World Series Delays Have Not Healed Spirit

The World Series seemed back on schedule Monday, with Bay Area traffic and Candlestick Park doing just fine.

Now, the main problem is for the San Francisco Giants and Oakland Athletics to get back on schedule. After another delay and a record 11-day layoff because of an earthquake, there’s not much spirit left for Game 3 Friday evening.

“Numb. Everybody is just numb,” said Brett Butler, one of a handful of Giants at Candlestick on Monday. “The enthusiasm isn’t there anymore.

“We still want to win, but let’s get it over with. The most valuable player, the good things, the bad things that happen on the field, it doesn’t matter. All of that, I think, is trivial.

“When people think of the 1989 World Series, they’re not going to remember who won. They’re going to remember who survived,” Butler said. “To me, people like Buck Helm are the stars of this series.”

Helm is the 57-year-old man who was found alive more than 89 hours after being buried when the earthquake caused a freeway to collapse in Oakland.

The Athletics lead the series, two games to none. Because of the rain, they did not practice Monday, a day after the Series again was delayed.

“I thought it might be a good idea for both teams to scrimmage against each other,” reliever Rick Honeycutt said. “We could have a couple of games here and give the money to charity. But I guess the same problems would still exist.”

San Francisco Mayor Art Agnos and baseball Commissioner Fay Vincent said Sunday that the Series was pushed back for three reasons: to see if the area’s roads can handle the increased traffic, to make sure Candlestick was safe and to find out if enough police officers were available.

Meanwhile, the teams planned to work out every day until the Series resumes. With the threat of more rain, the Athletics might move to their spring training site in Phoenix. A half-dozen Giants, including Will Clark, took batting practice at the indoor cages Monday. Later, there was a light touch-football game in Candlestick’s outfield.

Said Butler: “As a kid, you dream about playing in the World Series. At the start, I realized what a privilege it was to be in the World Series. Now I realize what a privilege it is to be alive.”