Shaking in San Francisco

It was an unusually warm day in Oakland as we got on the family bus to take us over to Candlestick Park for Game 3 of the 1989 World Series. Our infant, Erin was with me that day. Our boys, Zach and Caleb stayed home with a friend. Family and friends were with me too--time to cheer on the Oakland A's!

As we got off the elevator at Candlestick to head to our seats, the stadium began to shake. Erin and I were the last ones to leave the elevator before it dropped to the bottom floor. It seemed like the shaking took 5 minutes--forever; but it was only a few seconds. I felt queasy and scared.

The Californians started cheering after the quaking stopped. They were obviously far more accustomed to that phenomenon than this Florida girl. We all made our way to our seats,and that's when the news of the magnitude and devastation of the earthquake began to trickle in on fans portable radios. A two tiered highway had collapsed. The Bay Bridge had a section break sending cars into the bay. Cold chills ran up and down my arms as I thought, 'we were just on both of those just 40 minutes ago!'

The ball players were on the field looking for their families. The crowd became very quiet as they stepped aside to let us make our way down to the field.

The news media was everywhere gathering information. What I found out later was as we were being put us back on the buses our family back home saw us on the news. They were relieved because they had no idea if we were safe. The wonderful bus drivers got us over to Oakland by way of San Jose. Many of the highways were buckled up and the bridges were not able to be used due to structural damages.

Storm holding sleepy Erin!

Storm, Bobby Welch, Dave Stewart & Dennis Eckersley

My mother's heart couldn't stop thinking about my boys. I had no way of getting in touch with them. All phones and most all electricity was out. Once we finally got home I was so relieved to find they were fine and laughing about the "shaky shaky"! Neighbors had come to check on them and they were safe!

The World Series resumed after a several day delay. Candlestick Park was found to be structurally safe and the games began again. The Oakland A's won the Series by the Bay!

My memory of that strange ground shaking day took several years to become a non tearful one. Lives were lost; families altered; hopes crushed. The people of San Francisco and Oakland and I will always remember the World Series when the ground shook by the Bay!

Starting Pitchers! Bobby Welch you are missed! Bobby Welch, Storm, Mike Moore, Curt Young, & Dave Stewart