Month: March 2025

MLB podcast Stephen Ruderman: Raleigh signs 6 yr $105 million deal with M’s; Ex-Yank Gardner’s son cause of death still a mystery; plus more news

Published on by Sports Radio ServiceLeave a comment

Seattle Mariners catcher Cal Raleigh signed a six year $105 million extension on Mon Mar 24, 2025 and is considered one of the best catchers in Major League Baseball (AP News photo)

San Francisco Giants podcast Stephen Ruderman:

#1 The Seattle catcher signed Cal Raleigh to a six year $105 million extension deal. Raleigh last season hit .220 hit 34 home runs, 100 RBIs, and had 120 hits. Raleigh called the “Big Dumper” is considered one of the best catchers in baseball.

#2 Miller Gardner 14 the son of former New York Yankee Brett Gardner who passed on Mar 21st cause of death was not asphyxiation. Miller with other family members fell ill during a family vacation. Brett said that Miller passed away in his sleep peacefully.

#3  Jack Leiter and Kumar Rocker will both be on the opening day roster as the two first round draft picks will take the last two spots on the pitching rotation for the Texas Rangers. The Rangers rotation are Nathan Eovaldi, Jacob deGrom, Jon Gray, Tyler Mahle, Rocker and Leiter. The Rangers also have been picked as a favorite to win the American League pennant.

#4 Arizona Diamondbacks have announced that left hander Jordan Montgomery will go under Tommy John next week. Montgomery 32 said that he knew his season was over due to the elbow injury and ironically it happened just two days before the regular season. Montgomery was 8-7, with a 6.23 ERA in 25 games and had 21 starts last season for Arizona.

#5 Stephen, Heliot Ramos looks like he could very well be the San Francisco Giants lead off hitter taking a spring training batting average of .308, with 12 hits, two home runs, and eight RBIs into Tuesday. Ramos belted a home run on Monday night against the Detroit Tigers at Oracle Park in San Francisco.

Join Stpehen Ruderman for the MLB podcasts at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Sacramento Kings podcast Tony Renteria Tue Mar 25, 2025: Kings face Western Conference best Thunder; plus more news

Published on by Sports Radio ServiceLeave a comment

Boston Celtics forward Jayson Tatum (0) drives on the Sacramento Kings Keegan Murray (13) in the first half at the Golden 1 Center in Sacramento on Mon Mar 24, 2025 (AP News photo)

Sacramento Kings podcast Tony Renteria:

#1 Boston Celtics Jayson Tatum scored 25 points, seven rebounds, eight assists and later took a hard foul that forced him to leave the game in the Celtics 113-95 victory against the Sacramento Kings on Monday night at Golden 1.

#2 Tatum got hurt in the latter part of the third quarter after hitting his fifth 3 pointer. Domantas Sobonis was hit for a Flagrant 1 foul. Tatum was laid out on the floor for a few minutes and later got up to shoot one of two free throws before having to leave the game.

#3 Kristaps Porzingis scored 16 points grabbing seven rebounds, Payton Pritchard had 20 points and Derrick White scored 12 points and had eight assists to help the Celtics cause.

#4 Sabonis scored 16 points and 17 rebounds Sabonis had been sitting out with an ankle injury from a previous game and DeMar DeRozan had 20 points and ten assists.

#5 Tonight Tuesday it’s the Oklahoma City Thunder who come calling. The Thunder are tops in the Western Conference at 59-12, they have an amazing road record at 28-7, and have won six in a row. Do you see a struggle for the Kings tonight against a very potent Thunder club?

Tony Renteria does the Kings podcasts each Tuesday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

That’s Amaury News and Commentary podcast: Dodgers Roberts encouraged by Mookie’s progress; Yanks Yarbrough signs for 1 yr $2 million deal; plus more MLB

Published on by Sports Radio ServiceLeave a comment

Mookie Betts walks around in the Los Angeles Dodgers dugout and has been out of the line up since losing 18 pounds and having trouble keeping down solid food. Manager Dave Roberts says that Betts should be back in the line up on Tue Mar 25, 2025 (AP News photo)

That’s Amaury News and Commentary podcast:

#1 Los Angeles Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said he feels “really encouraged” by Mookie Betts recovery. Betts had been ill and couldn’t keep solid down and lost 18 pounds. Betts went through a full workout at Dodger Stadium on Monday and is expected to be back in the line up on Tuesday.

