Author: lleonardbw

Cal Bears basketball commentary & podcast: Cal gets sets for USC and UCLA can they rebound after some tough loses?

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by Michael Duca and Morris Phillips

BERKELEY–At the time that the Cal Bears were the worst 10-1 team in the nation and they got out and dropped three out of four since that time surprisingly the win came against a ranked team. The loses came against a couple of terrible teams Bakersfield which was at an RPI of 340 and Washington State who had an RPI of 210. So what’s going on?

It was a deceptively fast 10-1 start if you look at the RIP numbers of the teams that they’ve beaten your looking at Syracuse and Eastern Washington 1-2 obviously Washington is the most recent win 81-75 that is best win of the season but prior to that Syracuse, Eastern Washington being ahead of Syracuse as the Orange are not having a good year (10-4). Once again these teams are just flawlessly scheduled.

The thing is a college basketball team has all the control over all of their none conference games and no control over their conference schedule. It’s like day and night which why Cal plays on Wednesday night right after they play on Sunday. The schedule is going to where them down, their thin their still missing Jabari Bird and there’s a lot of potential there.

It’s definitely potential that Cal is going to realize Cal is not sure if their going to see Bird again this season. He was in a boot and what the severity of it is is still a mystery. Stress factures of the foot have a strange way of healing, first of all they have a funny way of happening to the Cal Bears the team seems to have lower leg injuries every year that take out a player and just destroy the mix.

The Bears in particular the best that probably happen for them is to figure out early on if their not going to go anywhere this year and get some serious playing time for guys who deserve it in order to develop. Christian Behrens is not a player, there’s just no two ways about it he brings them nothing on offense Washington State can figure that out they let him shoot anytime he wanted to ten feet and out and he doesn’t have the physical presence or the confidence in those knees to mix it up underneath on defense.

So let’s get some more playing time for Kingsley Okoroh, and that was a great move against Washington to play Okoroh to play Roger Moute a Bidas and both those guys have a real defense presence and a way to help the team this year. Obviously going forward they have a lot more potential and we don’t want to knock any of these kids individually but Behrens needs to play less. The Bears realize that and he finally played 17 minutes against Washington on Friday night.

Listen to the podcast wtih Morris Phillips and Michael Duca who cover Cal Bears basketball for http://www.sportsradioservice.com

That’s Amaury’s News and Commentary with podcast: Rams taking a look at moving back to L.A. and so are the Raiders

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by Amaury Pi Gonzalez

OAKLAND–A couple of years ago I saw the plans for the new football stadium in downtown Los Angeles and I’m sure their going to build it but I don’t know if the Raiders are going to go there. The Raiders have considered moving back to L.A. they do have more fans there than they do in Oakland. Mind you the L.A. area is a huge area so you can draw more people and the have twice as many people down there as they do here in the Bay Area.

As far as the poor conditions of the Oakland Coliseum I sympathize with Raiders owner Mark Davis and if I was him I would be looking for a new facility it’s no secret the Oakland A’s play there for six months for 81 games and their looking for another place and everyone knows they want to move to San Jose. So why not the Raiders? For a football fan it’s not as bad because you only play ten games at home compared to 81 games for the A’s.

It’s conceivable for a Raiders fan who can fly to L.A. for the weekend and stay their not going to follow the team all over the country. It’s not that bad for a football fan compared to a baseball fan if they lose the team. That’s what people don’t talk about, if you have money to go to the NFL you can go on a plane from Oakland to Los Angeles and watch your team because you take your family and friends and make a weekend out of it.

So it’s very possible that it could happen and I would not be surprised if the Raiders are the team going down to the Southland. I know their going to build sooner or later a brand new downtown stadium in L.A. for most likely the Rams. The TV market is a huge market and it’s only number two to New York. It’s just a matter of time that they build a park and I saw the proposed sketching of the park years ago and yes it will be there by Figueroa Street right next to the Staples Center.

They probably will have to close the whole area down and right across the street from the Staples Center is a huge plaza that has LA Live that they do TV and radio broadcasting. They will close a couple streets down in the area on Saturday and Sundays and if they build a stadium and an NFL team goes back to LA I’m sure the whole area will be closed. Even in the football season when there is no basketball the Staples Center is busy everyday, you always have some event there.

There’s the ice show, RV Show, the circus, concerts there is always something going on at Staples Center and in basketball season when the Lakers are on the road the Clippers are home and vice versa. The Staples Center is one of the busiest places in the country there’s always something going on. There are only two or three days a year that they don’t have anything scheduled. They do maintenance those two or three days.

