[ music ] >> could the san francisco giants be headed to the world series? we look back tonight at the dramatic history of the team's previous trips to the fall classic, including the bay bridge series interrupted by a sudden disaster. and the '62 giants, their backs to the wall and how they over came the hated dodgers to win the national league pennant. plus the t.v. broadcast of a giants game that helped head off a riot. and the giants team that

plays only home games behind the walls of san quentin prison. all straight ahead tonight on "second look." >> here is will clark. what's happening? >> hey, what's happening? we will win we've got that right. >> you are overmodulating. >> no way. no way. i've been waiting a long time for this. i went to all (bleep) games and now we are going to the pros. >> in the long history of the san francisco giants celebration, this might be the most enthusiastic. 1987, first baseman will clark reacting to the giants' clinching the national league western division title. >> hell, i can get a lot to drink, i'm pouring. >> good evening, i'm mark ibanez and welcome to second sec. tonight baseball fever is raging here in the bay area. the giants are right in the middle of the national league playoffs with the philadelphia fill phillies to see who will

go to the world series. it was on this date, october 17th, in 1989 that the giants were already in the series getting ready to host the oakland as in game three. never before had the bay area's two teams met in the world series. and the sports world was abuzz as fans awaited the ball game. but then something un scheduled changed the course of history. just minutes before the game was to begin the loma prieta earthquake hit. here is the report from 1990 on what happened next. >> reporter: downtown san francisco in the background and we zoom into candlestick park. >> reporter: at 5:04 p.m. wednesday, october 17th, 1989 at least 35,000 americans were settling in to watch the world series on abc t.v. announce you are tim mccarver was just recapping the previous game. >> and with the hesitation allows jose canseco to score

and fails to get dave parker at second base so the oakland as take -- we are having an earthquake here. (screaming) . >> everything started rumbling. the ground started moving. we took a step and wound out about three feet over there. took another step and wound up three feet over there. i said, hey, i think i will stand here for a while. >> we heard screaming of let's get out of this locker room, it's an earthquake. and you couldn't just run in a straight line to the door. i mean, the place was rocking so much, you felt like you were in a rubber room. the dust started coming out of the vents. i thought -- i thought the stadium was coming down. >> we ask for your cooperation by remaining in your seats. >> bob, let's go. >> if there is a power failure, therefore the game has been

postponed. >> wait up. which bus do you have? >> let's go. >> i didn't know where i was for five seconds. it was the weirdest thing. i thought a migraine hit or something, but it was the earthquake. >> we were just out there getting ared to go out there and play the game. we were down 2-0. and, you know, the guys need to battle back and get back into the world series. you know, that's what all of our focus is on. and all of a sudden the earthquake hit. believe me, that focus changed in a hurry. >> by all means baseball becomes secondary to life itself. and my first thoughts, you know, why continue the world series? (sirens) . >> there is another stress crack halfway down this stairway. >> so i am looking for my family, which i didn't see one

of them at the time. and then i hear from the walking talkie that the bay bridge was collapsed. which i am now thinking i am hoping my family is not on that bridge. i couldn't make any phone calls out. and after a few hours, the game has been cancelled. how are we going to get home? we can't go back across the bay bridge. how do we get home? you drive four hours in the other direction until you get to the other side. and finally when i get to the other side, i will have detoured off the freeway. there is the cypress structure which is literally miles from where i live in emeryville. i pulled over and i take a look at the fact that the structure, i am still in my uniform bottoms. and i sit there for about an hour. and then i get in my car and

get on san pablo and finish my journey home. i get up at 1:00 in the morning and i go back to that structure and just do whatever i can to help the people that work there. it has always been said we are separated by water. the water wasn't anything that separated us. we were at two totally different sides. but after the earthquake, the two sides pulled together to turn something that was a real, real bad tragedy into something that turned out to be really good as far as uniting the two sides. >> many of those same players were on the giants squad three years earlier when ktvu photojournalist john mckenzie and editor kathy ortiz gave us this behind the scenes look at the team on the road in 1986. [ music ] >> chicago, chicago, that travelling town. [ music ] ♪ chicago, chicago,