#2 New York Yankees signed left hander Ryan Yarbrough to a $2 million one year deal with a $250,000 in contract bonuses the Yankees announced on Monday. Yarbrough 33 pitched for the Toronto Blue Jays in spring training and opted out of his contract Sunday after learning that he would not be on the opening day roster.

#3 Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Ranger Suarez will not open the season and will be on the injured list as Suarez is recovering from a lower back injury. Suarez could be ready to pitch sometime in April according to Phillies president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski.

#4 At the Sacramento A’s and San Francisco Giants Triple A team the Sacramento River Cats ballpark Sutter Health Park the grounds crew will have replacement grass on standby in the event the grass starts to brown or deteriorate. The A’s and River Cats are considering the amount of games being played on the shared field they will need the sod on standby.

#5 The Phillies left hand pitcher Matt Strahm did not pitch in the final Grapefruit League game on Monday due to a finger injury while packing. Strahm tore a fingernail on his left middle finger while preparing for a trip to the Phillies spring training home in Clearwater Florida.

Amaury Pi-Gonzalez – Cuban-born Pi-González is one of the pioneers of Spanish-language baseball play-by-play in America. Began as Oakland A’s Spanish-language voice in 1977 ending in 2024 (interrupted by stops with the Giants, Mariners and Angels). Voice of the Golden State Warriors from 1992 through 1998. 2010 inducted in the Bay Area Radio Hall of fame.

Kings Struggle to Contain Celtics, Playoff Pressure Mounts after 113-95 Loss

Published on by Sports Radio ServiceLeave a comment

Domantas Sabonis goes to the basket defended by Kristaps Porziņģis in the Sacramento Kings battle with the Boston Celtics on Monday night. (Photo: Sacramento Kings on X)

By Jeremiah Salmonson

SACRAMENTO — Golden 1 Center was full of green for the game on Monday night. If you were in the building, you may have wondered if the A’s were holding a fanfest.

No, the Boston Celtics came to town, and the reigning NBA champs were heavily supported by traveling fans and local Celtics fans. The Kings were coming off a loss to the Milwaukee Bucks on Saturday, while the Celtics were on the second night of a back-to-back after defeating the Portland Trail Blazers on Sunday in Portland.

The last time these two teams played was in Boston on January 10th, when the Kings beat the Celtics 114-97. I asked Doug Christie pregame if he thought the Celtics would have a little extra after the Kings blew them out in Boston. “I would say the only thing in our league is that you can use some things as motivation, especially when you are champions. The one that you do know is that they will not look past you. I think that is the biggest thing.”

On Monday, the game tipped off at 7 PM PST at Golden 1 Center as the Celtics handed the Kings a 113-95 defeat.

In the first quarter, the Kings hit first with good physicality and active hands leading to offensive opportunities. Five minutes and forty-four seconds into the game, the Kings led by nine and had control of the game. Soon after, the Celtics made a run of their own to close the quarter. The Celtics would end up outscoring the Kings 30-29 in the first quarter thanks to a buzzer-beater three from Payton Pritchard.

In the second, the Kings battled. However, the Boston offensive attack was good enough for them to pick up a five-point, 56-51 lead going into the halftime break. The Kings were playing the Celtics well on the defensive end of the floor, but there’s only so much you can do to contain them. Jayson Tatum and Payton Pritchard led the Celtics in scoring in the first half with 17 and 14, respectively. Domantas Sabonis and Keegan Murray led the Kings in the first half, each scoring 10 points.

The Kings needed to match the defensive intensity from the first half to defeat the Celtics.

In the second half, the Kings were plainly outmatched. The Celtics outscored the Kings 32-27 in the third and 25-17 in the fourth. In the third, Jayson Tatum would go down as he rolled his ankle on a Domantas Sabonis closeout on a three-pointer. Tatum made 1 of 2 of his free throws, left the game, and would not return. The Celtics remained unbothered by his absence as they defeated the Kings 113-95. There’s not much more to the story than that. The Kings fought, but ultimately, the offense became ISO-focused, and the ball stopped moving. The Kings desperately need to figure out how to close games as a team or they will soon find themselves outside of the play-in picture.

After the game, Doug summarized the night saying, “Disappointing. The areas we really need to be good in is creating extra possessions, offensive rebounds, turning them over. We weren’t able to do that and we need to shoot threes at a higher clip… points of emphasis.” I asked Doug how they get more three-pointers up, and he said, “It has got to be one, two dribbles at the most and kick it out… just the ability to move the basketball, and we can’t hold onto it too long.”

