Month: June 2014

By Morris Phillips

 

Some impressive, some disappointing.  That’s Sandy Barbour’s 10-year run as athletic director at Cal in a nutshell.

UC Berkeley Chancellor Nicholas Dirks announced Friday that Barbour is leaving her post at UC Berkeley and will be replaced on an interim basis by H. Michael Williams, a retired finance executive has served as a Cal trustee since 2007.  Barbour will formally leave her post on July 15 and take a position in the Berkeley Extension Program where she will develop a program in sports management.

“After nearly 10 years leading Intercollegiate Athletics at Cal, it is time for me to move to a different chapter of my professional life and for Cal to have an opportunity for a new perspective in its leadership of the intercollegiate athletics program,” Barbour said.  “This is a great university.  I am honored to have the opportunity to continue my service in another venue, and to continue to contribute in a variety of other ways.’

Under Barbour, Memorial Stadium was renovated, a new student-athlete performance center was built and the athletic department saw tremendous successes in many of the minor sports as well as men’s and women’s basketball where Barbour hires Mike Montgomery, Joanne Boyle and Lindsay Gottlieb had impressive runs.

But football is the bellwether program of any successful athletic department, and the Cal Bears have seen the transition from Jeff Tedford to Sonny Dykes go horribly in its first year.  The Bears finished 1-11 and weren’t competitive in many of those games in 2013.   Adding to misery of Cal fans is the ascension of rival Stanford into a national powerhouse in the sport blowing away any arguments that say big-time football and lofty academic institutions don’t mix. 

Even bigger issues swirled in Barbour’s final years at the helm in the academic performance of the football team and the escalating debt—over $400 million in 2013—for the reconstruction of the football stadium.  Even before the stadium was rebuilt, budget issues caused several sports to be cut, including baseball temporarily until donors came to the rescue and preserved the program. 

Williams will hold the athletic director post until a permanent replacement can be found through a national search.  A preliminary timeline has been set that has the process of a new hire taking four to six months to be completed.

 

By Jeremy Kahn

SAN FRANCISCO-In his last appearance at AT&T Park in the 2012 National League Division Series, Johnny Cueto was forced to leave the game after just eight pitches with back spasms.

Fast forward 20 months, and Cueto was lights out, as he pitched eight and one-thirds innings, allowing two runs on three hits, while walking one striking out three and the Cincinnati Reds made it two straight with a 6-2 victory over the San Francisco Giants before 41,046 the 289th consecutive sellout at AT&T Park.

The Reds and Giants were in a scoreless duel until the wheels fell off the Giants wagon in the top of the fifth inning, as Madison Bumgarner allowed five runs on six hits in that inning.

Other than that brutal fifth inning, it was a good night for Bumgarner, as he went six innings, allowing five runs on nine hits, walking one and striking out three.

Bumgarner became the first Giants pitcher since current San Diego Padres manager Bud Black on May 15, 1992 versus the Chicago Cubs to pickoff two runners in the same inning, as Bumgarner turned the feat in the top of the first inning.

Neftali Feliz of the Texas Rangers was the last major leaguer to pickoff two runners in the same inning, as he did it in the ninth inning of a game against the Kansas City a Royals on May 18, 2011, this according to STATS, LLC.

Devin Mesoraco got the ball rolling for the Reds in the top of the fifth inning, as he doubled to lead off the inning, after a groundout by Brayan Pena back to Bumgarner.

Chris Heisey and Zack Cozart hit back-to-back singles to score Mesoraco from first base with the Reds first run of the evening.

Cueto was safe on a Fielders’ Choice that loaded the bases, then Billy Hamilton lengthened the lead up to 3-0, as he singled to shallow right field that scored Heisey and Cozart.

Todd Frazier then singled in Cueto, and then after a Fielders’ Choice, Jay Bruce singled in Hamilton with the fifth Reds run of the evening.

Tyler Colvin, who pinched hit for Bumgarner in the bottom of the sixth inning hit a triple into the right-center field gap that scored Brandon Hicks after Hicks walked to leadoff the inning.

Frazier picked up his third hit of the night in the top of the seventh inning, as his popup landed just out of the reach of Brandon a Crawford in short left field.

In the first two games of the series, Frazier is five-for-eight.

Frazier was not the only Reds batter to have three hits in the game, as Hamilton picked up three hits of his own.

There were two reviews on the night, and neither one of them were overturned, as the first one came in the top of the sixth inning, when Cozart was safe on a Fielders’ Choice when Adam Duvall was unable to keep his foot on first base.

The second review came in the top of the seventh inning, as it looked like Hunter Pence made a diving catch; however it was declared a single.

COMMENTARY
By DANIEL DULLUM
Sports Radio Service
Thursday, June 26, 2014

On Wednesday, there was the first big news of the day for Bay Area baseball fans – Tim Lincecum’s no-hitter. The second bombshell came a little later, when Athletics owner Lew Wolff announced he’d reached an agreement to keep the A’s at the rapidly aging Oakland Coliseum for another 10 years.

The Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum Authority has yet to approve the deal, but, presumably, that’s just a formality. It’s either that, or the A’s start looking for a new home with a greater sense of urgency.

Initial reports didn’t indicate that the Authority will do any upgrading or repairs – the sewer system, for example – but, one would think the A’s wouldn’t agree to stay for that long if the city isn’t willing to do some necessary upgrading.

Commissioner Bud Selig, again expressed his support for Wolff, but wouldn’t go as far as saying where, exactly, a new ballpark should go. Wolff doesn’t like the idea of having a ballpark near Jack London Square, and has long desired a site somewhere in Silicon Valley or San Jose, allegedly considered “Giants territory.”

The A’s should not have to pay an indemnity fee to the Giants if they want to move 27 miles to the south. If they do, here’s a suggestion: MLB should collect $1 million from each of the other teams, cut the check to the Giants, and tell them, “This needs to happen. Here’s your extortion payment. Now shut up.”

The 10-year length of the lease is what’s most intriguing. It seems to indicate that Wolff is finding he needs a lot more time to solve his stadium issue than planned. It also seems to buy the City of Oakland some more time to come up with a solution to keep the A’s.

As for the condition of the Coliseum, this always happens when a city wants a new ball yard. All of a sudden, the sewers back up, the paint starts fading and peeling, the players’ accommodations are inadequate, the concession food and service begins to blow worse than usual, the lights don’t always work, etc.

This soap opera isn’t done yet. The NFL Raiders are in the final year of their lease at the Coliseum, which is now the only facility left that houses both pro baseball and football. If the Raiders want to build a new stadium on the present Coliseum site, will they now be able to?

Meanwhile, there’s no word yet on whether or not Roto Rooter is set to become a corporate sponsor for the A’s.

A’s VISIT MIAMI
The Athletics, who lead the AL West, had Thursday off and continue their swing through the National League East with a weekend set at Miami against the Marlins. Jesse Chavez (6-4) is on the hill Friday for Oakland, facing Anthony DeSclafani (1-2) for the Fish.