Scrapbook Memories 1989, Chapter 8
Scrapbook Memories celebrates the 20th anniversary of Oakland's last World Series triumph. Since the day they set foot in Arizona some seven months prior, the A's mission for 1989 was clear; a wildly successful 1988 season had ended with a thud, leaving a sour taste in their collective mouths, and a sense of unfinished business.
But a not-so-funny thing happened on the way to Redemption City. The A's began the '89 campaign sans the services of reigning MVP Jose Canseco, who would miss the team's first 88 games. Fellow Rookies-of-the-Year Mark McGwire and Walt Weiss also spent considerable time on the disabled list. And Dennis Eckersley, who of all the A's had the most to prove, was lost for 40 contests. As a bullpen by committee kept Oakland in the hunt, Eck would later say all the injuries turned out to be a blessing in disguise:
"You really don't know what you have until you're forced to depend on it."
Indeed.
But it wasn't just the casualties that made for a tougher-than-expected run to the American League West crown, it was the season-long push by the California Angels and Kansas City Royals.
All summer long the A's were neck-and-neck with their division rivals, but as the calendar turned to September, Tony La Russa understood the luxury that comes with having a roster full of players who get a certain itch this time of year:
"The expression in our clubhouse is ‘for the money'. There's no doubt that one of the advantages of being in contention is, whether it's late August or September, you come to the ballpark and get that extra juice. When you get close to the end, you smell it. You get some extra pop."
The A's had "extra pop" to compensate for an injured Canseco.
After dropping an extra-inning affair to Milwaukee to open the month, the A's bashed the Brew Crew by scores of 7-2 and 5-0 to conclude an 8-5 trip, and looked to the comforts of home to bring them, well, home. La Russa cautioned against the idea that his club was in the driver's seat, not with the Royals looming just 2.5 games back:
"I think it comes down to a series of challenges. That's why you can't point at one or another will get you. Now we've got Boston. What we've got to do is get home and keep playing good baseball."
The Red Sox got the jump on the three-game series with an 8-5 win, and sent out Roger Clemens in the second contest, who entered with a 1-5 lifetime record against the A's. Opportunistic as ever, Oakland struck for four unearned runs in the second inning, with the only hit a two-run, two-bagger off the bat of Carney Lansford. The Rocket left after seven innings having allowed only three hits, but found himself down 5-1, a victim of shoddy defense and uncharacteristic wildness (five walks). While Clemens showered, the A's put the game out of reach with an 8-run eighth, as the first eight batters reached base. The next day, a Dave Parker grand slam highlighted a 7-5 victory that pushed the A's division lead to a season-high 4.5 games, and reduced their magic number to 19.
Up next were the New York Yankees, and a curious September trend was taking shape. Once again an Oakland opponent gained the upper hand with a victory in the first of a three-game set. And as they had done against Milwaukee and Boston, the A's came back to win the series. Mike Moore spun a complete-game, four-hit shutout while three of his teammates (Rickey, Jose, and Dave Henderson) homered in a 7-0 win, and in the finale, Dave Parker played the hitting hero once more with a first-inning, two-run blast that sent the A's on their way to a 6-2 triumph.
The A's split a two-game set with the Brewers by identical 7-6 scores, but their win felt more like a loss, at least to the man who ended up with the "W" next to his name. Before embarking on a ten-game road trip, La Russa sent Dave Stewart to the mound, in search of his 20th victory. Stew was less than stellar but still left after seven with a 6-4 lead. In came Eck for a two-inning save. He retired future Hall-of-Famers Paul Molitor and Robin Yount in a 1-2-3 eighth. Eckersley struck out Rob Deer to start the ninth. B.J. Surhoff singled to bring up Greg Vaughn, who homered to tie the game. Gone was the lead and Stewart's milestone. Stunned, Eck bore down to get the next two batters, and Dave Henderson saved the savior with a walk-off homerun leading off the bottom half. In the winning clubhouse afterwards, the two local boys took turns feeling sorry for each other:
"This is the absolute worst you can feel after a win", Eckersley said. "I'd give it back in a second. It hasn't sunk in yet, but I feel horrible."
