turned into a showdown between will Clarke and Tony Gwynn going into that weekend he was leading I think by a point he's in 333 outs in 332 and after the first two games Clarke still had his narrow lead then in the final game when pulled ahead barely behind-the-back sit down and throw it was bang bang it first and I thought I'd beat Eddie Money you was the first base on part and he went you gotta win one you don't want to win it so the last time up I was really trying to get it rolling a ball in the right field for a base hit Matt really cleansed it sonic went 3 for 4 with a 336 batting average will spark but 333 the biggest stakes on the season's final weekend rested in Toronto with the second place Orioles we're hoping to complete a worst to first season by defeating the Blue Jays for the AL East crown this is what it's all about baseball that is best and the best man will win in this series is that a matter of someone lucked out this is it we needed to go in to out of reinforce a playoff in Toronto and we played extremely well in the first two games but we lost both games in heartbreaking style [Applause] if you look at the Orioles season-long contention an ultimate defeat at the hands of the Toronto Blue Jays it is testament to baseball's great strength which is the long season you don't crown champions in G for the second straight season the Oakland A's were heading to October and after finishing the regular season on a tear that earned them the best record in baseball they'd be starting the playoffs at home against the Blue Jays so the Toronto Blue Jays and the Oakland A's are set for Game one of their best of seven Toronto's a Steve Steve would match up with Deeds Stewart in Game one and while Steve clung to a 3-2 lead after five his biggest bat caught up with him leading off this six and McGuire may have just tied it first-pitch see you later [Music] we got something going that's all we've worn all year and the A's were just heating up as it was time for the Rickey Henderson show we got the break he got the break because we got the base load bases loaded one out they're gonna turn it Fernandez from the Riano take outside [Applause] the best night of my life create things and made us for some rows and put us in the lead of the game and the game was a night here Ricky proved to be the difference maker in the A's game one woman and from there he seemed almost unstoppable the ALCS was dominated by Ricky Henderson in the particular instance of Game two he's the second Brittany goes with Rose stole third he goes again giddy on base to the second third scores on Kearney single that's a run Henderson would steal two more in the A's game to win setting an LCS record with four overall Rickey was a one-man wrecking crew in that in that ALCS against Toronto black seats there aren't many leadoff men who can launch one like that dead center field after Toronto's game three vicar Ricky's two homers in game four were critical and returning the momentum to the age even as the moment that turned the most heads came from another Oakland power source it was fun to be a part of that because I don't think any of us had ever seen a ball hit that far he hit the dugout just went silent waiting to see where it landed catch your breath and just like drop the jaw the thing that adds so much to it as that happens in a championship series Lonnegan was touched with three home runs Canseco's into the upper deck in left and two by Ricky Henderson and if the series were to end tomorrow you could close the ballot box for series MVP Ricky did it with power he did it with finesse he did it stealing bases anything that one player can do to help a team win a game and dominate the series he did it Henderson's master display earned him series MVP as the a is closed it out in Game five turn engagement in the world series now Oakland just had to wait and see if their opponent in this ball classic but also their nationally made and we welcome you to Game one of the National League Championship Series between the San Francisco Giants and the Chicago Cubs been this a matchup of managers who know each other very well we talked in July when we were here that you know would it be something if we met here in the playoffs and here we are the one good thing about it one of us go manage in the World Series the Giants Scott Turow successfully from the bullpen to the starting rotation ER a two points u8 to lead the National League and for the Cubs 23 year-old Greg Maddux finished at 19 and 12 per run average two point nine five but if the pitching resumes of both game one starters were impressive early indications were that it would be a hot bath that would dictate the story of this series it's gone home run will part that's just normal of him to do things like that I look at will every day and I'm I know he's gonna do something outstanding that's just gonna amaze me every time I'm hitting behind me [Music] [Applause] clark's six RBIs in Game one set an NL CS record and it only took him four innings to get them still the thrill wasn't the only sizzling first base bat in the series as his cub counterpart also launched a bid to carry his team yeah that was the will Clarke and Mark Grace show Mark Grace I went toe-to-toe with well pretty good I won all pitch to the cub cleanup hitter [Applause] Mark Grace of will Clarke and meaningful games matching hit for hit RBI for RBI it was classic go still that feel and it's gonna bark now