With the loss, the Kings fell to 35-36. The Kings need to right the ship in a hurry if they want to hold onto a play-in game spot at season’s end.

Key Performers:
DeMar DeRozan led the Kings with 20 points on an inefficient 9-24 shooting.

Playoff Picture:
The Kings fell to 35-36 on the season and are only 0.5 games in front of the Phoenix Suns and Dallas Mavericks for the 11th seed in the Western Conference.

Up Next: The Kings stay home to face the Oklahoma City Thunder on Tuesday at 7 PM PST inside Golden 1 Center.

Detroit has Utah HC Seeing Red In 5-1 Thrashing

Published on by Sports Radio ServiceLeave a comment

Utah Hockey Club goaltender Karel Vejmelka (70) had a rough night against the Detroit Red Wings faced 13 shots, saved nine and allowed four goals at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Mon Mar 24, 2025 (AP News photo)

By Tom Walker

SALT LAKE CITY–Utah finishes homestand on a losing note as Red Wings score five unanswered goals in a 5-1 win at the Delta Center.

Heading into Monday night’s contest against the Detroit Red Wings, the Utah Hockey Club had won seven of their last nine home games in an effort to keep their playoff hopes alive. Each team entered the matchup with 32 wins on the season, with Utah holding an edge in points thanks to 11 overtime or shootout losses versus 6 for the Wings who are also in the Wild Card hunt in the Eastern Conference.

The first period started off bright for the home team when Tyler Motte was whistled for tripping against Kevin Stenlund, giving Utah an early power play opportunity. Captain Clayton Keller fired a perfect pass to Dylan Guenther who one-timed a slap shot past Detroit goaltender Alex Lyon for his 26th goal of the season and a 1-0 Utah lead.

A little more than a minute later, however, Utah defenseman Sean Durzi lost the puck in the offensive zone and Vladimir Tarasenko was off to the races, feeding linemate Elmer Soderblom who put the puck past Karel Vejmelka for his 4th goal of the season to tie things up.

Early in the second period, Red Wings forward Marco Kasper banked the puck off of Utah’s Lawson Crouse in front of the net for a fluke goal, his 14th of the season, giving Detroit a 2-1 lead. The two squads would exchange power play opportunities during the period but the two netminders held off any further scoring.

At 9:51 of the third period, Detroit would collect its second fluke goal of the game when a shot toward the net from the blue line by Simon Edvinsson would deflect off the stick of Austin Watson at the top of the faceoff circle and fly just over the left shoulder of Karel Vejmelka into the top corner of the net to make it 3-1.

For Watson it was his first goal of the season in his fourth game as a Red Wing. With the clock winding down to the final few minutes, Utah pulled Vejmelka for an extra attacker, but Detroit was able to capitalize as Alex DeBrinkat put the game out of reach for good with his 33rd goal of the season into the empty net, assisted by Patrick Kane.

Adding insult to injury, with 88 seconds left on the clock, Tyler Motte picked up a rebound from a shot by Craig Smith to notch his 3rd goal of the season and finish off Utah 5-1.

In the locker room after the game, Utah defenseman Ian Cole weighed in on the game. “I think overall, it was a decent game, but ultimately, regardless of what the balance is, we lost the game. There’s a lot of turning points that we could talk about over the course of that game, but overall, we didn’t get the job done.” With regard to the challenge of making the playoffs, Cole continued, “Nothing’s easy, right? You need a lot of good force on your side. You need calls on your side, you need to take advantage of opportunities, and you need to play really, really good hockey. You need kind of a perfect storm to get into the playoffs and then have success when you’re in the playoffs. You need all those things going for you. Tonight some of those things did not go for us, but we’re right back at it against a great team in Tampa in a couple days. We’ll have to look at the video and figure out what went wrong and what we could have done better, and then fix that and move on.”

Captain Clayton Keller also faced the media. “We had a good start. We had a lot of possessions, some shots early, but I don’t think we did a good enough job of getting to the inside, hitting those rebounds … power plays got to be better. We had a good start there, but we have to find a way to get another one there. So that’s definitely frustrating as well. … There’s never going to be any quit in this room ever. We’re going to fight all the way until the end. We’re going to try to win every single game from here on out. Never know what can happen. We’re going to stay motivated, learn from this game, (and) attack this next road trip. We go 3-0, you never know what will happen.”

