Game 3 Postponed Because of Earthquake

The World Series was postponed Tuesday night when an earthquake shook northern California shortly before game time, damaging and forcing evacuation of crowded Candlestick Park.

A decision on when and where Game 3, between the Oakland Athletics and San Francisco Giants, will be played will not be made until today.

Baseball commissioner Fay Vincent said there were cracks in the stadium and the extent of damage would not be known until later in the night. No major injuries were reported.

One possibility was that the Series would be moved back to Oakland, where the A’s won the first two games Saturday and Sunday.

A section in the upper stands in right field separated by about six inches, and several cracks ran down the concrete aisle and broke off. Fans were carrying them home as souvenirs.

“The people two to three rows in front of me had big pieces of metal several inches, fall on their heads,” said David Guzzetti, a city council member from Chico, Calif. “The light towers were just rocking back and forth. I couldn’t believe it.”

The quake registered 6.5 to 7.0 on the Richter scale 10 miles north of Santa Cruz. It shook buildings in Sacramento, 95 miles to the northeast, and was felt as far away as Reno, Nev., 225 miles to the east.

Aftershocks continued at least 45 minutes after the quake struck at 5:05 p.m. Players stayed on the field for 30 minutes before the game was postponed. Many of them left with their families.

“I was sitting on the bench and at first I thought it was the fans stamping (their feet),” Oakland Manager Tony La Russa said. “Then right away I realized what was happening.”

Said A’s outfielder Dave Henderson: “You can’t stop concrete. Forget the World Series.”

Eric Gregg, a 6-foot-3 umpire, admitted his fear.

“I try to be a big tough guy,” he said, “but I was scared senseless. I couldn’t fit under the table and finally I went to stand under some arches.”

Oakland right fielder Jose Canseco was standing with his wife when the tremor hit. He said he looked up at fans yelling at him and thought, “Geez, look at that. They still want us to play.”

An hour after the earthquake was felt, about two-thirds to three-fourths of the sellout crowd of 60,000 were still in their seats, but police began evacuating the upper deck about 5:40 p.m., 10 minutes after the game was scheduled to start and moments after a second aftershock was felt at the ballpark.

The power in the stadium was knocked out and some phone lines were affected.

The first-aid station at Candlestick reported a few people were hit by falling debris and were being treated. None of the injuries was said to be serious.