The mayors of San Francisco and Oakland finally worked out their inability to decide what to wager on the World Series.
Lionel Wilson, the mayor of Oakland, and Art Agnos, the mayor of San Francisco, agreed that the losing mayor must treat the winning mayor and a group of children from his city to a ballgame and dinner next season.Prior to the Series start, Agnos had said he "couldn't think of anything I'd want" in Oakland, prompting some inter-city bashing as a result. But as politicians are wont to do when voters are involved, feelings were soon enough soothed over.
Agnos not only agreed on a suitable wager, but he also sparked plans for a $2,000 trophy, in the shape of the Bay Bridge, that will go to the World Series winner. In joining Wilson at an unveiling ceremony prior to Game One, Agnos said, "This symbolizes regionalism. It links us with our neighbors in the East Bay."
"We're so close together," added Wilson. "We're like brothers and sisters."
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The Giants might be the acknowledged underdogs in this World Series, but they do have the "Chicago Factor" going for them.
In the 1988-89 sports season, the team that beat Chicago in semifinal confrontations in football (the San Francisco 49ers), hockey (the Calgary Flames) and basketball (the Detroit Lions) went on to win, in order, the NFL, NHL and NBA championship.
In the National League Championship Series, the Giants defeated the Chicago Cubs.
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When Dave Parker of the Oakland A's hit his Game One home run it marked his first homer in World Series play, covering three Series ('79 with Pittsburgh and '88 and '89 with Oakland) and 50 at-bats.
Still, it wasn't that big of a dry spell. In his 17-season big league career, Parker has averaged hitting a home run every 30 at-bats. He has 307 lifetime.
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The all-time most prolific home-run hitter in World Series history is Babe Ruth.
Playing in 10 World Series and recording 129 at-bats, Ruth hit 15 home runs - or one every 8.6 times he came to the plate.
Although his 41 World Series games ranks only 10th on the all-time list - well behind Yogi Berra's record 75 - Ruth's name still has a major imprint in the Series record book.
He ranks third all-time in runs (37), 10th in hits (42), second in home runs (15), fourth in runs batted in (33), second in walks (33) and fourth in strikeouts (30).
Mickey Mantle, who played in 65 World Series games, second only to Berra, is No. 1 on the all-time lists in runs (42), RBI (40), walks (43), home runs (18 - one every 13 at-bats) and strikeouts (54). Berra is first all-time in hits (71), at-bats (259) and doubles (10).
The only offensive records not owned by Mantle or Berra are for most triples (four each by Billy Johnson, Tommy Leach and Tris Speaker), most stolen bases (14 each by Lou Brock and Eddie Collins) and batting average (.418 by Pepper Martin in three World Series and 55 at-bats).
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Teams that have broken out to 2-0 leads - as the A's now have - have gone on to win the World Series 74.4 percent of the time.
Two-nothing leads have happened 39 times previously, and 29 of those leads have been stretched into championships.
There is a modern asterisk, however. Since 1955, of the 15 teams that have won the first two games, only six have gone on to capture the Series - a 40 percent rate of success. And of the last four, two have pulled it off - 50 percent.
The last four, incidentally, have been consecutive - St. Louis in 1985, Boston in 1986, Minnesota in 1987 and Los Angeles in 1988. Minnesota and Los Angeles went on to win the World Series.
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Don Robinson, who will start for the Giants in Game Three Tuesday when the Series switches to the National League and Candlestick Park, says one advantage for the Giants will be no designated hitters in the lineup.
"I get to hit, and that's an advantage for us," said Robinson, who had three home runs this year during the regular season. "They'll have to pitch to (Jose) Uribe and at no time this year did anyone walk him to get to me."
Bob Welch, the A's starter, will also get (have?) to hit, and, like all AL pitchers, he hasn't had an at-bat all year.