It’s very likely that the Raiders could leave Oakland and move to L.A. that would make a lot of sense especially the Raiders by the time they conclude the time is right they can head to L.A. that would be the perfect fit if he Raiders can go down to L.A.

Hear the rest of Amaury’s commentary & podcast below click on the sound cloud ikon. Amaury does News and Commentary each week right here on http://www.sportsradioservice.com

NCAA Playoffs commentary & podcast: Previews N.Dak St vs. ILL; Ohio-Oregon; Stuart Scott dedication

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by Michelle Richardson

Ohio (13-1) vs. Oregon (13-1): With these two teams meeting this is what we ask for people and I’m going to tell you my picks are completely off and this is the great thing about having these playoffs games you got to play this game you just got to play. Florida State and Alabama are gone. It’s really nice that there are some new teams in the playoffs. It’s been a few years since last season prior that Oregon has made it to a finals and there is going to be some new life.

It’s not going to be the same ole same ole were tired of seeing Alabama and there are other teams that deserve to be there. This match up between these two teams are truly exciting to see Ohio State who I didn’t think belong there. This does go to show you that TCU did belong there. TCU (12-1) beat the crap out of Ole Miss (9-4) 42-3. TCU set out to show everybody that they should have been in the Final Four and their right.

FLorida State (13-1) they didn’t get beat but they definitely got roughed up in the school yard and that second half heroics didn’t happen. This will tell you about FSU quarterback Jameis Winston and moving forward. People are talking about Winston staying around another year. He’s going to make millions, he’s hot property and is headed to the NFL, if he stays in college another year it’s only going to cost himself money. Winston won a national championship, won a Heisman Trophy there’s no need for Winston to hang around.

North Dakota State (14-1) vs. Illinois State (13-1): This is not the first call to the finals for North Dakota State the Bisons have been running things for awhile in division two play. I’m a Howard University undergrad and you have to roll with the Bison and look at ND State just for that Bison look. Don’t count out Illinois State but I honestly think that ND State if you’ve been honestly following college football ND State has beat Western Ill, Missouri State, and Montana these are some schools that are putting out some tremendous talent.

ND State really are dominating their division so don’t think because it doesn’t happen in the power five there’s not good football out there. ND State proved year after year they can win and face wonderful products out there and they have young men full of heart and I believe that they can play at any level. The only difference is their playing FCS instead of SCS.

Stuart Scott (ESPN anchor) dedication: Sunday was a sad day when it was announced on ESPN that we lost a great sports anchor icon Stuart Scott at the age of 49. He was a sportscasting legend and I don’t say that lightly on Sunday Scott lost his battle with cancer. I literally woke up to picking up my phone and checking my emails and that’s the first thing that popped up on my screen. I’ve been watching this guy since 1993 since he came to Sportscenter he changed Sportscenter.

He’s changed it and if your not old enough to know he changed Sportscenter and made Sportscenter cool. We all love Chris Berman but Scott made Sportscenter cool. He used hip hop vernacular and infused it into the sports lexicon with booyah! Now you have Chris Iseman and many others trying to emulate what Scott did and what he said. It was Scott he’s that guy.

Scott made Sportscenter a really cool show to watch and he’s going to be missed, he was a father he wasn’t just a sportscaster. He was a father who always took time to talk about his daughters who were the light of his life. A bright light has just gone out in the sports world. Scott’s family and his two daughters Sydni and Taelor will miss him so much and I can not tell you how much I feel your pain but I hurt with you.

Michelle Richardson does NCAA Commentary each week on http://www.sportsradioservice.com listen to her podcast on Stuart Scott and the NCAA below

Golden State Warriors Commentary and podcast: OKC Thunder slated to be another big test for W’s this Monday night

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by David Zizmor

OAKLAND–The game that the Warriors played against the Toronto Raptors on Friday night was a fun game and it was against the number one team in the east versus the Warriors the number one team in the west. The Warriors came away the winner at the Oracle arena and this one was expected to be a little bit close 126-105 for the W’s win. We’ve seen a lot of interesting games between the Warriors and Raptors in the last few years. Especially last season almost a year ago, a little over a year ago where Toronto came into Oakland and promptly opened up a 27 point lead.

