Month: July 2014

A’s All-Stars Reflect On Game and Look Forward To The Second Half

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by Kahlil Najar

Giddy kids – high five-ing – laughing and looking in awe.

That’s what the A’s All-Stars looked like these past few days. From the excitement of seeing their own teammate come up big in the Home Run Derby to each of them playing in the All-Star game, the A’s came to play and all contributed.

Derek Norris was the star of the A’s last night as he singled and scored the go-ahead run to give the AL a 5-3 win.

With the win, the AL now has home field advantage in the World Series and that wasn’t lost on pitcher Sean Doolittle.

“Hopefully in several months we can look back and talk about how we were able to give ourselves home-field advantage. A lot can happen between now and then, of course, but we know what the goal is. It’s good knowing we had somewhat of a part in it. [Mike] Trout and [Miguel] Cabrera helped, too, which is weird to say,” said Doolittle with a smile on his face.

He continued, “That was right up there with my debut [and] first time pitching in the playoffs. It was an awesome rush. I’m probably going to have to go back and watch it, so I actually remember what happened.”

On having his teammates on the field, Derek Norris said, “To be able to have that many guys on the field with the same jersey on, it’s something special.”

Something not lost on the guys last night was that this was Jeter’s night. For the A’s players this was their first time in the game but for Jeter this was old hat.

“He’s been so influential throughout the game of baseball and for my first All-Star Game, to be beside him for his last, I can’t say I even dreamed of it, because as a kid, Jeter is on this huge platform, and it’s something you’re trying to get to but don’t actually think you will.” said Josh Donaldson.

“It’s a privilege to be out there with one of the greatest players to have ever played the game in his last All-Star Game, I’ll definitely remember this for a very long time,” echoed Norris.

This was a special time for these players and the A’s organization. Going into the second half of the year all eyes will be on these 7 All-Stars and deservedly so.

A’s Coliseum lease: With Quan wanting delay in vote Wolff says no more negotiating

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by Jerry Feitelberg

OAKLAND–Oakland A’s owner Lew Wolff says no more negotiating regarding the A’s ten year lease at the Coliseum. Wolff said it’s time to sign the deal and get onto other business. Mayor Jean Quan has asked the Oakland City Council to delay the scheduled July 27th vote until July 30th. Quan is trying to buy time to get Wolff to agree to a new Coliseum sports village that would accomadate the A’s and Raiders.

Quan who is seeking re-election is looking into building a new ball park for the A’s and build a new stadium for the Oakland Raiders on 850 acres of Coliseum land. “Mayor Quan’s priority is keeping the A’s at home in Oakland for the long term, and she is fired up to make that happen. She is confident they will join her in supporting a lease that secures the team’s near-term future in Oakland, protects the ongoing Coliseum City negotiations with the Raiders, and let’s us all move forward working on a new ball park for both teams.” said Quan spokesman Sean Maher.

With the Warriors moving out of Oakland the goal is to clear space after the Warriors leave for the A’s and Raiders to build two stadiums in Coliseum Sports Village Complex. Negotiations have been tangled with the A’s lease and the Raiders asking the City and Oakland Alameda County Colisuem Authority to tear down the Coliseum and build a new stadium and have it ready by 2016.

The A’s have said that they doubt any such agreement would happen but want a two year out if it did, sources say that Quan in asking for the vote delay that would buy her time to get an agreement into the lease that would build a new stadium for the A’s at the Coliseum site and that Quan wants to work with the City Council and Coliseum Authority on the new stadium for the A’s and Raiders.

Councilman Larry Reid said that the city has no money for such a project and said that the city already owes $180 million for Mount Davis being built for the Raiders that was paid by county tax money in the 1990s. There also is another wrinkle the Council says that the Coliseum Authority is not looking out for the best interests for the city. There are three government agencies who are overseeing the Coliseum management and each side and even in at the city council there are divided ideas.

At the city council they are asking A’s owner Lew Wolff to approve a four year notice before the team can leave Oakland, Wolff is asking for two years, also the City Council is asking for part of the advertising revenue from the new $10 million scoreboard the A’s plan to install. Right now there are three government bodies that oversee the Coliseum Sports Management, the City Council, Coliseum Authority board, and the Alameda County Board of Supervisors.