Utah Head coach André Tourigny began his media room comments by saying, “I think we got a little bit unlucky on our goal against. The puck was bouncing a lot tonight. It was tough to execute. I would have loved to simplify a little bit, go more at the net, and (be a little) bit more dirty. I thought we had a good start. But we could have simplified a little more in our shooting mentality in trying to make plays. Like I said, at the end of the day we got unlucky.” When asked what adjustments he would have liked to have seen, Tourigny commented, “More (of a) shooting mentality, more shots on net, more broken plays. Give them credit; they played well defensively, which we did as well. We gave up five shots after two (periods). We kept them on the outside pretty good. The way we played defensively was alright. Offensively, I think we could have simplified. … I have no problem with the way we played in terms of intensity, battle, those kinds of (things). I don’t have much to say. I’m trying to be creative here. We didn’t execute right offensively and we tried to do too much. We should have gone to the net and had some scrappy goals and we didn’t.”

Utah now hits the road for a trio of games against Tampa Bay, Florida, and Chicago before returning to Delta Center on April 1 against Calgary for the first of five games on the final homestand of the inaugural season.

Orange & Black @ Orange & Black Giants score 3 runs in 5th to defeat Tigers 6-4 at Oracle Park

Published on by Sports Radio ServiceLeave a comment

San Francisco Giants Heliot Ramos is thrilled after hitting a home run against San Diego Padres on Sun Sep 15, 2024 at Oracle Park in San Francisco. On Mon Mar 24, 2025 Ramos was three for four with a home run, three hits and three RBIs against the Detroit Tigers at Oracle Park in San Francisco (AP News photo)

Detroit (12-14) 000 200 000 2 5 0

San Francisco (20-6) 100 031 01x 6 11 0

Time: 2:17

Attendance: 24,144

By Lewis Rubman

Monday, March 25, 2025

SAN FRANCISCO–The players have broken camp, and your San Francisco Giants are ready to wrap up spring training with a couple of games against their transbay rivals, the Oakland Athletics. No, wait a minute! There’s something wrong here. It’s the Detroit Tigers your Giants are facing. Not even ex-Athletic A.J. Hinch at the helm can change that. Some things never change, though.

There’s always the fear of injury. The Giants, fearing a recurrence of the back injury that stole their exciting center fielder, 이정후, AKA Lee,Jung Hoo, from them half-way through last year’s letdown season. anxiously await his full recovery from his latest setback.

In the 17 Cactus League games Lee had appeared in, Lee hit .300 with an OPS of .967. No one wants a repeat of Blake Snell’s 2024 on again, off again recovery saga. Lee returned to action in Sunday’s game against the River Cats in Sacramento and went one for two, with a run scored and another driven in over five innings. He went 0 for 3 Monday night.

Matt Chapman seems to have recovered his groove at bat, but his fielding, which can be elegant, has suffered a noticeable decline this spring.. Last year, he, like many of his teammates, committed a lot of hidden errors, including late or poorthrows that prevented double plays and so were unchargeable.

This spring, they’re more visible. Chappy’s five errors in 15 games are a concern. He alleviated some of that this evening with a beautiful backhand grab on Manuel Baez’s scorcher down the third base line and a hard, accurate throw to first to retire the Tigers’ shortstop in the top of the fifth..

For what it’s worth, however, San Francisco, having defeated Detroit, 6-4, in a game that wasn’t as close as the score might indicate, can feek It was one of those games in which by the sixth or seventh inning inning you spend more time and attention trying to keep track of the substitutions than on the action on the field, so don’t expect much detail from the report.

San Francisco used five hurlers, starting with Robbie Ray, who went five frames and allowed two runs, both earned, one four hits, which included a pair of solo home runs in the fourth, He struck out four and gave up one free pass, gaining the win.

Ray was followed by Lou Trivino, Spencer Blevnins, Tyler Rogers, and Eric Miller, each of whom pitched an inning. Blevens gave up a single in the seventh. The only other Giant reliever to suffer any damage was Miller, who yielded two runs, both earned, on two hits, and a walk.

The Tigers used nine pitchers over eight innings. Tyler Horton, the first of the lot got tagged with the loss,

Ramos went 3 for 4, with three RBIs, and a homer for the hosts. The other Giant with a multi-hit game was Patrick Bailey, at 2 for 4, with two RBIs.

