Candlestick Park shook again, but it was the roar of fans cheering the World Series _ not another earthquake _ and the only cracks came from bats as the Bay area took a break from its woes to watch baseball.
"The city's back, just like the World Series," San Francisco Mayor Art Agnos declared to the television audience before the Oakland Athletics pounded his Giants 13-7 Friday night to take a 3-0 lead in the series.It was the loss of the TV signal shortly before the start of Game 3 10 days earlier that gave the nation its first hint of the powerful temblor that rocked northern California, killing scores and causing widespread damage.
"We're well on the way to recovery, although it's early yet because there have been so many aftershocks," said Oakland Mayor Lionel Wilson.
The 62,000 fans stood silently to remember victims of the 7.1-magnitude quake that hit at 5:04 p.m. Oct. 17, then jubilantly sang "San Francisco" before a dozen rescue workers threw out the first balls.
Not everyone thought the Bay Bridge World Series should resume in the face of the enormity of the tragedy: 64 deaths, six people unaccounted for, nearly 14,000 people homeless and an estimated $7.1 billion in damage.
But major league baseball thought it was time to play ball, and many fans agreed.
"We all feel bad for the people who got hurt, but this game means it's OK to be yourself again," said Ray Torres, who with a friend had seats near the top of the stadium and brought a banner that read, "Upper deck parachute rental." Many fans wore hard hats to the game.
"I think enough time has passed so that we can put it behind us," said lawyer Mike Franchetti at a tailgate party in the same spot where he had been on Oct. 17. "It's an escape from the sadness and uncertainty."
Commissioner Fay Vincent, who announced a $1.4 million gift from baseball to earthquake relief, said he received mail from around the country urging that the Series be called off because of the earthquake.
Vincent said he understood those feelings. "But I don't think there is any disrespect in going on with the World Series," he said.
"Baseball can be part of this area's mental therapy," said Giants manager Roger Craig.
The death toll rose to 64 on Friday with the addition of an 88-year-old San Mateo woman who died of a heart attack shortly after the quake.
Demolition continued at Interstate 880 in Oakland where 39 people were known to have been killed in the collapse of the double-deck freeway. The search for more more bodies was delayed because the road was too shaky.
In other developments:
-Dockworker Buck Helm, 57, rescued after four days trapped in the rubble of I-880, remained in serious condition in Oakland's Highland General Hospital. Helm was making "slow progress" in kidney and respiratory functions, nursing supervisor Grace Reece said late Friday.
-In Santa Cruz on Friday, a wrecking ball went to work on the landmark Cooper House, centerpiece of the heavily damaged Pacific Garden Mall. Some people watched with tears in their eyes.
-Lawyer Melvin Belli on Friday filed $22 million in claims against the state on behalf of 10 victims of the I-880 collapse. If the claims _ $3 million for each of two wrongful deaths and $2 million for each of eight injured survivors _ are rejected by the state, lawsuits would be filed, Belli said.
-Seven students from Chuo University in Tokyo arrived in Watsonville on Friday to help distribute relief supplies.
-Tour operators were warned by the state Public Utilities Commission that earthquake disaster areas should not be considered tourist attractions, and threatened punitive action against any operator who toured there.
-A convention of traumatic stress experts who coincidentally came to San Francisco after the quake held a seminar on the disaster Friday. Experts said people should talk about the experience and use jokes to relieve stress.