Author: lleonardbw

Sportstalk Podcast @ Le Colonial Restaurant in downtown SF Mon Jun 22, 2015

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Cast: Michael Duca (host), David Zizmor, Jeremy Kahn, Morris Phillips, Jessica Kwong, and Lee Leonard (producer) enjoy French-Vietnamese dining thanks to our hosts Dining Manager Nur Zayed, Sales Manager Dahlia, and Server Andrian. Le Colonial serves dinner each night of the week. We recommend Le Colonial’s appetizers Crispy rolls with Dungeness crabs, chicken, and shrimp, there are more appetizers to choose from.

For Entree’s Lemongrass chicken roasted breast & sautéed thigh meat, also try the Coconut water braised pork shoulder, served with scallion, and also another favorite Coconut curry prawns with eggplant, shitake mushrooms, mango, potato, yellow onion and basil.

On Sportstalk at Le Colonial the panel discusses the suicide-murder of former San Francisco Giant Darryl Hamilton, the Golden State Warriors go golfing post season, and the A’s finally are stringing some key wins together.

San Francisco Giants commentary with Michael Duca: Darryl Hamilton was a father, friend, teammate, and co-worker

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Giant centerfielder Darryl Hamilton. (photo: Tom Gallagher 3/28/98 Review Sports)
Giant centerfielder Darryl Hamilton. (photo: Tom Gallagher 3/28/98 Review Sports)

by Michael Duca

SAN FRANCISCO–Former San Francisco Giant outfielder Darryl Hamilton 50 was shot and killed by his girlfriend Monica Jordan 44 on Monday in a murder suicide at their Pearland Texas home. Their 14 month old child was found in the home unhurt. According to authorities at the scene Hamilton was shot inside the front door area of the home. Questions to whether Hamilton was trying to get away from Jordan and escape through the front door is still not known.

“At this point there does not appear to be a struggle the incident took place inside the front door” said police Lieutenant Onesimo Lopez who spoke to reporters at the Hamilton home.

Hamilton was an MLB Network analyst he played 13 seasons with the Milwaukee Brewers, Texas Rangers, San Francisco Giants, Colorado Rockies, and New York Mets. Hamilton was close to the his teammates when he with the Giants and he was admired for his hard work and what he brought to the clubhouse and the team by Giants manager Dusty Baker.

Hamilton finished his career with a .291 average, 1333 hits, 707 runs scored, 454 RBIs, Hamilton was relentlessly positive as a person and his getting killed and shot like this was a waste and it leaves several children without a father. It leaves one child without a mother and it proves like every other murder-suicide in history the shooter got the order wrong.If you want to do something like this do it yourself but leave the rest of us alone.

Hamilton was always smiling, always thoughtful, and most of what I knew of the personal side of Darryl he was involved in his church, he was a father to his kids, he was available for appearances, he was available for fundraising, he would bid out prices and would buy up some of the auction items to help out with causes. He was generous to a fault. Right now I’m just consumed with rage over this.

Hamilton was one of the rare guys whose talents on the field and ended up talking about the game on radio, TV and the MLB Network. Given a fair opportunity he would have developed into a better analyst than he was player. Hamilton was part of a long line of veteran outfielders that former Giants manager Dusty Baker brought in with the likes of Ellis Burks and Eric Davis there was a long, long, list guys who brought character to the clubhouse.

Michael Duca is a San Francisco Giants analyst for http://www.sportsradioservice.com

NHL Podcast with Joe Lami: Sharks Hannan release not surprising while Scott’s release was a somewhat surprise

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by Joe Lami

SAN JOSE–Its really not surprising with the release of unrestricted free agent Scott Hannan he’s an older player and he was brought back to San Jose to play the seventh defenseman and he was seeing a lot more playing time than the Sharks were comfortable with. It’s clear that he’s towards the end of his career. It was nice that he was able to come back to San Jose and end it.

Hannan still could get signed by another NHL club for a team that’s looking for a seventh defenseman where he won’t get as much playing time but this could mark the end of Hannan’s career. In terms of John Scott it was more shocking that the Sharks didn’t sign him and it’s understandable why they wouldn’t sign him in wanting to bring in more rookies.

Scott had a great year last season for the Sharks he had his best offensive year in getting the three goals that he got and it’s a bit shocking that he won’t be back. Having Scott coming back would have been a good thing he had good minutes and he played in important games and he was a force against tough teams like Anaheim, LA, or against some of the really physical teams in the NHL.

So not brining Scott back is a bit of a shock but again it’s not a complete surprise that they didn’t do it. As far as goaltender Antti Niemi is by far gone the Sharks just haven’t announced it yet. They would have resigned Niemi and get him a contract during the season if that’s what their intentions were to keep him on in San Jose.