The two teams, both clad in orange and black, will continue to confuse the crowd Tuesday, at 5:05PM PDT. The Giants will then fly to Cincinnati to open the season on Wednesday, returning for their home opener on April 4 at 1:35 in the afternoon.

That’s Amaury News and Commentary: 2025 MLB Predictions

Published on by Sports Radio ServiceLeave a comment

A ten year old boy/fan is thrilled to have caught Los Angeles Dodgers Shohei Otani’s home run ball at the Tokyo Dome on opening day against the Chicago Cubs on Wed Mar 19, 2025 and showed the baseball to the media. Author Amaury Pi Gonzalez predicts the Dodgers will return to the World Series this season and face the Texas Rangers (AP News photo)

2025 Major League Baseball Season Predictions

That’s Amaury News and Commentary

By Amaury Pi-González

It is the time of the year to look into my crystal ball and see how teams will do this year.

American League (East)

1-Baltimore

2-Boston

3-New York

4-Toronto

5-Tampa Bay

The Baltimore Orioles are back in force this season. The bullpen is healthier; they lost Corbin Burnes and Anthony Santander to free agency, but they still have a young, dynamic lineup and are the best team in this division.

Boston Red Sox is always in the mix and one of the best organizations in baseball. They added Alex Bregman for third base and Walker Buehler, a very good pitcher. They have a shot at a wild card.

The Yankees lost their #1 ace starter, Gerrit Cole, to Tommy John surgery. Even if they were healthy, their rotation would not be the best. Without Cole, they cannot win that division; their best hope is a Wild Card. Their lineup suffered as they lost Juan Soto, but they still can score enough runs to be competitive.

Toronto Blue Jays. I don’t feel them this year. Their last shot to win big with Vladimir Guerreo Jr. and Dante Bichette, who will be free agents after the season. They are good for fourth. Any of the seven Canadian NHL teams have a better shot at winning the Stanley Cup than the Blue Jays winning the World Series.

Tampa Bay Rays will play in a new stadium provisionally while they repair Tropicana Field. It is not because they will play at Hal Steinbrenner Jr ballpark for this year, but the simple fact remains is that they do not have it.

American League (Central)

1-Kansas City

2-Detroit

3-Cleveland

4-Minnesota

5-Chicago

Kansas City Royals should win this division, still with the leadership of catcher Salvador Pérez

Detroit could be in the mix; it’s a young team with lots of potential.

Cleveland and Minnesota will fight to be wild cars, and Chicago will start rebuilding early again. If you like trades, go to Chicago.

American League (West)

1-Texas

2-Seattle

3-Houston

4-Athletics aka ATH

5-Los Angeles

Texas Rangers are loaded and ready to shoot for the top; with Hall of Fame manager Bruce Botchy, they have enough offense, good enough to pitch a great defense, all the components of winning this division, and maybe…maybe a trip to the World Series.

Seattle Mariners are picked just about every year to win, but, nada. This year they “could”finally win it, butt they are not betterr than the Rangers.

Houston Astros and José Alrtuve in left field, without Alex Bregnam anymore at third base. Well, third is a good palce fdor them.

Athletics, aka ATH (now in Sacramento for how many years…? could win this division if they did not have to play the Rangers, Mariners, and Astros, or if they played the Angels every day, they might win it. It is a new city, a new park, and a great attitude from many young and talented players, with an outstanding manager in Mark Kotsay. I like to see the A’s win the Division or a wild card and then play the postseason at Oracle Park(If the Giants do not make it) because there is no way MLB will let the A’s play a postseason in a 14,000-seat park. But this season (again), they ended in fourth place.

Los Angeles Angels, another last-place finish. I’m sorry for one of the true gentlemen of the game, Mike Trout, whom I covered and broadcasted many of his hits as a rookie and then fMVP seasons and who is trying to ride what could be a Hall of Fame career. With only one Trout in this lake, they will not fish much in 2025. Oh, and I’m sorry for a great man and Manager, Ron Washington; he doesn’t deserve this punishment.

National League (East)

1-Atlanta

2-Philadelphia

3-New York

4-Washington

5-Miami

Atlanta Braves, With Ronald Acuña Jr back this year and Matt Olson, Austin Riley, and Michael Harris, have enough powder to get into lots of rallies, and the pitching is still top-notch. They are the team to beat. And for another year, a treat for winning the league.

Philadelphia Phillies, with their great, passionate fans, could win or at least go down to the wire with the Braves, but second place is a safe bet.