The Warriors stormed back and the Warriors won that one by double digits in a 30-40 points swing in that game which was really crazy. This game was a little bit different as Toronto jumped out to a lead somewhere in the second quarter but they were never able to maintain and they were trailing by a few points going into the half. The Warriors just had an amazing third quarter they shot the lights out all game long the Raptors just couldn’t figure out the W’s on defense.

No matter what Toronto tried to do they couldn’t hang with Golden State they just couldn’t stop the Warriors shooting. The Warriors went big, they small, they went middle no matter what they tried they weren’t able to defend the Warriors. When your the number one team in the east conference and your playing really great on the road like the Raptors have been you don’t figure your going to come into another team’s house and kind of lay a big egg like they did.

Toronto didn’t play a bad game but the fact of the matter is the Warriors played a great game and Toronto had no counter for it. That’s what the Warriors are doing these days team’s come in and give their best against the Warriors and end up losing that’s a sign of a great team. The Warriors after that big win streak (16) you would think “are they going to have a little bump in the road here are they going to slow down?” yes they lost a couple games and they came against some really good teams.

Games coming up vs. OKC and Indiana: The Warriors host the OKC Thunder on Monday night which is an exciting game as they have Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook to deal with and other guys like Serge Ibaka but the W’s feel like they can hang with anybody because they can. They’ve proven it. The Warriors are 26-5 on the season, that’s absurd there are recent seasons where the Warriors haven’t come close to 26 wins all season. Here we are this just past New Years and they have 26 games in the win column.

The Warriors have earned it, they’ve beaten all these teams already, they’re just playing confident basketball and it’s just not on the offensive side and they have the offensive fire power. Last season they were a very good defensive team let’s not sell them short the dubs are playing fantastic defense and that’s one thing they haven’t done in the past that you really notice when your watching this team. Their fantastic switching up their assignments.

The Warriors have OKC on Monday night and the Indiana Pacers on Wednesday night.

David Zizmor does commentary on Warriors basketball each week for http://www.sportsradioservice.com Dave talks Warriors basketball on the podcast scroll down below to listen

Stanford Cardinal basketball commentary & podcast: Cardinal glad to get that first Pac 12 conference victory under their belts

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by Matt Harrington

PALO ALTO–The Stanford Cardinal victory over the Washington Cougars at Maples Pavilion on Friday night was an interesting game because it was a reversal of what Stanford had done from last season in Pac 12 play where they rode their starters and marquee players for the first couple minutes of the game and they couldn’t hit a shot to save their lives earlier in the game. The Cardinal were 1-10 from the field to start the game.

Chasson Randle scored only one point in that early part of the game, by the end of the game it was a blow out for the Cardinal winning 71-56. Stanford later went on for the route so it was kind of a role reversal and the reserves came in and played a big role. They stepped up and the Cardinal were playing their first game without Reid Travis which was a huge loss for them.

Reid is the Cardinal starter five player and leading rebounder and the question was how the Cardinal were going to adapt to a new starting five and a new starting unit and how were some of these bench players going to step up too to expanded roles. They really passed the test the Cardinal got 71 one points in Pac 12 play. 71 points in conference play which is quite an accomplishment when your talking about a starting five that really weren’t rolled out for the entire non conference schedules. It was quite an accomplishment for Stanford to get the W there.

It’s been a string of solid games for the Cardinal you have to go all the way back to the upset win in Austin Texas. Really the last three games have been the best the Cardinal have played their entire season the Cardinal are putting together one heck of game of basketball. They have won three games in a row now, it’s really a confidence builder. Against Pine Bluff they had an advantage scoring the Cardinal have to get a little bit of rest.

Against Texas it was the Randle and Anthony Brown show, against Pine Bluff the Cardinal were draining threes, things are looking pretty healthy on the farm right now. The last three games there was a slow start against the Cougars but it was also a weird start time at 12 noon on a Friday afternoon which isn’t exactly the norm for college students. Really the last three games have been the best games that Stanford has been playing all season.

This is really the weird time of the year for college athletics because it’s mostly about bringing in the alumni, the students this time of the year are going back to the four corners of the world where they came from their on winter break so the campus seems a little bit like a ghost town. This is strange welcoming back the old alumni when I was out there at Maples there were more older fans, more alumni, more young professionals, more people who are deeply rooted into Stanford and into the program.

It’s a little bit of the weird period because it’s the start of conference play and everyone wants to go for it and you want to be excited for it and you want to be ready to go. The student energy isn’t there because the students are back home wherever they come from. So it’s a weird timing in the college basketball schedule the energy is sucked out of them a little bit with the students going home for the break.

