Former Oakland A’s outfielder Jose Canseco seen throwing out the first ball in previous years ago game at the Oakland Coliseum was one of the key stars of the A’s World Series teams in the 80s (AP News photo)
By Amaury Pi-González
The Oakland Athletics won three consecutive American League pennants from 1988 to 1990 and made it to the World Series annually.
These three years were the pinnacle of success for the Oakland A’s during the Walter Haas ownership and Tony LaRussa as field manager, the best time since the Charlie O Finley Athletics won three consecutive World Series in 1972-73 and 1974.
The A’s did not win three World Series in a row this time, but these were some of the greatest baseball teams the A’s ever put on the field. The teams had power, speed, pitching, and everything, including very exciting players, but as we know, the World Series is genuinely unpredictable.
- 1988 I considered the best of these three consecutive World Series teams. They won 104 games and finished 13 games over the Minnesota Twins in their division and then beat the Boston Red Sox in four games to win the American League Championship Series.
- The World Series matched the A’s vs. the Los Angeles Dodgers, only the second time that two California teams met in the October Classic. Previously was also the Oakland A’s in 1974 when they beat the Dodgers. This time the Dodgers took the Oakland A’s in five games, and pitching star Orel Hershiser won the series MVP. José Canseco won the MVP of the American League and the Silver Slugger Award. Dennis Eckersley won the Rolaids Relief Man of the Year, and in 1988 Tony LaRussa won the Manager of the Year. The first game of the World Series at Dodger Stadium culminated with a home run by pinch hitter Kirk Gibson (he could not take batting practice due to his physical condition), yet he surprised the world with that dramatic ninth-inning home run vs. Eckersley that landed in the right field seats. Eck threw “one slider too many.” Although it was just Game One, it had the feeling that this was a precursor of what was going to happen. Famous artist Leroy Neiman was present doing his paintings. The great Spanish opera singer Placido Domingo, who sang the National Anthem at the inaugural game at Dodger Stadium, came into our booth prior to game three at the Oakland Coliseum. He was very much curious about baseball and specially asked questions about José Canseco, who that season became the first 40-40 player in history.
- 1989 Was not only Oakland A’s fourth World Championship title but the most historical as a powerful earthquake stopped it. As Evelio A.Mendoza and yours truly were doing the pre-game show Game 3, less than a half-hour before the game was to start, the quake hit, shaking Candlestick Park. I will never forget that October 17. The Loma Prieta earthquake was a strong 6.9 in magnitude. The series resumes ten days after the quake, which killed 67, injured more than 3,700, and caused billions of dollars in property damage. The Oakland A’s won games 1 and 2 at Oakland by scores of 5-0 and 5-1, then ten days after the earthquake, the series resumed in San Francisco, where they won game 3 by a 13-7 score and game four by a 9-6 score. Dave Stewart, who won games 1 and 3 was named the MVP. Nobody in Oakland history did what Stew accomplished from 1987 to 1990; he won 20 to 22 games in each season consecutively. The four World Series trophies for the Oakland A’s are the best for a Bay Area team. The 1989 World Series is historically unique and shows the leadership of the interim Commissioner Fay Vincent, who, after the earthquake, made the decision as he was sitting at his box at Candlestick Park and ordered the game to be postponed. According to Vincent, he had already made the decision to postpone Game 3 without telling anybody first. As a result, the umpires filed a formal protest of Vincent’s decision. However, the game had to be postponed due to trouble with gas lines and the power issue. Vincent made the right decision, and in the end, the World Series was played in its totality. Dave Stewart was more than the MVP for this World Series. Stewart was active working and helping first responders in the Cypress Freeway area of Oakland, which had collapsed during the quake, an area that caused many of the fatalities.
- The A’s played the Cincinnati Reds. The first two games were scheduled to be played at Cincinnati. There was a large contingency of Oakland A’s employees, their families, that followed the team east. The Mayor of Oakland Lionel Wilson and his wife were present among other Oakland leaders. All the rooms in Cincinnati hotels were sold out. My wife and I stayed in Kentucky along with the other staff people, including broadcasters. The bus ride was about hour from the stadium. Later when I was traveling with other teams, I discovered a friendly bridge that I would walk a few times across the Ohio River from Riverfront Stadium to Covington, Kentucky. Everything went the Red’s way as they won the two games in Cincinnati and the last two in Oakland; A’s were swept. As if often happens in baseball, a player that was young and ineffective during his career with the Oakland A’s from 1985 to 1987, Dominican pitcher José Rijo who was traded from Oakland three years before, was 3-0 in the postseason and 2-0 in the World Series came back to haunt his ex-team and won the MVP.
Years later (when he was not managing the A’s), I spoke with Tony LaRussa, who used to have a pregame segment before each of our A’s games in Spanish, and told him I believe the A’s should have won the three World Series, he agreed with me. But such is baseball.
1990 was the last time the A’s were in a World Series. Thirty-three years ago and counting,
Famous Quotes: “May God give you, for every storm, a rainbow; for every tear, a smile; for every care, a promise; and a blessing in each trial. For every problem life seems, a faithful friend to share; for every sigh, a sweet song, and an answer for each prayer”. -Vin Scully.
Amaury Pi Gonzalez is the lead play by play voice for the Oakland Athletics Spanish radio network at 1010 KIQI San Francisco and 990 KATD Pittsburg and does News and Commentary at http://www.sportsradioservice.com
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