New York Mets. Drama in Queens is always on the air. They talk about a pennant but fall short. The NY media creates bogus trade rumors. What else is new?

Washington Nationals should be happy not finishing last. They won their World Series a few years ago, so they should keep enjoying that.

Miami was my second city when I was a teenager. Bienvenidos a Miami, but I’m sorry—they are still a last-place club. Keep the nightclubs in South Beach going!

National League (Central)

1-Chicago Cubs is the best team in this division. Like Sinatra used to say:”My Kind of Town”.

2-Cincinnati Reds (I pick them to surprise everybody, including themselves….if they could only have pitching, this is an inspiring young and fast team

3-Milwaukee Brewers. The days when they were on top are coming to an end. Keep the Beer production.

4-St Louis Cardinals. They always seem to have a lot of Cards and have won 11 World Series, only second to the Yankees. This 2025…close, but no cigar!

5-Pittsburgh Pirates. Last place, in Spanish, also, último lugar.

National League West

1-Los Angeles is the Best team in this Division and League, probably in baseball. They are going for it again, with lots of influence in Japan, as they are already undefeated there.

2-Arizona. If the Dodgers collapse, which will probably be the biggest earthquake of all, the Diamondbacks will win this race

3-San Diego. A lot has to be said about an afternoon game at their beautiful park in San Diego; their fans are restless and looking to put it all together. Maybe?

4-San Francisco Giants. They are now under the Buster Posey Government. They made some interesting off-season changes and could win 82 games. Wild Card?

5-Colorado Rockies. No comment. But the Rocky Mountains are spectacular.

World Series? Texas Rangers vs Los Angeles Dodgers.

You might agree or disagree with me, and that would be normal after all this is America. But remember, at the end, it is only baseball!

Amaury Pi-Gonzalez – Cuban-born Pi-González is one of the pioneers of Spanish-language baseball play-by-play in America. Began as Oakland A’s Spanish-language voice in 1977 ending in 2024 (interrupted by stops with the Giants, Mariners and Angels). Voice of the Golden State Warriors from 1992 through 1998. 2010 inducted in the Bay Area Radio Hall of fame.

San Jose Barracuda podcast Marko Ukalovic: Barracuda rally to defeat Condors 6-3 Sunday; SJ heads to San Diego for Wed face off with Gulls

Published on by Sports Radio ServiceLeave a comment

San Jose Barracuda forward Pavol Regenda (77) tries to get the puck past Bakersfield Condors goaltender Olivier Rodrigue (33) at Tech CU Arena in San Jose on Sun Mar 23, 2025 (San Jose Barracuda photo)

San Jose Barracuda podcast Marko Ukalovic:

#1 The San Jose Barracuda scored three special team goals in a 6-3 route of the Bakersfield Condors on Sunday afternoon at Tech CU Arena.

#2 San Jose swept the weekend home-and-home series and has won three games in a row. Bakersfield has lost three games in a row. 

#3 The Barracuda moved up to fifth place in the Pacific Division one point ahead of the Calgary Wranglers with 72 points.

#4 Marko, the Barracuda got defense and offense in this one on Sunday. On the defensive side they held the Condors to only one goal in the first period and allowed two in the second and on offense the Barracuda scored twice in the second period and three times in the third period to put it away with a three goal win.

#5 The Barracuda travel to San Diego for a Wednesday night game and a 7:00pm PDT face off. The Gulls are in last in the Pacific Division and have lost five of their last ten games. The Barracuda are sixth and have won six of their last ten games. Set this one up for us.

Marko Ukalovic does the San Jose Barracuda podcasts each Monday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Sacramento Kings podcast Barbara Mason: Kings try to turn it around against Celtics tonight

Published on by Sports Radio ServiceLeave a comment

On the Sacramento Kings podcast Barbara Mason:

#1 The Milwaukee Bucks started out slow against the Sacramento Kings on Saturday but were able shake off the cob webs and make a come back to defeat the Kings at Golden 1 in Sacramento 114-108.

#2 Giannis Antetokounmpo scored with 32 points, 17 rebounds, teammate Kyle Kuzma scored 14 points with 14 rebounds. the Bucks were down 25-17 in the one quarter were also behind 14 points in the early portion of the third quater.

#3 The three Bucks who got after it were Brook Lopez scored 21 points, Kevin Porter Jr scored 18 points, and Taurean Prince had 11 points.

