Author: lleonardbw

That’s Amaury’s Podcast, News and Commentary: Gallego firing was shocking; could Wash end up as A’s next skipper?

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by Amaury Pi Gonzalez

OAKLAND–Former A’s third base coach Mike Gallego was one of those guys who used to give you the run down on the team. He’s a very quiet but a very smart guy and it was surprising that the A’s let him go. What was it? was it a personal thing? was it a philosophical thing? was it a couple guys getting thrown out at the plate this past week?

I thought that Gallego did a terrific job at third base with the A’s not only as a third base coach but as a coach guiding and teaching the younger players. There’s a thing in baseball now when I was a younger kid most guys who made it to the big leagues they could play the game. Now there’s a lot of these guys that I’ve seen here in Oakland well Marcos Semien he’s got 31 errors.

How can you have 31 errors when your playing everyday? That’s why the A’s brought in Ron Washington who was the next third base coach for the A’s a well known guy. Semien had the job at shortstop and there are two positions in baseball that you have to field the ball there at defensive position onne is shortstop and the other one is catching.

Those two positions in baseball there might be some exceptions but they might find themselves a good defensive catcher like former Dodger Mike Piazza who hit more home runs than any other catcher in history that’s an exception. What I find in Semien he’s a pretty good hitter if he was hitting .230 he wouldn’t be close to a MLB team the man has to learn how to field.

So that’s why they brought Washington in I’m not surprised that this is a good move that Washington comes back to the A’s but what I don’t like that they let go of Gallego but they couldn’t make room. There’s two guys at one position so the ownership and A’s general manager Billy Beane had to make a decision and they made a decision to retain Washington who they hired for a few weeks to instruct Semien.

Semien had to learn how to field the ball and throw. The A’s promoted Washington to third base coach and Gallego was the odd man out and I’m very sadden by that news because like I said before and I mean it Gallego was a good guy, a good friend, that’s the way the ball bounces.

Amaury Pi Gonzalez is the Spanish radio voice for the A’s and the Spanish TV voice for the Angels and does News and Commentary each week at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Cal Bears football podcast with Morris Phillips: Dykes loading up his receiving core for some offensive excitement in the red zone

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by Morris Phillips

BERKELEY–The Cal Bears have a really deep group in camp this year that they’ve assembled in terms of receivers. When you throw the football 60 tines a game it’s not difficult to realize to keep all these guys happy catching passes. When you talk about Cal’s receivers you got to start with Kenny Lawler and Bryce Treggs who has the experience of the group.

Lawler is the highlight factor he has big hands and his ability to make those big one handed catches at the goal line. Lawler is Cal’s key guy in the red zone, then there’s Tregg’s father who played at Cal and now Treggs is in his third year now and he’s coming along just as well he’s a guy that Cal’s looking to run those intermediate routes and have some success there.

In terms of guys the Bears haven’t seen yet Carlos Strickland jumps off the map from Dallas a freshman and one of Cal’s big recruiting gigs this year and as a freshman is likely to see some time and have some success on the field. We just named three of nine guys that we will see in some form or fashion.

Wide receiver Trevor Davis, Jack Austin, Austin is a freshman as well with that group you can see how Cal can make the leap because they are trying to run this offense with Jered Goff at the helm. It’s an offense of repetition and their wanting to run their 100 plays per game with the opposition out. The depth is critical in terms of how they implement that attack and their ability to stay healthy as well.

The Cal coaching staff have looked a little ahead to Cal’s first road game in Texas against the Longhorns on Sat Sep 19th and when you talk about Texas you have to start with the offensive line. Cal has to be able to protect and this year what they’ve done is move Jordan Rigsbee towards center from his more natural offensive line tackle position.

A good offensive line starts at it’s point in the middle and that’s the center and protecting those A gaps and with Rigsbee the most experienced guy moving into the middle. The whole thing is they can build around him and protect Goff because even if he’s in the shotgun formation and he’s getting rid of the ball fast they still have to have a connection.

