THE big one? No, but it was close . . .

Oct. 17, 1989 -- A magnitude 7.1 earthquake hit the San Francisco Bay Area just before the third game of the World Series was to commence at Commercial-stick Park.

The tremor collapsed a section of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge. Damage was estimated at almost $3 billion in San Francisco -- approximately one-half of the total damage figure for the entire earthquake zone.

Where were you and what were you doing when the big one hit?

As I recall, I was an obnoxious 14-year-old who spent more time playing video games about sports than watching actual sporting event. But that evening, I just happened to flip on the small color TV in my bedroom to see what was going on with the game.

I was watching that broadcast when the camera work became unsteady and the game stopped. When the cameras came back up, players were just standing in place looking at each other like, "What the heck just happened?"

I recall broadcaster Al Michaels heading to the field and trying to do some spot-news coverage of what was destined to be the biggest story for many days to come. Exciting times.
So, where were you?

PS: The cross-bay series halted for more than a week before Oakland resumed their domination of the Giants. Who was on that fantastic Athletics team that year? Go here to check it out . . .