"As far as I'm concerned, Eck's saved me 1,000 times", Stewart said. "I told him that."
In retrospect the A's may have let the bittersweet victory linger a little longer than they should have, and it showed in an ugly three-game sweep at Fenway Park. Even Roger Clemens beat them, as Oakland fell by scores of 7-2, 5-2, and 7-6, and committed seven errors in the process.
Next stop was Cleveland, and Stew was back on the hill for his second attempt at Number 20. He left after eight, with the A's ahead 2-1, having allowed just four hits. And then it happened. Again. Brook Jacoby took Eckersley deep for a game-tying homerun. Better now than in October, eh? The resilient A's rebounded again, with tenth-inning RBI knocks by Dave Henderson (who else?) and Tony Phillips to win it 4-2. The post-game mood was jovial compared to the first time, perhaps because the A's were happy to escape with a victory after the Boston Massacre.
"I think Eck is just trying to get to 20 before Stew", said Henderson through his famous gap-toothed grin that broke up all listeners in the A's clubhouse.
Mike Moore needed no late-game heroics from Hendu (or any other "A") as he tossed eight shutout innings at the Indians, and the A's finished off the sweep with an 8-6 win the next night.
Wins were suddenly coming in bunches as the A's eked out a 2-1 decision in Minnesota to open a four-game series, and Stewart- finally- got his 20th victory to run Oakland's streak to five games.
All that was left to put the finishing touches on a trying- but ultimately successful- season was to get home and clinch the division in front of friendly faces. The A's split their remaining two games in Minnesota and boarded a plane for Oakland with the title theirs for the taking. A 3-2 loss to Texas merely delayed the inevitable as a hard-fought 3-2 win the following night left their magic number at 1.
On September 27, I took my cousin Scott to the game. We arrived late; in fact we missed a Canseco missile in the first inning. We didn't miss much else. Neither did the A's. On display was the underrated part of this juggernaut: its defense. All season long, when player after player went down, two guys rose up: Tony Phillips and Mike Gallego. Yeah, you're saying "who?" if you're not an A's fan, but we knew how important they were. So did their teammates. That night, my second clincher in as many years, Phillips and Gallego, along with Mark McGwire and Walt Weiss, put together a highlight reel of defensive gems, all of which led to Oakland's 20th shutout of the season, and a second straight AL West crown. La Russa spoke in a reverent tone afterwards:
"There are three things that figure in this: the repeat factor, the injuries, and more importantly, the quality of competition this year. This club feels very good about itself. If you win with all those things, that's a hell of an accomplishment."
"We got a hell of a team."
Indeed.
1 recs |
17 comments
|
Comments
Awesome read.
I was only five during the 89 season (turned 6 three days before the ‘quake), but had JUST started attending games with my grandpa the year before (the 88 loss in the WS didn’t hurt, cause I didn’t even realize what the WS was!). It’s great to be able to read through your series to commemorate such a fantastic year for a fantastic team.
Just out of curiosity though — did you type all of the series up at the beginning of the year and just cut and paste enough to make it a great series, or do you write ’em one at a time at the beginning of the month? Either way, what a labor of love! Thanks Mr. Marquez!
"No matter what I talk about, I always get back to baseball." -- Connie Mack
by GreenSocks on Oct 1, 2009 12:41 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs
Thank you!
I write a different post each month, in hopes that it has a different flavor than the one before. Labor of love…you are right on both accounts. :-)
Not sure how I want to do the playoffs/Series just yet. I might do individual game recaps, plus a separate post for the 20-year anniversary of the quake.
I'm here to talk about the past.
by 67MARQUEZ on Oct 1, 2009 12:52 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
So,
how come during the cartoon, that twenty second exchange took place over the entirety of them playing baseball? What are they playing, five seconds of hot box? And why does the black kid’s head look like an upside down chess pawn-head?
Clearly, someone over at “Wee Pals” needs to be fired.