Morris Phillips covers Cal Bears football click below to hear the podcast at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Oakland Raiders podcast with David Zizmor: Amari Cooper says he’s got this; vets tell rookie Oak offense looking good

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by David Zizmor

ALAMEDA–Week two of the preseason in Minnesota veteran and players alike are telling the Oakland Raiders rookie Amari Cooper that the offense looks good. Right now everybody really need to temper their enthusiasm the Raiders have played only one game of pre season last week on Aug 14 at the Coliseum against the Rams.

There’s nothing to get excited about in terms of what you saw on the field against the Rams. The simple fact of the matter is in the first pre season game and frankly in every pre season game you do not see lot of complex defenses out there it just doesn’t happen and teams just don’t want to reveal anything for their opponents in the regular season.

It’s more important to see the second and third stringers in the base defense just to see the starters playing in the more complicated depth that they throw out during the regular season. The Raiders might have looked decent against a base defense against some of the second and third stringers and a little bit for the first stringers.

Their not facing the same level of competition as you are in the regular season. Even when you see the first stringers a lot of key guys won’t be in there who are veterans and who are really proven players and who only play in the pre season seldomly or not at all. They have earned the right to take those games off and in the best interest of the team to avoid any kind of injuries to those key guys.

Comparing the Raiders in 2015 to the Raiders exactly a year ago in 2014 Raiders fans have a reason to be optimistic but you can’t look at them and say their going to make the playoffs. You could look at the team and feel better about them and that they’ve improved year after year. On offense quarterback Derek Carr isn’t a rookie anymore and we kind of know about his skillset and what Carr is able to do.

Carr is still a work in progress because he’s still in his second year but you could look at him and say he looks like he could be a decent quarterback. You look around the rest of the skill positions and you say Latavius Murray looks like he could be a really skilled running back. Cooper their first round pick looks really, really good. Michael Crabtree didn’t have a great year with the 49ers but at least in camp so far he’s been strong and certainly an improvement than some of the guys the Raiders ran out their at wide receiver last year.

David Zizmor covers the NFL for http://www.sportsradioservice.com listen to the podcast below

San Francisco 49ers podcast with David Zizmor: Borland substance test was not reason for retirement

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by David Zizmor

The notion that former 49er Chris Borland was getting tested for substance abuse and that he decided to retire ahead of the test is ridiculous. The players get tested all throughout the season. It’s not like this was the only drug test that Borland ever had. There’s no reason to believe he’s been taking performance enhancing drugs or abusing some other substances of some kind.

The ESPN article read Borland announced his retirement before he actually filed his papers then he got notification from the NFL that he was going to be tested for various substances this was going to be a typical drug test that they take. Borland was surprised because he figured he was retiring “why would you test me?”

Supposing the NFL has a point and there’s some validity to it that the league tests players even after their retirement to make sure that a player isn’t making such an announcement because a test might be happening or because that player knows their in violation and their retiring making the announcement to avoid the test all together.

There is something to that that’s a way that players could abuse the system if they knew they were going to violate or they knew they weren’t going to pass the test they could announce their retirement and sit out for a little while and if they change their mind and come back in the NFL. That’s clearly not the case for Borland he clearly definitely retired as the story details, he announced his retirement, they sent him the drug test.

Borland’s agents and attorneys said he took the NFL test but he also simultaneously gave a separate sample to independent private company who does the same kind of testing just to make sure there wasn’t any shenanigans on the NFL side. Borland has a point there, Borland was concerned because of the potential political repercussions of his retirement and it was clear he was retiring because of his concerns about concussions and the long term effects of playing football.

David Zizmor covers the NFL for http://www.sportsradioservice.com catch the podcast below

NFL Podcast with Tony Renteria: Jerome Simpson suspension just the latest in 49er dysfunction

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by Tony Renteria

SANTA CLARA–San Francisco 49er wideout Jerome Simpson will have to sit down for the first six games of the NFL season due to testing positive for substance abuse. This past off season has been atrocious for San Francisco for the players who retired, the players who left due to legal issues and those players who were released. It’s going to be a pivotal first season for head coach Jim Tomsula.