These are three big groups that Quan has to hurtle over to get the A’s a new lease agreement plus keep the Raiders happy who want to tear down the Coliseum. It was suggested that one body should oversee the Coliseum instead of the three which is creating gridlock nearing the July 27th voting deadline on the lease, “part of what I think we need to be seriously considering is to change the government structure, having a two headed combination of two government agencies overseeing the management of a sports and entertainment facility is not necessarily the most effective way to run this facility.” said Rebecca Kaplan who is a candidate for mayor of Oakland.

Jerry Feitelberg covers A’s baseball for http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Stars of Stars: Jeter and Trout lead the AL in All-Star game at Minneapolis

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By Morris Phillips

MINNEAPOLIS–Derek Jeter and Mike Trout—a top of the order pair for the ages—led the American League past the National League, 5-3 on Tuesday night.

Jeter made a diving stop on the game’s initial play, became the oldest All-Star to collect a pair of hits, and a scored a run before exiting to an extended standing ovation in the fourth inning. And Trout—considered the game’s current best all-around player—tripled off the right field wall, doubled down the left field line and collected the game’s MVP trophy.

The mid-summer showcase–held in the Twins’ $545 million outdoor ballpark built in 2010—lived up to the hype this time with its explosive offense early and dominating pitching late. The American League won for the 13th time in the last 17 All-Star games and captured the home field advantage in this fall’s World Series.

After the game, the game’s two stars—18 years apart in age—expressed their mutual admiration.

“He’s got a bright future ahead of him,” Jeter said of the 22-year old Trout. “I don’t know how much better he can get, but if he consistently does what he’s doing, then he will be here for a long time.”

“Growing up I was setting goals to myself that when I get—if I ever get the chance—to the big leagues, that’s how I want to play,” Trout said of Jeter’s all out style of play. “The way he carries himself on and off the field, how he respects the game—always hustling—it doesn’t matter what the score is.”

Trout’s triple in the first inning scored Jeter and ignited a three-run outburst for the AL against NL starter Adam Wainwright. The Cardinals’ pitcher, having maybe his finest season in a stellar career, struggled, allowing three hits, including a two-run homer to Detroit’s Miguel Cabrera, in his only inning of work.

Cabrera homered for the first time in his All-Star career, showing off his quick hands that adjusted to Wainwright’s inside fastball, pulling it down the line with a shot that got into the first couple of rows of left field bleacher seats. The Detroit star’s homer came on a 0-1 pitch and it took just 15 Wainwright pitches for the National League to establish a 3-0 lead.

The National League answered back in the second inning with a pair of runs off Boston’s Jon Lester. The Phillies’ Chase Utley doubled home Aramis Ramirez, and Ramirez’ Milwaukee teammate Jonathan Lucroy followed with a RBI double that scored Utley.

In the fourth, Lucroy struck again, doubling home the Dodgers’ Dee Gordon and the game was tied. Lucroy’s smash came off the White Sox’s Chris Sale who was a revelation in his one inning of work in 2013 All-Star game in New York. This time Sale hit Utley with a pitch, who was then taken out for pitch runner Gordon. The speedy Dodger then raced around the bases on Lucroy’s smash which came on a 3-1 pitch from Sale.

Trout gave the American League the lead for good with his RBI double in the fifth that scored Oakland’s Derek Norris. Houston’s Jose Altuve followed with a sacrifice fly that scored Alexei Ramirez who singled after Norris reached.

With the late Northern sunset still minutes away after 9pm, Jeter exited the game in the fourth inning to a standing ovation when he took his position at shortstop and was replaced by Ramirez of the White Sox. Frank Sinatra’s “New York, New York” played throughout the stadium as the crowd cheered the Yankee captain’s exit.

‘I didn’t know what was going to happen,” Jeter confessed. “My back was turned, and I heard (former Yankee teammate Robinson) Cano yelling. Usually when he yells, I ignore him. And then I saw Ramirez come out. So it was a wonderful moment that I am always going to remember.”

