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TIME: Almanac 1990
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1990 Time Magazine Compact Almanac, The (1991)(Time).iso
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time
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102389
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10238900.003
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1990-09-22
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SPORT, Page 79In the West: Play "Baysball!"San Francisco and Oakland square off in a historic World SeriesBy Lee Griggs
As the crow -- or in this case the seagull -- flies, it is a
mere eleven miles across San Francisco Bay from Candlestick Park,
home of the National League pennant-winning Giants, to the
Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum, where the American League champion
Athletics play. That distance is only a tad farther than the
mileage between Yankee Stadium in the Bronx and the Brooklyn
housing project where Ebbets Field used to be, sites of the last
public-transit World Series back in 1956. This week the A's and
Giants, having finished off their respective challengers from
Toronto and Chicago, are launched on the first ever Bay Bridge
Series. BAYSBALL!, as the local newspaper headlines and posters put
it.
The confrontation has revived San Francisco's mostly
unjustified arrogance toward its East Bay neighbor. The old cliches
have been aired yet again about Giants fans partying on Chardonnay
and quiche in Candlestick parking lots while A's adherents settle
for beer and bratwurst at the Coliseum. San Franciscans sneer at
the drug problem in "Cokeland," and last week Mayor Art Agnos took
arrogance to new heights, initially declining to make the
traditional World Series bet with his Oakland counterpart, Lionel
Wilson, because "there's nothing in Oakland I want."
Except maybe to emulate the success of the Athletics. The World
Series is a novelty to the Giants, who haven't been in one for 27
years or won one in 35. The A's, on the other hand, are in their
fifth since 1972 and have won three of their last four.
After a spate of early-season injuries, the A's went into this
week's games healthy and in the hitting groove. Their musclemen,
designated hitter Dave Parker and the Bash Brothers -- first
baseman Mark McGwire and rightfielder Jose Canseco -- each homered
at least once in the playoff series against Toronto. Canseco's was
a tape-measure job estimated by an IBM computer at 480 ft. Nobody
seemed more impressed than Jose himself telling callers on his
personal hot line, (900) 234-JOSE, "I mean, this was one mammoth
home run, and you really enjoy hitting those types. I mean, if you
gotta hit it, you might as well hit it far, right?"
But the one A's player most likely to give the Giants fits is
left fielder Rickey Henderson, 30. All he did against Toronto was
reach base on 14 of 23 times at bat, score eight runs, drive in
five more, hit two homers and steal eight bases in as many tries.
On the base paths he drove Blue Jay pitchers nuts. Like Canseco,
Henderson is hardly humble. "I'd say I'm the decade's best lead-off
man," he declares. "If people feel I'm one of the best who ever
played the game, that's nice to hear." Opposing players call
Henderson a hot dog, and frustrated fans in Toronto bombarded him
with frankfurters in left field to show their displeasure.
If anyone meant more to his team in the playoffs than "Hot Dog"
Henderson to the A's, it was Will ("the Thrill") Clark of the
Giants. The 25-year-old first baseman had a grand-slam homer and
six runs batted in in the first game, and a bases-loaded single
that drove home the winning run in the finale. For the five-game
series, he reached base 15 times out of 22, batted .650, scored
eight runs and drove in eight, with two homers. "It's no
coincidence that at the most important time of the year, Will's at
the very top of his game," says teammate Brett Butler. "That's what
great players do, like Stan Musial and Ted Williams. Now you have
to put Will in that class."
But Clark cannot do it all, and despite impressive home-run
help from his partner in the so-called Pacific Sock Exchange, Kevin
Mitchell, as well as from slugger Matt Williams, the Giants seem
outgunned overall by the Bash Brothers & Associates. More
important, the A's boast the best pitching staff in baseball: Dave
Stewart (21-9), Mike Moore (19-11), Storm Davis (19-7) and Bob
Welch (17-8). For a closer in relief they call on Dennis Eckersley,
who saved 33 games in the regular season and three more against the
Blue Jays in the playoffs.
Against that array, the Giants have converted reliever Scott
Garrelts (14-5), 40-year-old Rick Reuschel (17-8) and the erratic
Mike LaCoss (10-10). Fourth starter Don Robinson (12-11) pitches
with a bad knee, and closer Steve Bedrosian barely avoided blowing
a save in the pennant-clinching win.
A's manager Tony LaRussa properly pooh-poohed the A's 8-1
record against the Giants during spring training and professed
concern about the Sock Exchange. Giants manager Roger Craig, ever
the optimist, pointed out that "we've got men who respond to
challenge. We've battled back all year long." But as the series
opened last Saturday, hard-eyed bookmakers in Reno made the A's
odds-on favorites to win the Battle of the Bay.