With this team how do you keep saying this is another thing that’s going wrong, this is another thing that’s going wrong and the Niners are starting only their second year in their new stadium. The team has season tickets to sell, they have money that has to be paid off. You have to keep a good spin on the marketing skills. I believe that the 49ers organization flagship is sinking holes left and right in the 49ers harbor.

Injuries in the NFL: Taking a look at recent injuries in camp with the Panther wide receiver Kevin Benjamin who had an MRI on his left knee in scrimmage and the Dolphins safety Louis Delmas has reinjured his right knee in scrimmage the Panthers and Dolphins are going to miss those guys. Every season there are going to be some injuries that go on and these guys are playing 12 months around the year.

These guys could have injuries in OTAs and their own personal workouts these kinds of injuries are going to happen in the NFL. The one concern I have for Carolina is they lost Benjamin at wide receiver who’ll they’ll miss in his yards and scoring. It’s going to be hard for them to fill that hole up. A defensive guy in the secondary is not going to be that important as the number one wideout so Carolina is in a much worst situation.

Raiders in their first pre season game looked impressive last Friday against Minnesota in their 18-3 win. Raiders quarterback Derek Carr had a great outing no matter short going 6-9 for 43 yards, and one interception. All four quarterbacks who threw for the Raiders look really good. That’s something that you haven’t heard not only did the starter look good but the back ups looked good.

The quarterback position for the Raiders looks pretty good, Matt McGloin who has seven or eight NFL starts under his belt and he looked on going 10-11 for 104 yards, and a touchdown. McGloin is a very accurate passer. The coaches had McGloin moving around in the pocket and he did very well on Friday night. McGloin might end up being a good second quarterback for somebody but it’s unlikely he’ll end up with Oakland for the regular season.

Tony Renteria does the NFL Podcast each week at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Cal Bears Podcast with Morris Phillips: Dykes to look for improvements in the defense for this season Wed Aug 19, 2015

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by Morris Phillips

BERKELEY–The Cal Bears have the talent to compete for this upcoming 2015 season the talent is there to finish better than .500 the variable is that the Pac 12 couldn’t see anymore balance and with more parallel than this year. There are a lot of teams that are expected to be good to better, then you have teams like USC and Oregon that could be top ten teams. Cal is just better this year like for sure their going to get better but will they get better in terms of in terms of their win- loss record there that would have to be the question there.

The defense was really bad last season and remember were talking about college athletes were not going to pick out individuals with this that and the other they need to get better at corner and they need to get better at safety. They have a nice returning group at linebacker that need to improve. They might not be as good as they like it to be, it is an experienced group and they have shown the ability to tackle and run and do the they have enough speed to deal with Pac 12 offenses which was a real issue for them last year.

In terms of the defensive line their adding this young player defensive end Kyle Kragen the son of an NFL player Greg Kragen played for the Broncos and those guys with James Looney who transferred from Lake Forrest who was supposed to give them a nice push up front and some depth along the defensive line. It was a real issue in terms of their depth at that position last year.

This team has as much success as any program in the country in terms of drafting and forging careers in the NFL with Aaron Rogers and Marshawn Lynch right at the top of the list, DeSean Jackson and there is no doubt that players from Cal that are on the radar of NFL scouts but there is obviously no first round pick at this point.

Part of the Cal program is the defense will always play up to 100 plays a game and put pressure on the opposing defense.
The other issue is they have to put pressure on the opposition on the scoreboard, that means scoring early and taking the lead and making it tough for the opposition to get back into the game. That means having the pass rush and the ability to have some playmakers in the secondary come into play when you get a team on their heels. They got throw the football and they got to do anything based on what their facing in terms of the adversity their facing on the scoreboard.

You got to have a defense who can take advantage of that and physically what we’ve seen with Cal they’ve traded points with their opposition into the 50s as we saw they visited Washington State last year. So they’re going to need to have some kind of shutdown on their defense it’s a part of their offense to be able to score quite easily and quite productively throughout the season.