Jeter’s exit rivaled former teammate Mariano Rivera’s entrance at last year’s All-Star game. The all-time saves leader was feted at New York’s Citi Field in his final All-Star appearance as his AL teammates allowed him to take the field by himself to extended cheers before he pitched the eighth inning that night.

The 40-year old Jeter’s innate ability to stay calm in big moments was again on display Tuesday. Through his diving stop in the first inning to his two hits, the superstar remained in the moment, focused on the task at hand. This was Jeter’s 14th All-Star appearance and he finished with the second highest batting average in the game’s history (.481, 14 for 27) for hitters with more than 20 at-bats.

All-Star Game in Minnesota

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By Jeremy Kahn

After moving from the Nation’s Capital of Washington, DC to the Twin Cities of Minneapolis-St. Paul in 1961, the newly anointed Minnesota Twins were forced to wait five years to hold the annual All-Star game in their stadium.

On July 13, 1965, the Twins hosted the All-Star Game at the old Metropolitan Stadium in Downtown Minneapolis, where such San Francisco Giants like Willie Mays and Juan Marichal would play in the annual midsummer classic.

It would be a homecoming of sorts for Mays, who as a 20-year old played his minor league baseball for the Minneapolis Millers before being recalled by the New York Giants in 1951 and the rest is baseball history.

Marichal was named the starter by National League and Philadelphia Phillies manager Gene Mauch, and the future Hall of Famer pitched the first three innings without allowing a base runner to reach base.

After moving from the Nation’s Capital of Washington, DC to the Twin Cities of Minneapolis-St. Paul in 1961, the newly anointed Minnesota Twins were forced to wait five years to hold the annual All-Star game in their stadium.

On July 13, 1965, the Twins hosted the All-Star Game at the old Metropolitan Stadium in Downtown Minneapolis, where such San Francisco Giants like Willie Mays and Juan Marichal would play in the annual midsummer classic.

It would be a homecoming of sorts for Mays, who as a 20-year old played his minor league baseball for the Minneapolis Millers before being recalled by the New York Giants in 1951 and the rest is baseball history.

Marichal was named the starter by National League and Philadelphia Phillies manager Gene Mauch, and the future Hall of Famer pitched the first three innings without allowing a base runner to reach base.

In those three innings of work, Marichal retired Dick McAuliffe, Brooks Robinson, Harmon Killebrew, Rocky Colavito, Willie Horton, Felix Mantilla, Vic Davalillo, Earl Battey and pinch hitter Al Kaline and he allowed only a base hit to Davalillo.

By allowing just one hit in those three innings of work, Marichal was named as the Most Valuable Player.

Mays played the entire game in centerfield, and went 2-for-3 against American League pitching, including a home run off of Milt Pappas to leadoff the game for the National League, as the National League would go on to defeat the American League 6-5 before a crowd of 46,706 at Metropolitan Stadium.

Twenty years later on July 16, 1985, the four-year old Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome would host the All-Star Game and only one member of the Giants was named as a representative to the team that team, as the Giants would end the season with a 62-100 record.

Pitcher Scott Garrelts was the only representative on the team, and as fate would have it, Garrelts did not get into the game that evening.

Now that both the old Metropolitan Stadium and the Metrodome are no more, the 85th annual All-Star Game will make its triumphant return to the Twin Cities and Target Field and three members of the Giants family will be represented in the pregame introductions.

Madison Bumgarner, Tim Hudson and Hunter Pence will the 2014 team at Target Field.

Unfortunately, Bumgarner will not be able to pitch in the game, as he pitched on Sunday in an 8-4 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks at AT&T Park, a game where he hit his third home run of the season and second grand slam.

Hudson, who joined the Giants this offseason was named as a replacement for Bumgarner, and will be participating in his fourth All-Star Game and first since 2010.

Pence was named as a reserve to the team by National League manager and former Giants catcher Mike Matheny, who is the manager of the reigning National League Champion St. Louis Cardinals.

Baseball Reference contributed to this story.