Matt Harrington covers Stanford basketball for http://www.sportsradioservice.com scroll down to hear the podcast with Matt

That’s Amaury’s News and Commentary: California’s Golden age of baseball teams

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by Amaury Pi Gonzalez

OAKLAND–Four of the five California major league teams made it to the playoffs in 2014, that is a first. If all California teams were in a “California Division” this is the way they would have finished last season (prior to playoffs) 1-Angels 98-64, 2-Dodgers 94-68, 3-Athletics 88-74, 3-Giants 88-74, 4-Padres 77-85. The San Diego Padres were the only California team that did not advanced to the postseason. Is this California’s golden age for baseball? A strong case can be made, especially during the past few seasons, since the balance has shifted from the East to the West in both leagues.

How about World Series winners for our California teams? The Dodgers are still on top, with a total of five World Series championships, followed by the Athletics with four, the Giants with three, the Angels with one, and the Padres, still searching for their first. It took the Los Angeles Dodgers only two seasons to win their first World Series championship, after playing in Los Angeles for the first time in 1958, they won it in 1959. For the Oakland Athletics, who moved from Kansas City to Oakland in 1968, they did in five years as they won their first of four in 1972. For the Los Angeles Angels, who were born in LA in 1961, it took them 41 years to reach the top, when they won it in 2002, while for the San Francisco Giants, who moved from New York to San Francisco in 1958, it took them 52 years to win it for the first time, in 2010.

How about periods of dominance? The Oakland Athletics won three consecutive World Series, 1972,1973 and 1974, that’s three in three consecutive seasons and is the only team to accomplish such dynasty in California. The Los Angeles Dodgers won three World Series in a span of seven years, 1959, 1963 and 1965. And the Giants have won three World Series in a span of five years, 2010, 2012, and 2014. The Oakland Athletics became the first team in the expansion era to win three consecutive titles, led by a pitching staff of Catfish Hunter, Vida Blue, Ken Holtzman and Blue Moon Odom. Their offense was also one of the best in baseball, led by a young Reginaldo Martínez Jackson(Reggie). Of course you can throw the word “dynasty”all over the place in a very subjective matter, but nobody has been close to the New York Yankees in that regard, not only because they have won 27 World Series, most in history, but because they ruled baseball in various different decades.

Loading and Unloading for 2015:

Four of the five California teams, were extremely active in the recent Winter Meeting held in San Diego. The reigning champs San Francisco Giants were mostly the “spectators” here in the west. The Giants still could use another experienced starter, since nobody knows what Tim Lincecum is bringing in 2015. They will need a very healthy and effective Matt Cain, coming off surgery, and Superman MadBum at his best, plus another right handed bat, preferably an outfielder.

This off season(to date)the Oakland Athletics, Los Angeles Dodgers and San Diego Padres were the most active. For starters, The San Diego Padres will have a brand new outfield with Matt Kemp, Wil Myers and Justin Upton, among other new players, while the Los Angeles Dodgers have a new double-play combination, at shortstop with Jimmy Rollins and second base with Howie Kendrick. The Dodgers still have the best pitching rotation in the west with the three-headed-monster of Clayton “All World”Kershaw, Zack Greinke, who is actually a #1 in most places, except with the Dodgers, and Korean Hyun-Jin Ryu.

The Oakland Athletics, no strangers to dealing in the off season, did a lot of remodeling, or cleaning house if you wish,or retooling(a much more politically correct word) with starters Jon Lester, Jeff Samardzija, reliever Eric Gregerson, first baseman Brandon Moss, shortstop Jed Lowrie and third baseman Josh Donaldson all gone in trades mostly for young talent, and some(in the case of Josh Donaldson to Toronto) in return they received third baseman Brett Lawrie. who although prone to injury while in Toronto, still an accomplished major league player.Veteran infielder/utility Alberto Callaspo was also send packing, plus Derek Norris their All Star catcher last year went bye-bye.

Hard to doubt General Manager Billy Beane, since he always seems to have “the magic touch”, getting veteran players that do not produce anyplace else to produce at Oakland, as well as unknown young talent beginning to make a name for themselves. Beane still might have a couple of deals left, before pitcher and catchers report to Mesa, Arizona and their new Spring Training facility in the middle of February.

It is just very hard for A’s fans to keep up with the incoming and outgoing players every winter. If you are an A’s fan, just buy the Oakland Athletics Jersey (plain )without name and number, and then you can buy the names and numbers as they come, and just attached to the back. However, if you are a real nostalgia fan, you can still buy all the old stuff you need.