Right now the Sharks defense is absolutely atrocious it’s really one of the worst defenses in the NHL and the fact that Hannan was on it who played 58 games last season that acquaints plus-minus zero you don’t want to see a plus minus. The Sharks really need to work on their defense and that’s their biggest problem now.

To hear more about the latest transitions regarding the SJ Sharks & the NHL listen to Joe on the podcast below weekly at http://www.sportsrasdioservice.com

That’s Amaury’s News and Commentary: There’s no hacking in baseball? (photo of John Mozeliak GM Cardinals)

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Amaury Pi-González

OAKLAND–We all remember the popular line by actor Tom Hanks in the movie “A League of their Own”, when he said: “there is no crying in baseball”! Well, there might be no crying today with all the money thrown around players and organizations making big profits, but it seems that there is some hacking in baseball going on. The St Louis Cardinals are been investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigations(FBI)for hacking into the Houston Astros.

It was then the New York Times who first broke the news, that St Louis Cardinals employees were stealing information as they hacked the database of the Houston Astros. It is not yet fully known how many times this did happened, the FBI said they will soon finish their investigation in this very particular case.

Now, it’s one thing for a manager or player to steal the signal of the other team during a game, and another thing is to deliberately hack another team and get information about scouting, personnel, team planning, prospects they are seeking, and other stuff that should not be taken by illegal means.

It appears that the St Louis Cardinals might have been doing this to the Houston Astros for years.
My question is, why the Astros?. Nobody hacked their computers when they were finishing last, or maybe that is why they have finished last, because the other teams(in this case)the Cardinals had all their private information.

Whatever it is,we shall know very soon. No doubt that for the new baseball Commissioner, Rob Manfred, this will be his first big task. Manfred visited the Oakland A’s prior to the game this Saturday at the Coliseum, and among the very interesting things he said, is that he believes that the Athletics and the Raiders cannot(repeat cannot)co-exist in the OCO.

Previous Commissioner Bud Selig,presided over the steroids era and scandals, maybe Fred Manfred will have to battle social media, hacking and all this technology stuff. He better be ready, Manfred is the Social Media Commissioner.

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

San Francisco 49ers and Oakland Raiders podcast with David Zizmor Sat Jun 20, 2015

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by David Zizmor

This is the most unusual off season for any team the San Francisco 49ers haven’t had to deal with any significant legal issues of late. Ray McDonald is gone he was a member of the Chicago Bears for a short time. The 49ers have had to deal with a string of unexpected retirements, Justin Smith was the only one that was kind of expected.

Patrick Willis, Chris Borland, and Anthony Davis, your talking about three starters there who all retired these are guys at least as far as the NFL is concerned that were not at the end of their careers. Borland was just entering his second season, Willis was going to enter his tenth and Davis was entering his fifth season. Davis was a young guy he was only like 25.

Davis entered the league pretty young in the first place these were all guys who were starters, Willis is a guy who could be in the Hall of Fame someday. Borland was a borderline rookie of the year and Davis made one Pro Bowl were talking about some real high quality starters who all retired without any foreknowledge of the media or the 49ers.

The 49ers didn’t anticipate it, the media didn’t anticipate it either they certainly had no clue that these retirements were coming. So to be able to fill those holes on short notice is really going to bring a lot competition in the 49ers camp this coming July. Davis’ position at right tackle that’s going to be the biggest one because his retirement was well after the draft.

Oakland Raiders update: You look at the Raiders and the Niners and two years ago the Niners were coming off a Super Bowl loss and it looked like they were going to be competitive for a long time. The Raiders were just awful they had no talent on their roster. They were rebuilding about the fifth year in the row and that’s what it seems like.

The Raiders were going nowhere and now the Niners seems to be the team that’s stuck in neutral and nobody seems to know what their doing. The Raiders well I’m not going to sit here and tell you that the Raiders are going to be a playoff team. You look at that team and they have a lot to do. The Raiders have some sort of direction.

They seemed to have an upward trend, they picked quarterback Derek Carr last season in the draft and he got into the starting line up a few games into the season and from the time he started he looked like he was gong to be a good player. Carr seemed to improve over the course of the season, he needed some help the Raiders didn’t have much of a running game.

Their receiving core needed some improvement, the Raiders seemed to address that in the draft and their getting better Carr looks like a long term keeper. It’s not known if he’s going to be a Pro Bowler but he definitely looks like he could be a strong starting quarterback in the NFL. That’s a big deal that’s something that the Raiders haven’t had in a long time.