i will show you around ♪ ♪ i love it ♪ >> 14 days on the road sometimes gets to be a long time. especially for the little kipped. they don't understand where dad has been. so especially tough on the moms, too. it is nice. it solidifies you and makes it more like you are at home on the road. you come home from a ball game and puts thing into perspective. not the end of the world if you lose one ball game. still got a lot of love and support at home. one game is not the end of the world. >> let's go. >> yes, let's do it. say hi. >> there are three of us right here. >> we are thankful that we can trust you to speak to us through your servants. bless our time together, father, and help us to hear you. >> what's on your mind before a game? >> winning.

>> 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10. no rest and we're in shape. ♪ hey, baby, what's your hurry? relax and don't you worry ♪ ♪ we're going to fall in love ♪ >> and that's up the middle a base hit. and ugly, ugly, ugly. >> all of the fans here on lee smith. all that's happened in this ball game, the outcome is 60 feet, six inches away. [ applause ] >> reporter: and there is the driveway back. it may be, it could be, it is! it is a homerun.

holy gosh. ♪ it's nice to meet you baby ♪ ♪ nice to meet you baby ♪ ♪ nice to meet you baby ♪ [ applause ] >> still to come on "second look," a team that doesn't play any road games. we will show you the giants ball club that plays baseball behind bars. and a bit later, in a time when baseball games were rarely televised, this broadcast may have helped head off a riot in san francisco.

. it's the only program of its kind in the nation. a bay area baseball team with a roster of men convicted of murder and other crimes. there are no road trips for this team. they play every game at home behind the high walls of san quentin prison. reporter wall grey first brought us this story last july. strike. looks like you got him, stretch. go, go, go, way to go, marino. >> i committed second degree murder. >> identity theft. >> i'm in prison for first degree murder. >> a lot of them step up to the plate, in society they struck out. >> reporter: they landed here in california's famous san quentin. seven are looking at execution behind beth row. and 11 others have no chance of

leaving these walls. unless you are one of the lucky players who play on the san quentin giants. >> it gives you a taste of freedom. >> matthew white grew up in dixon. serving five years for identity theft his new home is a 6x of prison cell. >> some of these guys will never see the outside life again. this is a dream come true for them because it really takes them back, you know, to the life outside. you know, this is their freedom right here. >> for a life it is their field of dreams. >> you know, i have always had a passion for the game. >> strike three. >> reporter: john taylor is that life. his tomorrow turf is south sacramento. taylor was 23 when he killed a rival gang member. now nine innings of hard ball helps dull the pain of doing hard time. >> it's rehabilitation as well. you know, you feel like you are part of a team. you have to up hold a certain standard for yourself, as well as for the prison. >> two down, guys, two down guys. >> reporter: today's opponent the fog a men's league team

from marin county. armed guards watch the action from above. the other thing going over this fence. >> big shot out there. >> is a baseball. >> i certainly think about baseball all the time. >> christopher rich knows he can't change the horrible thing he did. rich beat his wife with a baseball bat in 1995. >> when i committed an act of murder i knew that i had played my last game of baseball. i love my teammates and love this program. it's a life changer. it helps -- it helps exercise some of the demons. [ music ] >> when we come back on "second look." can a baseball broadcast stop a riot? why the mayor of san francisco asked ktvu, ktvu to televise the giants road game at a time of civil un rest. and then a bit later, a giants' team that barely made it into the world series. ktvu, channel 2 news morning news, the bay area's major news of the day. local news from overnight.

live drive time traffic. and weather in the area where you live. dave clark and pam cook, ktvu, channel 2 news in the morning weekdays starting at 5 a.m., complete bay area news coverage. >> good news, bay area.