Some 50 days, remain in the calendar until pitchers and catchers report to Spring Training camps in Arizona and Florida.

Amaury Pi Gonzalez is the Spanish radio voice for Oakland A’s baseball and does News and Commentary for http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Cal Bears Basketball Commentary & podcast: Cal opens Pac 12 conference play with Washington

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by Michael Duca & Morris Phillips

BERKELEY–The Pac 12 Conference opener with the Washington Huskies (11-1) at Haas Pavilion tonight kicks off Cal’s first meeting with a Pac 12 team. Cal (10-3) is coming off that shocking loss to the CSU Bakersfield Roadrunners (3-10) 55-52 on Sunday. Roadrunners head coach Rod Barnes is no slouch of a coach who with Mississippi of the SCC and a long time coach in college basketball and he has got his guys ready to play against Cal Sunday and shocked a nation with that win.

So what team is going to show up tonight at Haas Pavilion? Is it the team that started out 11-1? Will Cal be able to continue at that pace when league play starts. Your really not sure what you got with Cal, you have a first year coach Cuonzo Martin first time through and here it is opening night with Washington and conference play.

Washington has one loss and Huskies head coach Lorenzo Romar is the dean of Pac 12 coaches whose been coaching and couldn’t have been more of an experienced coach. He has coached with longevity just in league play and is seeing his work pay off with a great 11-1 start. Romar is noted for his successful recruiting and has coached well. The thing with Romar people have constantly doubted him and last year was a down year and the rumors stared to come up that Romar would be on his way out.

Sure enough this team has won it’s first 11 games for 2014-15 season and the Huskies look good doing it with great defense they got the big guys in the middle and as usual the taller perimeter player can shoot. Romar as always been able to field a pretty good team. This is a league that’s kind of wide open. Utah Utes (10-2) has a wonderful team that have an emerging big man, they have an offensive guard that went to City College in San Francisco. You got to look at the Utes as the number two team in the Pac 12.

There are a number of schools in the Pac 12 that are trying to establish themselves and make it towards and obviously and qualify for the NCAA Tournaments for a Pac 12 bid. The Huskies and the Bears are right there in the thick of it and here they are on opening night, this opener is a big night in so many ways for both teams. Washington is coming off their first loss of the year to Stony Brook (8-6) 62-57 and Cal’s first loss to CSU Bakersfield on Sunday. So both teams are looking for a recovery from those loses.

In this league there is a lot of talent a lot of great coaches every night is a battle, USC (8-4) with head coach Andy Enfield played much better this month than last month they saw how much continuity they had but also how much talent they had. UCLA (8-5) is getting better as they’re coming from a place they haven’t been before under head coach Steve Alford. Alford is a very experienced coach but lost a lot good players Jordan Adams for example who is moving onto the NBA.

Cal hosts Washington tonight with a 7:00PM tip at Haas Pavilion

Morris Phillips and Michael Duca cover Cal men’s basketball for http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Sac Kings podcast & commentary report: Defense will be the Kings biggest stigma; fourth quarter drubbing in Boston is evidence of that

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by Jeff Hall

BOSTON–The Boston Celtics on Wednesday night got off to a great start in their big victory over the Sacramento Kings 106-84 at TD Garden. The Kings are moving onto Minnesota and Detroit for their next two games. The Celts ran the game with a opening 9-0 run and the Kings were behind from the beginning to the end. The loss is a reflection that the Kings DeMarcus Cousins needs more help in the line up and off the bench and it’s not going very well of late if he doesn’t get more help.

The Kings have lost two of their last eight games under new head coach Tyrone Corbin and the game in Boston was Corbin’s sixth loss. Corbin is 2-6 since he has taken over. The Kings wanted to move away the defensive play which is what former head coach Mike Malone was focused on. The Kings have now done that because they have not played good defense as reflected in the 22 point loss to Boston from Wednesday night. The Kings have now given up 100 points or more to every opponent since Corbin has taken over.

The Minnesota Timberwolves might be something that the doctor ordered for the Kings as the Wolves are 5-25 and the Kings have a shot at this game although no game is easy for the Kings. It seems that whenever they have a team they should beat they don’t play well they always play at the level of the team their playing. There’s a chance here the Kings could get a win on the road and they’ve lost six straight on the road so it’s their hope they can break that streak.