three for three in the ball game not often do you get locked into work when you're getting the pitch to hit not missing it and both of us didn't miss it the whole series when those two guys came to the play it didn't really matter you could throw him the rosin bag there didn't get a hit but while great state as hot as Clark the Giants won both games three and four to take a commanding lead in the series and with Game five tied at one in the bottom of the eighth Clark would once again be the difference there was just really no way to get him out I know I gave up the single that lost the last game to will [Applause] and in an end later it was all over [Applause] breaking ball into Robbie Thompson [Applause] the Giants were headed to a world cities that would be in all bay area up there [Music] [Applause] the Giants and A's were in the World Series and while most fans had no trouble choosing sides in the Battle of the bay others had a hard time deciding on their loyalties for the is it was a second straight for all classic appearance and a chance to prove the previous false disappointment was ancient history our guys were really upset that that 88 willsez got away from it they were embarrassed so from day one of spring training our mission was to get back he had to plate under 62 and then we had to finish it off during the postseason LaRussa and his form of a lineup were primed and ready to finish their mission but the Giants were far from small-time opponents who had just rolled over they were pretty loaded too they had Kevin Mitchell the MVP so the Giants really thought that they would be in this thing on paper there were reasons to pick each team but once game one started a very different story unfolded in the bottom of the second Tony Phillips RBI single plated the game's first run and the A's added a pair to make it 3 to nothing after 2 then in the third they are showcased some trademark Oakland power drive to deep right field [Applause] Walt Weiss his solo shot on the fourth day VA is a five run lead which was more than enough for Oakland A's Dave Stewart the Giants all night long Dave relished the big moment and I just think he took us so personal it's almost like you know either wins or dies in the night Stewart was looking to complete his masterpiece but then that Giants put two men on with nobody out at that time I was thinking if I'm gonna keep this shutout I got to get a couple of strikeouts rau comes up he swings through a forkball that's up in the strike zone I get the second strikeout I [Applause] go 3-1 to candy maldonado and I'm thinking don't give in I threw a low sinker on the outside part aplenty at a ground ball Foreman shut up [Applause] with a powerful offensive display and a stellar performance by their ace game one had gone all according to plan for the ease and in the first inning the next night they picked up where they left off [Applause] the Giants would finance score a run to tie it in the third but in the fourth Oakland put two runners on for Terry Steinbach who delivered a new kind of Fall Classic before the game said I feel that Steinbach is going to hit a home run off Russell I didn't find out till after the press conference that night that Tony had made that prediction as soon as I hit that ball I need sure the homer Stein box blasts DBAs a four-run lead and settled down a shaky Mike Moore who would go on to pitch seven strong in that things in the hands of the A's dominant bullpen which closed down Game two and secured a command in the series lead we won the first two games about nothing 5-1 the Roger Craig was a terrific manager and a real good hard-nosed competitor with a wonderful background the big leagues he said when it come to Candlestick on Game three it's gonna be a lot different no one could have known how true those words would be as the 89 World Series moved across the bed of San Francisco Giants fans were more than ready but then at 5:04 Pacific time during ABC's pregame recap of game to an unprecedented and frightening form the world series drama unfold and he fails to get Dave Parker at second base so the Oakland A's [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] we went down to the dugouts everybody was concerned about their families trying to get him down and then you're hearing pieces of what's going on earthquake you know what I thought well I mean things are moving but you know we're gonna be all right and then to see the news and to see the bridge and the seeded you know all the devastation down at the marina sounds good we're back here in the production truck and it's a it's funny I think everybody at first lewd and odd and didn't quite know what had happened you get the sense that people are almost more nervous now as the reality of what has taken place begins to sink in if they've been who was the Commission some time called Tony Larusso and I always would what would go what we're gonna do something I said your buddy call this to him get these people out of here because we have some more aftershock you never know what can happen ladies and gentlemen we are postponing the game because there is no power in the stadium we would like you to leave in an orderly way I don't believe there's any great danger but we have no idea when the power is going to be on and we have to get people out of here before it gets dark my most vivid memory of the whole situation was looking back and seeing the A's and Giants walking off a candlestick