. >> if you have sat lit or cable television you know that every day of the week there is a relevant sing event on t.v. sometimes several at the same time. but there was a time when

baseball broadcasts were fairly rare on television. and that's why in the 1960s it was a big deal when the mayor of san francisco asked ktvu to air a game because he thought it might help prevent a riot. craig heath explains. >> reporter: september 27, 1966. a police officer shot and killed 16-year-old matthew johnson as johnson ran from a stolen car in hunters point. as word of the shooting spread so did violence, against the property, against the police, against the press. >> i am addressing myself to the citizens of san francisco. to all of my fellow san franciscoans on what is undoubtedly the saddest, the most important, the most painful occasion in my public life. >> reporter: fomayor john shelly, the choice to respond with overwhelming force or to find an alternative. as the national guard troops

moved into place on the morning of september 28th, shelly looked for a solution. >> pete trim you believe my executive secretary came in and said: i have an idea but i don't know if it's worth anything or whether it can be done. the giants are playing in, let's see where were they playing? >> in atlanta. >> in atlanta, georgia. and there was not to have been a broadcast of the game here. we know that the average young person is a baseball fan. and if it's being broadcast, he will watch it. >> reporter: in short, a baseball broadcast to keep people home and off the streets. but could it be done in such a short time? these days it doesn't sound like much of an undertaking to put on a life baseball game on short notice. out of 162 game season, almost every game is on somewhere, ktvu, fox sports network, espn. but back in the 1960s, a televised baseball game was

actually something of a rarity. the mayor's office called ktvu and the giants to pitch the idea of broadcasting that night's game. no one was sure if it could be done. ed is now head of ktvu's engineering department. in 1966 he was part of the station's technical staff. >> reporter: do you remember how many games a year they might have done then? >> i think, i think maybe, i have something in my mind like about nine. i mean, that's the whole season. >> reporter: and now? >> and now we do 58 to 60 something. that's just the giants. >> reporter: and the biggest challenge was technical. in an age before instant communications by fiber optics and satellite, the broadcast required a telephone loop for audio and a cable connection for video. >> it would take weeks to do it and we did it all, you know, in a matter of hours which was remarkable at the time. >> reporter: to get the word out ktvu's then promotion manager enlisted the aid of willy mayes. >> i called willy mayes and got

him in his hotel room in atlanta. i asked him if he would record the announcement. i told him who i was and why i was calling. the news that i gave him of the riots in san francisco was the very first news that he had that there were any disturbances here. >> reporter: maize recorded the announcement and nine bay area radio stations played it all day for free. >> this is willy mayes of the san francisco giants. you know, channel 2 is carrying a special program tonight between the atlanta braves and the giants at 6:00. i for one wish and hope that each and every one will be tuning in and wishing us well. of course, i will be out in center-field trying to do my best at all times. >> reporter: as game time approached and the heat of the september afternoon, the violence erupted again. >> they are firing up the street. they are just rolling out there. >> a gun battle has broken out between snipers and the national guard unit at the corner of 3rd in hunters point. >> reporter: but by game time the streets had begun to empty.

through the evening police encountered only scattered violence. >> and the fact that there were not as many people on the streets enabled us to bring the matter under control much faster than would have been possible, in my opinion, if we did not have the game and the interest to keep the people off the streets. >> reporter: when the ratings came in they showed that 42% of the people watching television in hunters point were watching the giants game. the riot was over. [ music ] when we come back on "second look." three games back with three to go. the dramatic finish of the 1962 season as the giants fought desperately to get into the world series. ktvu, channel 2 news at 6. coverage of the news where you live. with more depth and detail, frank somerville, julie haener, week nights on ktvu, channel 2 news.