Maybe you can find one made by Go F**k Yourself San Jose... -Poppy
by Leopold Bloom on Oct 1, 2009 3:18 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs
Probably because most of the dialogue wasn't suitable for the Sunday paper.
I’d fill in the blanks but we too have rules here.
I'm here to talk about the past.
by 67MARQUEZ on Oct 1, 2009 3:25 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
does it involve a chicken's head and plaster of paris?
Maybe you can find one made by Go F**k Yourself San Jose... -Poppy
by Leopold Bloom on Oct 1, 2009 3:47 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
For obvious reasons
1989 was my favorite baseball season ever.
They call their best player "Kung Fu Panda" and they complain that people aren’t taking them or the game seriously enough? -Nick
by mikev on Oct 1, 2009 3:42 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs
There isn't any bitter sweetness about it?
No mistakes in the tango, darling. Not like life. Simple. That's what makes the tango so great. If you make a mistake, and get all tangled up, you just tango on.....
by pookeyguru on Oct 1, 2009 4:05 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
i typed up a reply right after 67M posted this, but it got lost in the tubes
basically, as i read through this particular scrapbook memory and kind of thought about things, it put the A’s steroid machine into perspective.
this isn’t a groundbreaking thought or anything, but:
at first, when canseco started opening his mouth and mcgwire kept his mouth shut awkwardly, i felt kind of guilty for loving the A’s and especially for becoming an A’s fan during the almost-mini-dynasty. did i really fall in love with cheaters? but now the dust is settling and it’s becoming (or has already become) pretty clear that juicing was rampant throughout MLB for quite a while with both hitters and pitchers. it just so happens that the juicers on the A’s did it better than the other teams, which kind of indicates that they were probably better to begin with.
so, in closing, nothing bitter about ’89, only sweet.
BK: This guy is on fire, he is really smokin'.
KenKo: Oh yeah, Bill? What's he smokin'?
by jlanning17 on Oct 2, 2009 11:36 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
I just wanted to say hi.
And thank you for the old time eye candy.
Bailey for ROY!
by ZigFan31 on Oct 1, 2009 3:51 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs
Nice walk down memory lane (I was 9 at the time--almost 10) Marquez
Thanks.
No mistakes in the tango, darling. Not like life. Simple. That's what makes the tango so great. If you make a mistake, and get all tangled up, you just tango on.....
by pookeyguru on Oct 1, 2009 4:05 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs
Dang - I sure missed a lot reading the crummy wire-service articles in the Des Moines Register
"If Vin Mazzaro comes anywhere near me with shaving cream he’s gonna be coming away with a bloody stump" – Dallas Braden
by doctorK on Oct 1, 2009 4:08 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs
I was digging through my desk drawer yesterday.
I found a baseball card commemorating the ‘89 earthquake series. I can’t wait for the write up of the playoffs (run Rickey run) and the Series. I still have some laminated newspaper pages in my other drawer. Well done, Marquez!
JJ Martin
The best way to catch a knuckleball is to wait until the ball stops rolling and then pick it up. ~Bob Uecker
by JJ Martin on Oct 1, 2009 5:33 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs
this whole series should just be made into an e-book, it's stellar
Can’t say I’d rather read anyone or anything else over today’s salmon salad lunch, for sure.
Seriously, fantastic stuff 67.
Hey, I just bought the team from Lew Wolff... who wants to play third?
by emperor nobody on Oct 1, 2009 5:56 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs
Or my pollo asada burrito.
Velly good stuff! I hope skigurl isn’t too jetlagged to read this.
Hey, Raburn! YOU ever dive into the shallow end of a pool?--noava22
by lynnzgal on Oct 1, 2009 6:36 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
The picture of Jose made me sad.
I hate what has become of him.
by IM4Oakgal on Oct 2, 2009 12:35 AM PDT reply actions 0 recs
Thanks everyone.
I'm here to talk about the past.
by 67MARQUEZ on Oct 2, 2009 6:00 AM PDT reply actions 0 recs

by 





