filled with their families in tow and terrorists on backs wife was crying and there was a bad bad deal the earthquake took the lives of 57 people thousands and with an estimated six billion dollars worth of property damage it was a moment in history that changed more than just the course of a World Series we definitely needed to take a step back and assess you know what went on in the loss of life that happened here in Bay Area but by the time the World Series resumed it was a healing process for the Bay Area but the World Series had definitely lost some of its luster and when the series was restarted ten days later the prologue was a pregame ceremony to honor the first responders who'd been among the heroes that day at last it was time again to play ball the A's jumped out to an early four to one lead but then the Giants tried to crawl back against game one winner Dave Stewart [Applause] but the yeas were able to hang on to the lead and in the fifth they expand [Applause] Oh [Applause] one batter later they've hints and hit his second homer of the game and then in this cyst Carney Lansford put it all but out of reach and in the process made some Fall Classic [Applause] [Applause] everybody was figuring the layoffs say what Oakland would take the slugfest 13 to 7 putting the Giants in at three games to none hole and leaving their manager grasping for ways to stop that juggernaut A's office tomorrow maybe I play my out fillers a little bit deeper put them on the other side of the fence I guess no other clubs ever won it when they went three down but you know this is a funny game you can humble you in a minute we'll be here tomorrow we'll keep battling early evening in San Francisco as you look at Candlestick Park as we get set for the fourth game of the World Series the tale of the first three games of the Battle of the bay had been all Oakland still even in the deepest of holes the Giants were trying their best to stay loose even as the opponent's for just one win away from a title we were on a mission and we were rolling and we felt like we're unstoppable and we're gonna bring home that ring and it wouldn't take long for a red-hot leadoff hitter to set the tone for Game four just three pitches in fact [Applause] away and they can get one that I think open the time I think when players prove their work is in the playoffs and it's in the World Series and for you before the first pitch is made to say that I'm going to dominate this series say it and get on the field and do it just a case of when the spotlight was on he knew to turn it on Henderson was on his way to batting for 74 in this series and his performance with a bat might have been contagious considering what happened in a second when a starter Mike Moore came to the plate [Music] [Applause] with a seven nothing lead after five the II seemed intent on pulling away and the props were coming out but in the six Kevin Mitchell's two-run homer got the Giants on the board and in any later they keep chipping away [Applause] suddenly the Giants had what they've been missing all series momentum and the NL MVP as the tying run at the plate [Applause] [Music] [Applause] and the Giants come that close to time and they'd get no closer as Oakland had an insurance run in the 8th putting them in position for that title they'd been focused on all season long it's a ground ball to the right side speed [Applause] [Music] that's my only World Series championship I played 24 years and how lucky I was to get the last out so it to me touch first-base I mean that's the ultimate feeling in the world the A's were a portrait of exhilaration on the field but when the celebration moved to the clubhouse the scene was a bit there we decided I respect what had happened in our area we would not pop champagne we did not celebrate so we have very muted hugs and we felt good about it went back to the hope when calcium had a little get-together so some bittersweet stuff there Dave Stewart would be named Series MVP just one of several a is worthy of the honor but even to this day the undeniable fact remains that the 89 Fall Classic will always be remembered for things much bigger than they give you look at the the whole thing when you talk about the 89 World Series it's not gonna be who was MVP or even who won the World Series but the volunteers that were so gracious in helping out through the tragedies that have happened the collapse of 880 and in the Bay Bridge itself and that's where the focus is going to be baseball to be secondary exactly where it should be the 89 season is also recalled for a different kind of landmark episode Major League Baseball's decision to suspend all-time hit leader Pete Rose for life for betting on goals the banishment for life of Pete Rose from baseball the sad end of a sorry episode and just eight days after Bart Giamatti announced his ruling there was a tragic coda when the Commissioner died of a heart attack in 1990 with Lou Pinella now managing roses old team the red surprised the mighty Athletics by sweeping them in the Fall Classic would be the only one in Oakland's run of diamonds across the bay the NL champions would maintain their popularity for years and in 2010 a new generation of Giants would finally bring a first ever World Series title to San Francisco [Applause] [Music] [Music] you

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Id: q0mZbTzKH78

Length: 44min 54sec (2694 seconds)

Published: Sun Jan 12 2020