Al Michaels

Alan Richard Michaels (born November 12, 1944 in Brooklyn, New York) is an American television sportscaster. Since 1977, he has been employed by ABC Sports and has been one of the most prominent and respected members of his profession.

1989 World Series

On October 17, 1989, Michaels was in San Francisco, California, preparing to cover the third game of the 1989 World Series between the home team, the Giants, and the visiting Oakland Athletics. ABC's network telecast began with a recap of the first two games, both won by Oakland. Soon after Michaels handed off to his broadcast partner, Tim McCarver, who started assessing the Giants' chances for victory in the game, the Loma Prieta earthquake struck. McCarver fell into a stunned silence, but Michaels astutely said into the microphone, "I'll tell you what, we're having an earth--!" just as it went dead, providing the only concurrent broadcast account of what had happened. Audio was restored minutes later (a green ABC Sports graphic replaced the picture though) where Michaels, over a telephone line started off by trying to make light of the chaotic situation by quipping that it was "The greatest open in the history of television -- bar none!" After ABC restored the telecast with a backup generator, Michaels gave an eyewitness account of the aftermath at Candlestick Park, the Giants' stadium, for which he later won an Emmy Award for news broadcasting, becoming only the second sportscaster ever to win the award.

Related Topics:
October 17 - 1989 - San Francisco, California - 1989 World Series - Oakland Athletics - Tim McCarver - Loma Prieta earthquake - Candlestick Park

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Al Michaels, Tim McCarver, and Jim Palmer remained a calm and reassuring presence in what could have been a scene of panic. According to Tim McCarver, when the earthquake hit, he, Michaels and Palmer immediately grabbed a hold of what they preceived to be the armrests. In reality, the announcers were clutching on each others' thighs and they were left with bruises the next day. Years later, Al Michaels would boldly admit his strong belief that had the earthquake lasted much longer than 15 seconds, he would've gotten killed. Michaels added that the only time that he really got scared during the earthquake was when he moved in a position what he preceived to be backward. The three announcers were simply sitting on a ledge with their backs turned and nothing else behind them in the booth.

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