The Celtics dominated most of the way and the Kings didn’t play very good defense the only time the Kings really had a shot at it was in the second quarter when they tied the game up. That was the best chance Sacramento had and then they went south and the third quarter was not good. The Celtics ended that third quarter with a three point shot by the Celtics Marcus Smart. That game was pretty much over at that point and the Kings defense was not much in the fourth quarter. The Kings played actually their worst basketball of the game in the fourth quarter.

Cousins got stopped all night and it was very frustrating in his tally to get 11 points and there was a point when Cousins grabbed onto Smart’s jersey and threw him to the floor which resulted in his second technical foul for the game and he was done for the night. Cousins first technical came earlier in the game for arguing with the referee for a non-call he thought that he was fouled and unfortunately those arguments never go the player’s way.

The Kings Rudy Gay also didn’t have a great performance he finished up with only nine points for the evening, so if your going to be without Cousins your going to need a pick me up somewhere else and that’s going to have to come from Gay. The best performance from the Kings last night came from Carl Landry and Derron Collision both scored 14 points in the contest. The Kings get ready for a 5:00 PM PST tip at the Target Center with the Timberwolves tonight.

Listen to the rest of the podcast below and follow Jeff Hall covering the Kings on http://www.sportsradioservice.com

That’s Amaury’s News and Commentary: Roberto Clemente A man for all ages

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by Amaury Pi Gonzalez

Today is the 42nd anniversary of the great Roberto Clemente. On Dec. 31, 1972, Major League baseball player Roberto Clemente, 38, was killed when a plane he’d chartered and was traveling onto bringing relief supplies to earthquake stricken Nicaraguan’s disappeared north of the coast of San Juan, Puerto Rico. Clemente chartered a DC-3 with some friends and was taking all kinds of medicines to the many suffering in Managua, Nicaragua after a devastating earthquake. Clemente’s body was never found, buried at sea with the plane he chartered.

Clemente was inducted posthumously to the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1973, becoming the first Latin American to be enshrined. His death established the precedent that as an alternate to the five year retirement period, a player deceased for at least 6 months is eligible for entry into the Hall of Fame.

Clemente is the first Latino player to win a World Series as a starter (1960), to receive a National League MVP Award (1966), and to receive a World Series MVP Award (1971). He also won the Presidential Medal of Freedom, and was honored by the United States Postal Service with a first class stamp.

Born in Carolina, Puerto Rico(also called El Cometa de Carolina/The Carolina Comet)originally signed by the Brooklyn Dodgers as amateur Free Agent in 1954. Made his debut at the age of 20 on April 17, 1955 with the Pittsburgh Pirates and played 18 years, until 1972. His last game was on October 3, 1972, In 18 seasons with the Pirates Clemente played in 2,433 games, hit 240 home runs, drove in 1,305 runs and ended with a .317 batting average. Won the most(tied with Willie Mays) Gold Gloves by an outfielder with 12.

He is a member of the “3,000 Club”. Thought he had hit #3,000 on September 29, 1972, as he safely beat out a ball that never left the infield at Three Rivers Stadium in Pittsburgh. But the official scorer rules that Mets second baseman Ken Boswell erred on the play and Clemente went hit-less the rest of the game. Clemente’s, historic hit was the next day as the was the key in a fourth inning Pirate rally with a double against the left field wall off Met pitcher Jon Matlack.

As history will have it, that double, his 3,000 hits was his final at bat of the season, and tragically, the last of his career. His defensive prowess in right field was well documented, his style of play was always 100 percent. The language barrier did him no favors, as he was often miss-quoted, and also suffered discrimination. I was writing for El Mundo News of Oakland during his last year in the Major Leagues,(1972) and as I covered a game at Candlestick Park between the Giants and the Pirates after Clemente struck out, a Pittsburgh writer in loud voice said “send him back in a banana boat!”. I would always remember that. To this day Major League Baseball Roberto Clemente’s Humanitarian Award is given to a player.

Roberto Clemente was a very talented baseball player, maybe the best “bad pitch hitter” ever, with the best arm ever seen from right field, a quiet, proud, and very disciplined gentleman, he was A Man for All Ages.

Roberto Clemente’s 3,000th Hit
Date: September 30, 1972 Location: Three Rivers Stadium, Pittsburgh
Club: Pittsburgh (NL) Opponent: New York (NL)
Pitcher: John Matlack Hit: Double
Total career hits: 3,000

Amaury Pi Gonzalez is the vice president of the Major League Baseball Hispanic Heritage Museum and does News and Commentary each week for http://www.sportsradioservice.com