Morris Phillips does the Cal Bears podcast each week at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Oakland A’s podcast with Charlie O Tue Aug 18, 2015

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by Charlie O Mallonee

OAKLAND–Right now if your pulling for the Oakland A’s it’s tough to be optimistic their facing the Dodgers on Tuesday night and that can’t be too comforting after they dropped a series against the O’s in Oakland last week and dropped another series to them again this past weekend in Baltimore. The A’s dropped the last game of the set 4-2 on Monday night.

The A’s finished the road trip at 0-7, they further were swept in Toronto and swept in Baltimore. We were projecting a week ago that they could pick up one win in Toronto and split the series in Baltimore and end up having a 3-4 road trip which wouldn’t be too bad. Never envisioning that it was going to be an 0-7 road trip.

Now this is their longest losing streak of the season, they have lost six games in a row twice and now seven games at the conclusion of the road trip on Monday night marking their longest losing streak they’ve had all season. The A’s drop their record down to 51-69 their 13.5 games behind first place Houston in the AL West standings.

They’re 11.5 games out of the wild card and I keep giving that stat because they still aren’t out of the wild card yet. There is a little something optimistic to look forward to. They’ve dropped 4.5 games behind Seattle in fourth place. The projections we made is that the A’s need not to be in last place when the season is over.

Physiologically there something huge about them getting out of fifth place and being able to leap frog in fourth place just to help them be in a better spot next season. It’s getting harder and harder all of the time because if you look at it right now they’ve played 120 games, you got 162 games on the schedule the chances of the A’s finishing at .500 for all practical purposes is gone.

Catch more discussion about the A’s on the podcast tonight with Charlie O right below at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

San Francisco Giants podcast with Michael Duca Tue Aug 18, 2015

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by Michael Duca

SAN FRANCISCO–Giants catcher Andrew Susac who was called up from Triple A Sacramento and started on Monday night in St.Louis and catcher Buster Posey got some rest until there was two outs in the ninth inning when he hit a ball within three feet of what would have been a go ahead home run.

Susac is an interesting player we always long for the guy whose not there or worry about what his absence might mean he’s really not as polished behind the plate and there hardly is anyone who is as polished behind the plate as Posey is that’s not a fair comparison to use. Susac has thrown out five of 32 base stealers and Posey’s percentage throwing out runners is up around 60 percent which is putting him in Johnny Bench or Pudge Rodriguez territory.

It’s unfair to compare anyone to Buster he maybe among the truly unique players in the game today a writer from the New York Post last year said that Buster reminds him pretty much every way possible of former and late Yankees catcher Thurmond Munson, high praise indeed. Susac will be welcomed back because he provides more of a point of attack in the line up than Giant catcher Hector Sanchez was able to do during Susac’s absence. Sanchez was demoted to Sacramento on Monday.

Posey will get to play first when Susac is in the line up and it will allow Posey to rest his legs a little bit and then the question becomes what do you do with a relatively hot Brandon Belt? You put him in leftfield and that’s not always going to workout the way you want it to. Line drives hit right at a outfielder who can get to.

Sasac who went 0-3 against the Cardinals starter Michael Wacha who won it 2-1 on Monday. The Giants secret weapons traveled from Chicago and is in Pittsburgh now. Wacha has rebounded nicely from serving up some real big home runs from last year in San Francisco and his having himself a heck of season with a 14-4 ERA 2.85 record so far.

So behind the plate Susac caught well and he was catching starter Chris Heston who pitched just over four innings and threw a lot of pitches (102) in 4.2 innings as result. That puts some pressure on the bullpen, you hear rumors that not all the pitchers are always thrilled about throwing to one catcher or another. You won’t hear about anybody saying that they don’t like to throw to Susac but a lot of people would say they would prefer to throw to Posey.

Michael Duca does the Giants podcasts each week for http://www.sportsradioservice.com please listen to the podcast below

That’s Amaury’s Podcast, News, & Commentary: With US Embassy opened in Cuba expect nothing but the best in Cuban players to US

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by Amaury Pi Gonzalez

ANAHEIM–The US Embassy in Havana which had the flag raising last week is located in the same place where the last group of diplomats left it when the flag was lowered for the last time in 1961 when President Fidel Castro took over Cuba. I’m one of the few guys to live long enough to remember I was in Cuba when the US flag went down after Castro declared Cuba a communist country and he claimed he had been communist all his life.

