Amaury Pi Gonzalez calling the play by play on KBRG 105.3 FM in 1977 at the Oakland Coliseum radio booth (photo from the author Amaury Pi Gonzalez)

From My Notebook: First Spanish Radio Broadcast of Major League Baseball in the Bay Area —

By Amaury Pi-González

In 1978, the first Spanish radio broadcasts of Major League Baseball in the Bay Area were on KBRG 105.3 FM, Radio San Francisco (with studios in the Merchandise Mart). My booth for broadcasting was at the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum, home of the Oakland A’s.

That same season, when Oakland A’s owner Charlie Finley failed to secure a commercial radio contract, I was doing weekend games in Spanish from Box 19. To my left (not in the photo) was Larry Baer, today President and CEO of the San Francisco Giants.. Larry was a student volunteer from KALX, the campus station at UC Berkeley, who broadcast the first 16 games of the season to do play-by-play on that very limited-coverage radio station.

Because the UC Berkeley campus radio had very low wattage to cover the Bay Area, Mr. Carl Finley, trusted right-hand man of Charlie. Finley, and cousin to the owner of the A’s, told me to mention the score after the end of each inning in English, because their English station did not have enough coverage in the Bay Area, and so I did.

I broadcast all the action in Spanish, but after each half-inning I would give the score in English.  Later on, after the 1979 season, when Rigoberto Tito Fuentes retired with the Detroit Tigers, I asked him to join me in doing color commentary.  Our main studios for KBRG were located at the San Francisco Merchandise Mart (later known as the San Francisco Mart, 1355 Market Street, San Francisco. That same location housed Twitter/X and was vacated in 2024 by tenant Elon Musk, who sold Twitter and rebranded it as X.  A historic building in many ways. In later years, the broadcast in Spanish moved to KOFY 1050AM Radio Burlingame.

The Oakland A’s changed owners a few years later, in 1980. Walter A. Haas Jr., the former president and CEO of Levi Strauss & Co., bought the Oakland A’s from Charles O. Finley on August 23, 1980, for roughly $12.7 million, with the formal acquisition completed later that year.

Yours truly, sales executive and very good friend Al Dougherty, with René DeLaRosa, owner of KIQI 1010AM La Grande 1010 in San Francisco, made a deal to move the games to that new station as we increased Spanish-language coverage in the Bay Area. Walter Haas Jr, Roy Eisenhart, and Andy Dolich, all great executives with the Oakland A’s, made these broadcasts, as well as the team, very successful with the Hispanic Community. Not to mention on the field, which culminated in a World Series title against the SF Giants in 1989.

I am very proud to have been part of this historic time in Bay Area Radio, as I worked very hard and faced many challenges to make these games in Spanish a reality. I remember writing to then-influential political figures at the local and state levels, who responded positively to the plans to extend this coverage for the largest minority in the Bay Area, the Hispanic community. This included the Mayor of San Francisco, the Honorable Dianne Feinstein, who later presented me with the City of San Francisco Award of Merit for my efforts to bring baseball in Spanish to the Bay Area.

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.

While in the Bay Area, great food and great prices. 998cuba.com