In those three innings of work, Marichal retired Dick McAuliffe, Brooks Robinson, Harmon Killebrew, Rocky Colavito, Willie Horton, Felix Mantilla, Vic Davalillo, Earl Battey and pinch hitter Al Kaline and he allowed only a base hit to Davalillo.

By allowing just one hit in those three innings of work, Marichal was named as the Most Valuable Player.

Mays played the entire game in centerfield, and went 2-for-3 against American League pitching, including a home run off of Milt Pappas to leadoff the game for the National League, as the National League would go on to defeat the American League 6-5 before a crowd of 46,706 at Metropolitan Stadium.

Twenty years later on July 16, 1985, the four-year old Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome would host the All-Star Game and only one member of the Giants was named as a representative to the team that team, as the Giants would end the season with a 62-100 record.

Pitcher Scott Garrelts was the only representative on the team, and as fate would have it, Garrelts did not get into the game that evening.

Now that both the old Metropolitan Stadium and the Metrodome are no more, the 85th annual All-Star Game will make its triumphant return to the Twin Cities and Target Field and three members of the Giants family will be represented in the pregame introductions.

Madison Bumgarner, Tim Hudson and Hunter Pence will the 2014 team at Target Field.

Unfortunately, Bumgarner will not be able to pitch in the game, as he pitched on Sunday in an 8-4 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks at AT&T Park, a game where he hit his third home run of the season and second grand slam.

Hudson, who joined the Giants this offseason was named as a replacement for Bumgarner, and will be participating in his fourth All-Star Game and first since 2010.

Pence was named as a reserve to the team by National League manager and former Giants catcher Mike Matheny, who is the manager of the reigning National League Champion St. Louis Cardinals.

The 2014 All-Star game

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by Jerry Feitelberg

Today, July 15th 2014 at Target Field in Minneapolis, Minnesota the American League All-Stars will face off against the National League All-Stars for the 85th time. The stakes are high as the league that wins will provide home field advantage for its representative in the 2014 World Series.

The All-Star game was the brainchild of Arch Ward who was a sports editor for the Chicago Tribune and it was to coincide with the celebration of Chicago’s Century of Progress Exposition. We don’t know if the All-Star game was to be a one time event or whether it was to become an annual event when it was created. Fortunately for baseball it has become an annual event and has been going strong for the past eighty-one years. There was only one exception and that happened in 1945 during World War II.

As John S. Bowman and Joel Zoss stated in the Pictorial History of Baseball”as part of the fabric of American culture, baseball is the common social ground between strangers, a world of possibilities and of chance, where “ its never over till it’s over.” It is a American tradition rich in legends, folklore and history, a never-ending story where every game is a new nine-inning chapter and every player has the chance to be the hero. Through the years every franchise has had its share of superstar players that stand out above the rest. These are the ones that bring the fans out to the ballpark and one one game brings them all together at once , the All-Star game.

The game this year will be no different. The great Yankee shortstop, Derek Jeter, will be playing his final All-Star game as he is retiring at the end of the season. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if he could hit a home run just as the Orioles Hall of Famer, Cal Ripken, Jr., did in his final All-Star game. Other great moments in All-Star games include Ted Williams’ home run in the 1941 game in Detroit. Johnny Callison’s walk-off home run in the 1964 game. Which player will win the MVP award as the A’s Terry Steinbach did in 1986.

The American League starters will have at least two future Hall of Fame inductees. Derek Jeter from the Yankees and Miguel Cabrera from the Detroit Tigers. There are other great players from both leagues but it may be a little too early to predict who will make it to the hall.

Just for informational purposes only- The Oakland A’s have six players on the AL Squad. Only one, third baseman, Josh Donaldson, is a starter but Catcher Derek Norris, inf/of Brandon Moss, Outfielder Yoenis Cespedes are backups and are making the All-Star team for the first time. Pitchers Scott Kazmir and Sean Doolittle are also on the team. For Kazmir, it’s his third trip to the Midsummer classic Recently acquired pitcher Jeff Samardzija made the team as a representative for the Nation League but since he switched leagues cannot play. The San Francisco Giants are represented by star outfielder Hunter Pence and pitcher Tim Hudson.