#4 Great effort by the Kings DeMar DeRozan scored 22 points, Keon Ellis 20 points, Jonas Valanciunas 16 points, seven rebounds, and five assists but the Kings fell six points short.

#5 Barbara this was a tough loss for Sacramento and they were coming off a tough loss to the Chicago Bulls two nights before and the Bucks were also another tough customer. The Kings are back to the drawing board on Monday night they host they Boston Celtics. The Celtics are second in the Eastern Conference 51-19 and one of the most powerful teams in the NBA. Can the Kings regroup and upset Boston on Monday night on their home floor.

Barbara Mason does the Kings podcasts Mondays at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Sacramento’s Major League Moment Has Arrived

Published on by Sports Radio ServiceLeave a comment

Newly renovated Sutter Health Park in West Sacramento shines in the late March Sun as the Giants took on the River Cats (Photo: Jeremiah Salmonson/SRS)

By Jeremiah Salmonson

WEST SACRAMENTO — Baseball in Sacramento is nothing new. Yet, having a team at the sports pinnacle of competition call the city home is uncharted territory.

The Sacramento River Cats have been playing in the West Sacramento ballpark since the year 2000. Sutter Health Park, formerly known as Raley Field, sits across the Sacramento River from downtown and the capitol building of the state of California. On hot summer nights, the delta breeze rolls in to cool the ballpark down, making it one of the best minor league baseball experiences in the country.

Yet, it was nowhere near Major League Baseball standards.

With the A’s departure from Oakland this past fall after decades of uncertainty surrounding a stadium, the Athletics Baseball Club finds itself in the cozy confines of Sutter Health Park for the 2025 season and beyond. The current plan is for the A’s to be in Sacramento through 2028, but who knows how that timeline will hold up. Nevertheless, the ballpark needed significant upgrades for the A’s to call it their home, albeit temporarily.

Who was responsible for improving the stadium?

Well…

The River Cats and the stadium are now owned by the chairman and owner of the Sacramento Kings, Vivek Ranadive. Vivek purchased the club and the stadium in an August 2022 deal that some saw as a first step in bringing MLB to Sacramento. “I’ve been in touch with the commissioner, I’ve gotten to know him, Rob Manfred, and they will be creating a new team,” Vivek said in Spring 2024. “They want it to be on the West coast, they would love it to be in California, and I think this is a great showcase for us. We can prove that there’s a market here and we can make the team successful. I think we are in full position to get the new franchise… We are investing in making this an MLB-level stadium, and our hope is that it leads to a permanent MLB team.” Clearly, for Vivek, this is about more than a temporary stay for the Athletics.

With Vivek’s vision for the city in mind, the team got busy on improvements to the stadium this past offseason. On Sunday, I had the opportunity to attend the first baseball game at the new and improved venue, a matinee affair.

The stadium and playing surface underwent significant improvements that include a new 75’ x 32’ scoreboard in right-center field, a new network along with improved audio systems, a renovated visiting clubhouse, a new multi-level home clubhouse that includes a weight room and hitting tunnels, a new grass and dirt playing surface specially designed to handle the heat and heavy use this summer, and an additional rooftop seating area on top of the home clubhouse.

The improvements are impressive, and they surely elevate the grounds to MLB standards. Kings president of business operations John Rinehart, who oversaw the renovations, and owner Vivek Ranadive can be proud of the new-look ballpark.

Giants starter Landen Roupp discussed what he thought about the upgrades after his five innings of one-run ball on Sunday: “It’s beautiful, a lot better than it was. It felt good to play here again and see the upgrades. It was really nice.”

Giants scheduled opening-day starter and Rocklin (a 20-minute drive from Sacramento) native Logan Webb also had good things to say when asked about his initial impressions of the stadium: “I noticed the scoreboard, and the batter’s eye. The grass is nice… it looks good!”

The Athletics will officially christen the new digs in the first MLB regular-season game on March 31st at 7:05 P.M. PST. The A’s will take on the visiting Chicago Cubs in the much-anticipated three-game series at Sutter Health Park.

So, while baseball in Sacramento is not new, MLB baseball in the capital city certainly is. It’s an exciting time for local baseball fans, as a year of anticipation finally becomes reality. The stage is set for the city to show what it can offer MLB, and don’t be fooled—the league and commissioner Rob Manfred will be watching closely.

Jeremiah Salmonson is a Sacramento A’s beat writer for http://www.sportsradioservice.com