That’s when the US and Cuba broke relations and a few months later I left Cuba to come to the US, my family sent me, then my younger brother and my family came in. I’m one of the few guys who can tell that story and I’ve seen it on TV and I haven’t been there but last week the flag was raised there at the Embassy. I was there in 1960-61 I was a young kid but I remember and that building the US Embassy is right on the waterfront in downtown Havana.

It’s a beautiful building where it’s located. The US Embassy when the flag came down in the early 60s and the diplomats left Cuba it was like an emergency evacuation, they weren’t chased out or put in jail but left under international interest. Cuba broke relations in haste that the diplomats had to leave the US Embassy and put the flag down.

It’s good that the people in Cuba probably benefited a lot Cuba is still a very repressive system, there’s no free press, there’s no free ownership, or private ownership. So hopefully things will change and Castro won’t live forever and that system will eventually collapse and hopefully Cuba will have freedom.

People don’t realize that Cubans don’t have access to the internet and their cell phones are being bugged or listened into by the Cuban government. Cuba is 90 miles from the US but they might as well be on another planet and they still live in the 50s. It’s good for the people of Cuba and of course the baseball players it’s a panacea. Basically they would be able to leave without any problems they won’t have to escape the island like the way they used to.

For example the Royals Kendrys Morales whose a great DH player, I get to talk to Morales all the time and he’s a great guy he’s the DH for the Royals whose got the best record in the American League. He tried to escape Cuba eight or nine times and in the end he succeeded so those days might be over. Players might be able to get on the plane and come over to the states and play MLB.

Amaury Pi Gonzalez is the Spanish radio voice for the A’s, the TV Spanish voice for the Angels, and does Podcast, News, and Commentary weekly at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Oakland Raiders podcast with Jeremy Kahn: Better than last year these Raiders are ready to go

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by Jeremy Kahn

ALAMEDA–The Oakland Raiders are all set for the first of four games and the veteran Charles Woodson an 18 year veteran whose been in the league and he can help the Raiders out a lot with his expertise back there. Head coach Jack Del Rio is ready to use Derek Carr out there for a little while and then go with his back ups and it’s pre season and they’ll play a couple of series and they’ll go to the back up.

The Raiders will go to a couple of series and look at a few of the players that most likely won’t make the team in September. Del Rio wants to get these kids a chance under their belt to play an actual NFL pre season game. Running back Roy Helu Jr is a good ball player who played in Washington last year. Look at running back Latavius Murray and Taiwan Jones whose in his third year, let’s face it the Raiders are stacked.

The Raiders are stacked on the offense and their looking forward to seeing running back Trent Richardson, receivers Michael Crabtree and Amari Cooper, Cooper who did wonders in Alabama for the Crimson Tide. Trindon Holliday is a great receiver, look out for Andre Holmes these kids are going to be good. The Raiders a just a year away from making it to the promise land and making post season.

Del Rio as a coach has a lot of experience whose worked with the Cleveland Browns in the NFL, he worked in Jacksonville, he worked in Denver, he has seen the Raiders up close up and personal. He knows the personnel he’s a local kid he knows the Raider mystique as well. There is a huge difference with the changes as opposed to last season.

The Raiders had two head coaches Dennis Allen and Tony Sparano and it wasn’t working with them and they didn’t know what they were doing and that’s why they needed to go. General Manager Reggie McKenzie said, “we need to change it up and they need to hit the bricks” and that’s what happened and the Raiders are looking for good things from head coach Jack Del Rio.

McKenzie brought in Del Rio who he’s known for a long time and McKenzie has been doing this for a long time too. This is a make or break year for the Raiders. It’s the fourth year with McKenzie and it’s time for the Raiders to get going. The Raiders fans their patient they’ve waited a long time to get to the playoffs and 2002 was eons basically.

Jeremy Kahn is the Oakland Raiders beat writer and does Raider podcasts each week at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

photo SF Gate