For all the local players and everyone else around both leagues, it has to be a thrill to elected or selected to play in a game with the best of the best. In many ways it’s the culmination of a dream that a player has when starting out playing baseball as a kid. Each step along the way. Making the high school team, the college team, A ball the Double-A, Triple-A and the call up to the “show”. Each step along the way is great but being recognized as being one of the best of the best has to give a player the chills.

Who among them will be the next great superstar like Willie Mays, Hank Aaron , Ted Williams, Barry Bonds, Derek Jeter, Mariano Rivera, Warren Spahn, Juan Marichal, Pedro Martinez ?

Have fun guys and remember that you can tell your kids and grandkids your exploits of the 2014 All-Star game when you became the MVP of the game.

A’s prepared for a dogfight in the AL West with the Angels, Mariners

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By Morris Phillips

In introducing Josh Donaldson for the Home Run Derby, ESPN’s Chris Berman captured the lofty mid-summer status of the Oakland A’s succinctly as only Berman can.

“They have the best record in baseball! They have the most All-Stars!”

And with the A’s rival to the south, the Angels surging, they may have the most competition as well.

The Angels captured 26 of their final 35 games heading into the break to give the AL West the two best records in baseball. With only 1 ½ separating the two teams, a Giants-Braves circa 1993-type race could be looming in the second half.

“They’re a different beast than what we’ve seen the last couple of years, so it’s going to be a dogfight,” A’s reliever Sean Doolittle said of the Angels.

While the A’s have been dominant with their pitching and consistent, opportunistic offense, the Angels have the best home record in baseball (32-15) and arguably the game’s best player in Mike Trout.

And before the A’s and Angels get carried with themselves, it appears both will have to be mindful of the Mariners who are in place to capture the second wild card berth with their 50-41 record, When asked about the race, Doolittle didn’t hesitate to mention the outstanding rotation the Mariners are building with Felix Hernandez, Hisashi Iwakuma, Roenis Elias, Chris Young and Tijuan Walker. Walker, the top prospect in the Mariners’ organization is expected to take a rotation spot in the second half.

While the A’s and Angels have the best home records thus far, the Mariners have the second best road record (27-18). If the Mariners simply improve their home record (24-26) they could make a move on the two leaders. Beating the A’s two of three at Safeco Field was clearly a big step in that direction.

For all three clubs, moves in the next two weeks prior to the trade deadline could be critical. The Angels have been up front about wanting to add bullpen depth, if not a closer to go with incumbent Joe Smith. The Mariners need to find another proven offensive contributor to an attack that has scored 88 fewer runs than the A’s and 100 fewer runs than the Angels.

And the A’s would seem to be in the market for infield help where the production from their second basemen has been lacking and Alberto Callaspo is currently on the disabled list.

Bam! Whack!! Oakland’s Cespedes repeats as Home Run Derby champion

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By Morris Phillips

MINNEAPOLIS–It wasn’t immediately apparent that Yoenis Cespedes was at his swinging best on Monday. But when faced with a “swing off” to break a tie with teammate Josh Donaldson after the first round, Cespedes sent a pair of drives into the upper deck that clear announced the defending home run champs’ presence.

From that point in the competition to its conclusion, the champ was the champ.

Cespedes went on to club nine homers to get past Baltimore’s Adam Jones, then seven more in the semis to best Toronto’s Jose Bautista, and nine in the finals in his matchup with the National League’s Todd “Toddfather” Frazier of the Reds.

“I was able to get past the first round, then re-gather myself and that allowed me to then go on and win the title,” Cespedes said through ESPN’s Pedro Gomez, who translated Yoenis’ answers into English.

Cespedes became the first back-to-back champion in the Derby since Ken Griffey Jr. in 1998 and 1999.

The defending champ got little resistance from his competition in the final three rounds; Jones hit just three, Bautista after a bye from his outstanding first round sat for over an hour and hit only four shots in his matchup with Cespedes. And Frazier could only muster one in the finals, the equivalent of a sweep in the World Series, so to speak.