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

That’s Amaury’s News and Commentary: Bay of Champions

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by Amaury Pi Gonzalez

OAKLAND–With the Golden State Warriors first NBA title in 40 years, and second since they move from Philadelphia, the Bay Area has enjoyed great success in sports.

Once Oakland was called “City of Champions”and we can see why below with all their titles. In the recent past the San Francisco Giants have been winning and have joined the 49ers who are the cunningest team in the bay as far as championships.

Oakland:

Athletics (4)four World Series titles (1972,1973,1974,1989)

Raiders (3)NFL Superbowl tittles (1977,1981,1984)*

Warriors (2)NBA Titles (1975,2015)

49ERS (5)NFL Superbowl titles (1982,1985,1989,1990,1995)

Giants (3)MLB Three World Series titles(2010,2012,2014)

San Jose Sharks: zip

San Jose Sabercats (3) 2002, 2004, 2007

Earthquakes (2)MLS Soccer titles(2001,2003)

*That Superbowl (1984)was won by the Raiders while their short stay in Los Angeles, but we all agree when you talk Raiders, you think of Oakland not Los Angeles. Although the Warriors first played in San Francisco/Daly City, the Cow Palace, and San Jose Arena while they were building what is now known as the Oracle Arena, they have won both of their titles playing in Oakland.

How many more could be in store? Maybe the San José Sharks would win their first Stanley Cup next season, then we could say that all of our professional sports teams are truly champions.

Amaury Pi-González, will be covering the Warriors Victory Parade this Friday Live from 10AM on Telemundo Network Bay Area, KSTS CH 48 San José.
Pearl Lo will be covering the Warriors victory Parade with Amaury for http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Oakland A’s podcast with Charlie O: A’s win streak reaches three get set to host two with San Diego

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by Charlie O Mallonee

After dropping two out of three in Anaheim the Oakland A’s had better luck in San Diego with a two game sweep over the Padres with a 6-5 win on Tuesday afternoon at the Oakland Coliseum. The A’s have now won three in a row, it’s kind of systematic of who the A’s have been and will be for the rest of the season. Tuesday’s game a picture perfect game to describe the state of the A’s.

The A’s got some hitting they got some good pitching, they had some not so good pitching but they were able to pull it off. The A’s scored six runs and eight hits, they had six walks, Scott Kazmir had surrendered five hits on three runs six strike outs. They were selective, we talked a lot about runners in scoring position.

Also we had talked about the A’s lack of production effort the A’s in Tuesday’s game went three for nine with runners in scoring position. The A’s got some timely hitting, they got some good relief pitching, and then they got some not so good relief pitching but they were able to pull it off. The A’s were able to score six runs with eight hits and they had six walks.

The A’s hitters were selective at the plate throughout the game, we talked a lot about runners in scoring position and their lack of production they were 3-9 with runners in scoring position. You’ll take a .339 average with runners in scoring position all season long. They did well and they did well the other day on Sunday in Anaheim against the Angels.

So the A’s are starting to pick that up a little bit and their starting to get some timely hitting, Ben Zobrist a guy who’s not been hitting for high average but has been coming through with timely hits hit a two run home run his third homer of the season off Padre pitcher Andrew Cashner. Zobrist’s homer couldn’t have been timed any better.

Charlie O does A’s commentary each week at http://www.sportsradioservice.com listen to the podcast below

That’s Amaury’s Podcast, News, and Commentary: FBI probe into Cardinal officials hacking Astros GM Luhnow (photo John Luhnow right and George Postolos)

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by Amaury Pi Gonzalez

LOS ANGELES–The St.Louis Cardinals officials that are being investigated for hacking into the Houston Astros network are believed to have hacked from their home according to the FBI. The idea of a Major League team hacking into another club’s network is unheard of and this is something that is totally unprecedented. The computer world of hacking has now come to MLB.

The Cardinals are a very successful franchise way before the computer world, the won back in the days of the 1940s with Enos Slaughter and Stan Musial and those guys. Then in the 60s with Bob Gibson, Curt Flood, and Lou Brock. Then later with Albert Pujols and Mark McGwire. Pujols this year is doing very well with the Angels.

This is a unique case and were going to learn more as this case develops when the FBI finishes up their investigation. The FBI is a serious crew they don’t investigate just anybody they will look into this case thoroughly and that’s what investigators do. Who knows they might investigate if other MLB teams are doing the same thing.

Right now were not privy into all the forthcoming information and the FBI is looking into the St.Louis Cards hacking the Astros network and the FBI investigating is a serious organization. This is one of the most respected and feared organizations in the world and remember the FBI is the organization that investigated the FIFA money embezzlement scandal. This hacking case which involves the Cardinals is a very interesting case and this will be followed very closely.