. giants fans are hoping tonight their team with overcome the philadelphia phillylys and get into the world series. the first time the giants ever went to the world series after moving to san francisco, the drama then, too, was whether

they could overtake the hated la dodgers. three games to go in the regular season. they were three games out of first place. ktvu's randy shandobil sets the scene and tells us how it all worked out. >> reporter: the giants were a 1960s enigma. why didn't this team get to the world series every year? the most commonly heard theory is that the team had the power but not the pitching. but with juan marshall, gaylard parry, stu miller and mike mccomeick giants pitchers of the year dispute that. >> i remember we lost a lot of game 3-2, 2-1. low shut-out scoring games. when it really got time, where we used to call crunch time where you got to come to the top we didn't get our act together. i did take offense to it. i thought our pitching was good. [ music ] ♪ with the giants coming to town it's bye bye baby ♪ ♪ every time the

chips are down it's bye bye baby ♪ [ applause ] >> mays, sokovi, phillip alu, harvey dean, stu miller, mike mccormick, gay parry and more. neck and neck bitter rivals. >> players and other teams you talk to but not the dodgers. >> no, we don't talk to the dodgers. >> they get on second and tommy davis hit them in and they beat us 1-0 because of colfax. >> with only three games left that team of finesse, rory wills and sandy colfax and don dries deal was three games ahead of the giants. even though everyone including the dodgers thought the giants were ahead of the team. >> we mean to say thanks because we thought the giants were loaded with tall end. >> he played first base for the

dodgers in 1952. now he is a radio announcer for the giants. >> on paper they probably had the best ball club. but on the field, somehow or another we managed to win some ball games that maybe we shouldn't have won. >> they had a tremendous ball club. and they had -- they had good hitters. they had good pitching. they had fine defense. they had an excellent manager in alvin dart. >> reporter: those last three days, the days the giants won three against houston and the days the dodgers somehow lost three to st. louis, everywhere you looked in the city, everyone had seemed was glued to a radio. >> and he checks on the bag and fiddles around. he knows the importance of this pitch. so does gilliam. he pops up to javier and we have a playoffs. >> reporter: after the full 154 game season, the giants and the dodgers were in a dead tie. a three game playoffs would

decide everything. >> the rival split the first two games so it all came down to one last game at dodgers stadium. once again, the dodgers have the giants on the ropes ahead 4- 2 in the 9th inning. but at the very end, the dodgers self-destructed. they walked four giants and committed two errors. if there is such a thing as miracles, this was, indeed, one. giants 6, dodgers 4. >> here is one. here is the pitch. a line-drive to center. this could be it. mays is waiting. and he's done it for the pennant. the giants have won it. the giants have won it 6-4 in a dramatic four run rally in the 9th. the giants are going crazy down there. >> reporter: the champagne soaked giants had to fly home that night and prepare for the world series the very next morning. but there was a problem. delirious fans had overrun the

san francisco airport. >> gentlemen, our people on the ground have informed me that there are over 75,000 of your enthusiastic supporters down there. they have broken through the police lines. they are out on the runway. and we may be forced to land at an alternate airport, but we will keep you informed. >> after circling the airport the giants' plane finally landed in a remote corner of the field. still the team bus was overrun. >> we have to walk and go to the freeway. >> we couldn't get out. >> no, we couldn't get out. so we got home at about 2:00 in the morning, 3:00 in the morning. i have to be at the ballpark with 9:00 with hangover. >> hangover or not, the giants had to turn around and face mickey mantel, roger maris and the new york yankees. >> as it turned out a sad and heart rendering series as they lost to the new york yankees. came down to game 7 the yankees leading 1-0. giants had two

outs and willy mccoffeey at the plate. a screaming line-drive between first and second. bobby richardson in perfect position snagged it on the line. the game over, the series over. and the giants hope for a world champion were also over. well, that's it for this week's "second look." i'm mark ibanez, thank you very much watching. . >> uncovering important local news stories. plus weather forecast for the area where you live. frank somerville weekdays on ktvu, channel 2 news at 5:00.