While others struggled with the cool Minneapolis night air, occasional rain which delayed the competition’s start by over a half an hour, Cespedes benefitted from being the last competitor to bat in the first round, and then the first in the final three rounds.

Cespedes’ truncated schedule seemed to allow him to stay warm while first round leaders Bautista and Miami’s Giancarlo Stanton fell off dramatically after waiting more than an hour in between the first round and the semis, where they advanced after receiving a bye in the quarterfinal round.

“It had to let him establish some type of a rhythm,” Oakland teammate Sean Doolittle said of Cespedes’ order in the competition.

Cespedes’ teammate Josh Donaldson like Cespedes managed just three homers in the opening round and that pitted the pair against each other in a swing off. Donaldson appeared to be getting heated up in the matchup with Cespedes but it appeared his swing leveled a bit too late to advance.

“It’s tough in the derby because you need to pull the ball to have success. And as a major league hitter that’s not something that you try to do,” Donaldson said.

Doolittle took the whole competition in from the American League dugout and marveled at both of his teammates in battle. He was equally impressed with Donaldson, who hit 20 home runs to Cespedes’ 14 in the first half of the regular season.

“They put on a pretty good show,” Doolittle said. “It was fun to watch. We thought that they were the two favorites, but with them in the swing off, we knew that one of them would advance.”

The format of the Derby was tweaked with 10 competitors, five from each league, up from the previous eight. The other big change was that hitters were allowed just seven outs, down from ten, to keep the competition moving at brisker pace.

The competition raised $465,000 for Boys & Girls Clubs of America and other charities.

Cespedes was cheered on by Cuban countrymen Yasiel Puig, Aroldis Chapman and Jose Abreu who helped comprise a record haul for the Caribbean country on the big stage of the All-Star game. Amazingly, Puig bowed out of the competition meekly without hitting a home run in the first round.

Afterwards in the press conference for the winner, Cespedes seemed relaxed and assured surrounded by his family, many of whom had endured a harrowing entry to the U.S., a story that was recounted by the Chronicle’s Susan Slusser a year ago. True to her background as a nationally renowned softball player in Cuba, Cespedes’ mother grabbed his bat after the press conference and showed off a pretty nuanced swing.

In this case, like mother like son.

Thats Amaury’s News and Commentary: All-Star Break: American League West is the Best

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by Amaury Pi Gonzalez

OAKLAND–There is only one division in baseball with two teams playing over .600 ball. The American League West, Oakland Athletics and Los Angeles Angels. As the pre-All Star Game part of the season just ended, the Athletics lost two out of three in Seattle to the Mariners but still have the best record in baseball with 59-36.

The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, swept a four-game series against the Rangers in Texas and are in second place with 57-37 just 1 1/2 games behind the A’s, the Angels have won ten of their last 11 games and have the best record at home in baseball with 32-15 at The Big A, at Anaheim. The Seattle Mariners with 51-44 occupy third place playing .537 ball.

To put this division into perspective, the Mariners with this record could be one game difference between the first place Dodgers and the second place Giants in the other Western Division. And the Mariners are in third place eight full games behind the Athletics.The American League West could easily post three teams in the postseason, the division winner and two wild cards. The Athletics still have 10 games against the Angels; 6 at Oakland and four in Anaheim. The Athletics have six against the Mariners, three at home and three in Seattle. This triangulation could be as exciting race as any in baseball post All-Star Game.

Nobody finished the first half, hotter than the Los Angeles Angels, who lead all Major Leagues with 478 runs scored. Easy to see why, with Mike Trout hitting second with an over .300 average 22 home runs and 73 runs batted in,considered the best player in the game, a healthy Albert Pujols hitting third with 20 home runs and 63 runs batted in, and a healthy Josh Hamilton, who was hurt great part of the first half now producing at an over .300 clip at the plate.

There are few (if any team in baseball) with a more scary middle of the order lineup: Trout-Pujols-Hamilton. The Angles offense has another key element, in Gold Glove winner shorstop Erick Aybar, with 50 runs batted in, enjoying his best season to date. Mike Scioscia’s team (longest tenure manager in baseball today) also shines with a double play combination of Aybar at shortstop and Howie Kendrick at second base; one of the best. They have been together for nine years. The only longer combination of shortstop and second base today in baseball is that of the Philadelphia Phillies. Jimmy Rollins at shortstop and Chase Utley at second base have been playing for ten seasons on that team.