Former Cardinals executive Jeff Luhnow was very smart with developing the Cardinals success and now the Astros huge success and Luhnow speaks perfect Spanish. He’s a very bright guy he ended up bringing a number of Cardinal executives to Houston with him and the Cardinals were seeking revenge and there was jealously and it wouldn’t be surprising if the Cards were not trying to get back at Luhnow.

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 listen to his podcast below

https://soundcloud.com/sports-radio-service/thats-amaurys-news-and-commentary-tue-jun-16-2015

San Francisco Giants podcast with Michael Duca: Get away night games wore out Giants coming back to S.F. for homestands

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by Michael Duca

SAN FRANCISCO–The San Francisco Giants who brought a eight game consecutive home loss streak into AT&T Park and by all means necessary want to avoid a franchise record 11 game home loss streak. The club is not too panicky right now just being 3.5 games behind first place Los Angeles. You have to go back to the 1940 New York Giants to find the last Giant team that lost 11 straight at home.

The 2015 Giants will need over three homestands to eclipse the New York record. With train travel in 1940 and not plane travel 11 game homestands were pretty common back then. The Giants want to avoid their third five game loss streak at home. Let’s face it you show up and you put on the uniform and you strap it on everyday with the intention of winning. It’s not a question of you wanting to avoid a five game losing streak you want to avoid a one game losing streak. You just come out to win everyday and that’s the goal that’s the reason why you show up.

The Giants had a successful road trip in Philadelphia and New York combined going 4-1, that was a good road trip, this is a good road team, this is one of the best road teams in baseball. These guys know each other they like each other and they get along well. To be perfectly blunt and honest with you one of the reasons these homestands have been terrible is that the schedule makers just butchered things for the Giants on this particular trip.

This is going to happen again very soon, the Mets had the option on get away day to determine the time o and they made the Giants play a night game. The game went a little longer than anybody would have hoped it wanted to go and as a consequence they missed the curfew at LaGuardia by six minutes. They had to get leave LaGuardia and take a bus to the other side of Long Island to JFK where the private terminal was being occupied by a Saudi Prince and they waited for that to be cleared before they can get on a different aircraft from the one they originally chartered to come back to SFO and they played a game that night.

That’s going to throw them off and get you out of your routine, it won’t be long and it will happen again, there’s another selected getaway night on a Sunday in Washington that the Nationals selected on July 5th which is scheduled as a 8:00PM EDT game and afterwards the Giants hop a charter again and fly out to SFO and then play that same night they arrive on Mon Jul 6th for a 7:15pm start.

Michael Duca does San Francisco Giants commentary at http://www.sportsradioservice.com listen to his podcast below

That’s Amaury’s Podcast, News and Commentary: No I in Golden State as they set out to beat best in the world LeBron

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by Amaury Pi Gonzalez

As much as the Cleveland Cavaliers LeBron James says that he’s the best basketball player on earth the fact is he can’t do it all. The Golden State Warriors are just a different team. The W’s have too many weapons and Stephen Curry is a machine. Here again the Cavaliers are against the wall. They hope to win game six in Cleveland on Tuesday night and force a game seven which I really don’t want to happen because the A’s are playing at the Coliseum the same day the Warriors would be hosting game seven on a Friday night.

When the Warriors and the A’s play at the same time the parking lot will look more like morning commute traffic with everybody trying to get in the building. The Warriors definitely look like the best team and like LeBron said and he’s right he’s probably the best player in the world. So we’ll see what happens.

It’s not about A player it’s about A team. Right now the Golden State Warriors are the better team. The Warriors were ahead in game five and Cleveland came back and tied it up but the Warriors once again pulled it out. These two teams are taking it game by game and it’s going to go to seven games at this rate. I said on our last show at Flames restaurant in San Jose that the Warriors will win this series in six games.

So in game six Tuesday the Warriors could wrap it up, the thing about the Warriors is that they’ve been the best team the whole year. Sometimes in any sport like baseball the Giants who last year were the best thing in baseball they won 88 games. They got in by winning a one game playoff against Pittsburgh and they peaked at the right time and went all the way from there.

The Giants won the World Series and they had roughed it out all season long but won the World Series in the end, in the Warriors case they were the best team in the NBA from the beginning. Golden State is almost unbeatable at Oracle Arena, so my point is when a team plays that well for a whole season they’re confidence is sky high. The Warriors know themselves, they might not be as arrogant as LeBron whose the best player in the world which is true but still the Warriors have that factor and confidence.

Amaury Pi Gonzalez is the Spanish radio voice for the A’s and the former Spanish radio voice for the Warriors and does News and Commentary at http://www.sportsradioservice.com listen to his podcast below