The Angels bullpen has healed, specially after they traded closer Ernesto Frieri to the Pittsburgh Pirates, for their closer Jason Grilli. Frieri was not doing his lob, Now Joe Smith, who began the season as the set up man to Frieri, is the closer and since July 1st has retired 26 of 27 batters in relief, walking just one and allowing no hits in 10 consecutive games. He has now 15 games saved. Jerry Dipoto the General Manager says they are still trying to improve their bullpen. If the Angels bullpen continues to be good, they could overtake the A’s and take over first place.

The Mariners still have one of the most formidable number one and two starters in baseball, with Félix(El Rey)Hernández and Hisashi Iwakuma, a solid bullpen, but their hitting is not there with the A’s or Angels. In a way the Mariners remind me a lof of the San Francisco Giants, they going to go as far as their pitching, aside from Robinson Canó, the Mariners has been sputtering the whole first half of the season, but they could be a very interesting team, specially if they pick up that right handed batter they are looking for, and still might get.

The Oakland Athletics have been the class again of this division. Yoenis Céspedes played in 85 of the 89 games in the first half, and is hitting ,.249 with 14 home runs and 56 runs batted in, while leading the world in assists from left field and runners thrown at the plate. He is under-performing. I believe Céspedes is a ,.280 to .300 hitter and should have at least 20 home runs and 65 to 70 runs batted in.

Josh Donaldson average has gone down, but still has the numbers, Derek Norris has been one of the greatest revelations on this team, Bob Melvin has been a master using his three catchers. Second base has been the achilles heel for this team, now with Alberto Callaspo out in the DL for the next two weeks, they could improve this position with a trade. Aside from that, I would not make any more changes on this team.The second half should be a barn burner in the best division in baseball.

Amaury Pi-González is the play by play voice in Spanish for the Oakland A’s on the radio, and the LA Angels/Fox Deportes voice on television in Los Angeles and does News and Commentary on http://www.sportsradioservice.com

A Pitcher in the Home Run Derby? Why Madison Bumgarner Should Have Been Considered

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By Matthew Harrington

Monday night, the annual tradition of launching baseballs into the atmosphere like NASA satellites will commence once again, as the MLB’s greatest current sluggers converge at Target Field in Minnesota for the 2014 Home Run Derby, a rocket launch to the 2014 All-Star Game Festivities in the Twin Cities.

Sure, Jose Bautista, Giancarlo Stanton and Yoenis Cespedes are going to put on a show, launch tape measure bombs and make Chris Berman yell “Back, back, back!” more times than a construction foreman guiding a reversing dump truck. Absolutely the field is filled with deserving candidates worthy of the honor to compete for the superfluous, superlative title of home run champion. The only problem is, National League captain missed a great opportunity to invite an unexpected participant; San Francisco Giants 2014 All-Star Madison Bumgarner.

With Bumgarner having pitched in Sunday’s first-half finale, he won’t be available to perform his duties in the Mid-Summer Classic Tuesday night, he’ll instead be replaced by teammate Tim Hudson. It’d certainly free him up for Monday Night’s fireworks display though, and here’s why he should be included.

Consider this blind sample:

Batter A – 13.33 at-bats per home run
Batter B – 16.81 at-bats per home run
Batter C – 27.46 at-bats per home run
Batter D – 14.76 at-bats per home run
Batter E – 19.05 at-bats per home run
Batter F – 28.58 at-bats per home run

The figures for batters B though F are this year’s National League Entrants in the home run derby Giancarlo Stanton, Justin Morneau, Troy Tulowitzki, Todd Frazier and Yasiel Puig in that order. Subject A, the leader in long ball frequency amongst the above sample group, is Bumgarner. Over 40 at-bats this season, he has exited the park three times.

There are no doubts that Tulowitzki, NL leader in home runs (21, tied with Stanton) selected an entertaining senior circuit squad. Justin Morneau represents the veteran savvy, having won the 2008 Derby at Yankee Stadium after hitting four balls out of AT&T Park in the previous iteration. While other players were still adjusting to another season on April fourth, Stanton already showed his penchant for the tape-measure poke, launching the longest NL home run of the season an astounding 484 feet. Puig brings the flair, ranking fourth in the Majors in average distance per homer (417.3 feet) while Frazier brings the backstory. Tulowitzki selected Frazier based off a leadoff home run the Reds third basemen hit…for New Jersey in the Little League World Series. Surely, the Colorado shortstop couldn’t be accused of not bringing the best to Minneapolis.

That being said, Despite playing in the very homer-unfriendly AT&T Park (ranked 6th in the NL in home runs hit this season), Bumgarner has excelled at the big fly at home in 2014. Following Sunday’s grand slam, against the Arizona Diamondbacks, a 387-footer off starter Matt Stites, the Giants All-star collected all three of his first-half dinger on the banks of McCovey Cove this season. None came cheap, with the average distance for MadBum blasts measuring in at 402 feet. That matches or is better than Morneau (402), Frazier (398.6) and Tulowitzki (398.4). Sure, it’s a small sample size, but it’s an impressive one no less, and one that started the train of though to invite the lefty-throwing, righty-hitting starter.

If a small statistical pool is troublesome, let’s shed some light on what Bumgarner has done with the bat in comparison to some of his teammates. The Hickory, NC native currently sits in seventh place amongst Giants hitters in offensive wins above replacement, ranking above Brandon Belt, Tyler Colvin and Brandon Hicks as well as five other position players with more at-bats than Bumgarner. In only 1/5th the numbers of opportunities of many of his teammates, Bumgarner and his .275 batting average and 12 runs batted in have proven he’s no slouch with the stick. Throw in that he’s pitched brilliantly, going 10-7 with a 3.47 earned run average and 127 punchouts over 128 innings.

While selecting a pitcher in the home run derby sounds outlandish in theory, in practice it would create quite a buzz for the event. No pitcher has ever participated in the event, a far more significant first than the change in format implemented this year. A move to segregated league brackets that will culminate in an AL bracket-winner vs NL bracket-winner final sounds mildly interesting for the sake of it being something new, but it still represents the same old Derby concept of mashers pummeling baseballs ad nauseum till someone emerges a victor.

Inserting a starting pitcher as a combatant into the fray would draw buzz. Fans would tune in, if not to watch with intrigue of what the seldom offensively-gifted could do, at least for the train wreck aspect. The fun of watching the Derby for some isn’t the amount of success the participants have, but rather the lack there of. Who didn’t have a laugh when Robinson Cano couldn’t clear the fence even once amidst a rousing round of jeers from those in attendance at Kauffman Stadium in the summer of 2012?

There are plenty of hurdles to even considering a pitcher for the annual laser show. First and foremost is the production from the position. Bumgarner is one of only seven NL pitchers with a homerun, and only Chicago’s Travis Wood has multiple jacks to join Madison. Bumgarner is also the only hurler with more than 10 RBIs this season meaning there’s a severe lack of offensive output league-wide from the NL’s ninth spot in the order. So forgive Tulo or any other future captain for not tabbing a starter to the team.

Dim positional offensive positivity aside, imagine the resistance a general manager and manager would offer. It’s hard enough to convince star hitters to take part for fear of ruining their swing for the second half. Now picture the long list of pitchers who have injured themselves over the years taken hacks at the plate. No front office would want to see their pitcher, whom they have invested millions of dollars in, injured in a meaningless exhibition for a skillset none to prevalent at the position with no consequence other than a hollow title.

But the All-star game isn’t about managers, or GMs, or the players to some degree. It’s about the fans, rewarding them with a chance to watch the best of the best, to dream about what an All-World outfield of Mike Trout, Bautista and Adam Jones. It’s about seeing the never-before-seen, the never-to-be-seen-again. Hopefully, one day, it’ll be about seeing a starting pitcher take his long ball hacks with the best of them in the Home Run Derby.