San Jose State heads into first of two bye weeks

Photo credit: sjsuspartans.com

By Ana Kieu

San Jose State headed into the first of two bye weeks. The first began on Monday, September 9th and the second will take place on Sunday, November 10th following the Spartans’ road game against the Hawaii Rainbow Warriors in Halawa, Hawaii Saturday, November 9th.

Here are the details on SJSU’s next game.

Game #3
SJSU at Arkansas
Saturday, September 21, 2019
Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium
6:30 p.m. CT/4:30 p.m. PT, SEC Network

SJSU record: 1-1, 0-0 Mountain West. Most recently, SJSU lost a non-conference contest to Tulsa, 34-16, on September 7.

Arkansas record: 1-1, 0-1 SEC. The Razorbacks lost at Ole Miss, 31-17, on September 7. Arkansas hosts Colorado State on September 14 before facing SJSU.

Series history: This is the first meeting between these teams.

Aiming for a road victory: SJSU plays its first road game of the season at Arkansas. The Spartans are seeking their first road win in 14 games since leaving Fresno State with a 16-14 triumph on November 26, 2016.

The last time SJSU won a road game in Central Time Zone was a 52-24 victory over UTSA in the Alamodome on October 20, 2012. Since then, the Spartans are 0-6 in games played in the Central Time Zone with losses to Auburn and Minnesota, twice each, and Tulsa and Iowa State, once each.

Another chance for 2-1: SJSU has its next opportunity to have a 2-1 win-loss record after three games when it plays Arkansas.

The last time the Spartans had a 2-1 record after three games was in 2012 when SJSU topped Colorado State, 40-20, in its third game of the season en route to an 11-2 overall record and a #21-ranking in the final AP poll.

Since then, the Spartans had chances in 2013, 2014, 2015, and 2017.

Play-by-play radio coverage: KKSF (910 AM, Oakland), RealTalk 910, is the new flagship radio station for SJSU football. Justin Allegri calls the play-by-play. Tim Crawley provides commentary. The Arkansas broadcast begins at 4:00 p.m. PT before game time with a pregame show.

Network affiliates are KION (1460 AM/101.1 FM, Salinas), KFIV (1360 AM, Modesto), KWSX (1280 AM, Stockton).

Television: The SEC Network will provide broadcast coverage beginning at 6:30 p.m. CT/4;30 p.m. PT. The SEC Network is available on AT&T U-Verse Channel 607, Comcast Channel 421, DirecTV Channel 611, DISH Network Channel 404 and on Watch ESPN.

Aiming for a road win: SJSU plays its first road game of the season at Arkansas. The Spartans are seeking their first road win in 14 games since leaving Fresno State with a 16-14 triumph on November 26, 2016.

Returning to Arkansas: SJSU has the opportunity to play in its third different football venue when it plays Arkansas on September 21.

Previously, the Spartans won their 2002 season opener against Arkansas State at War Memorial Stadium in Little Rock, 33-18, on August 31.

SJSU’s first trip to Arkansas resulted in a 21-7 loss to Arkansas State at Indian Stadium, now known as Centennial Bank Stadium in Jonesboro.

Spartans break onside trend: For the first time since the November 1, 2014 Colorado State game, SJSU recovered an onside kick when Christian Webb came up with the football in a successful attempt in the Tulsa game.

The Spartans had gone 0-for-10 in onside kick attempts during the 2015 through 2018 seasons.

Two games, no pass interceptions thrown: After two games, SJSU hasn’t given up the football via a pass interception. In comparison to the 2018 season, Spartan passers three interceptions.

The last time SJSU did not have a pass intercepted after the first two games was in the 2004 season. The Spartans played their first three games without an interception in 67 pass attempts and were intercepted on their third pass attempt in the 70-63 comeback win over Rice.

That’s Amaury’s News and Commentary: Lifelong Bay Area Baseball Man, Charlie Silvera, Dies at 94

Photo credit: sfchronicle.com

By: Amaury Pi-González

Charlie Silvera was born in San Francisco, California on October 13,1924 and passed away in Millbrae, California on September 7, 2019. An original Bay Area baseball man, he attended St. Ignatius College Preparatory High School. In 1942, he signed with the Yankees and played the outfield for the Wellsville Yankees at 17 years old. He didn’t play from 1943 to 1945 as he served in World War II.

In 1946, Silvera was converted to catcher with Kansas City Blues (AAA team). Three years later, he was playing for the New York Yankees.

Silvera was a catcher, a coach and a scout for most of his life. He won six World Series rings with the Yankees during their title runs in 1949, 1950, 1951, 1952, 1953 and 1956. He played with Yogi Berra (as his back-up), Tommy Henrich, Jerry Coleman, Phil Rizzuto, Hank Bauer, Joe DiMaggio, Johnny Mike, Ralph Houk and many others.

As a back-up catcher to Berra, Silvera had many great baseball stories because he was a storyteller. Many times, he would show up at the Giants or A’s press boxes and we would just sit there and listen to endless stories about his playing years. My favorite was about his last year with the Yankees in 1956. It was October 8, 1956 when Yankee pitcher Don Larsen threw a perfect game in Game 5 of the World Series against the Brooklyn Dodgers, the only perfecto to date in a World Series.

That was the way it went, according to Silvera, who said: “I warmed-up Don Larsen prior to that game. After the game, I told Yogi if he could give me a souvenir of that game. Yogi told me, he will see what he could do. Next day after the game, Yogi came to me with a brown bag on his hands, as I opened it was a jockstrap, Larsen’s cup! I said, is that all? Yogi told, me the ball used on that last out went to the Yankee Museum, his Uniform to the Hall of Fame and there was not much left besides that. To this day,I have that jockstrap on the mantle of my house in San Mateo.”

That was one of the many great and funny stories about Silvera’s years as part of the Yankees dynasty. He loved the Bay Area. He was a treasure, and while he was not a famous player by any means, he was part of our baseball world. I got to know him as a scout when he came to the park or at functions or events related to baseball.

Silvera was one of the greatest characters of the game, and a man that lived a long life in and out of baseball. I will never forget him.

Rest in peace, Charlie.

Amaury Pi-González is a pioneer in establishing Spanish baseball play by play in the Bay Area and began his long broadcasting career during the late 1970’s when Charlie O Finley was the team’s owner.

Oakland A’s podcast with Charlie O: The return of Manaea could be the difference in A’s run at the postseason

nbcsports.com photo file: The Oakland A’s are more than glad to see the return of pitcher Sean Manaea who has dominated in his first two outings of the season so far.

On the A’s podcast with Charlie O:

It makes a world of difference for the Oakland A’s to have a front line pitcher like Sean Manaea return to the A’s rotation dropping into the rotation for the A’s at this point. As the A’s are fighting for that number one slot in the AL wild card race.

What a gift having Manaea back because he was on the injury list it’s not a issue for Manaea to be a roster player come playoff time. It’s a dream. It’s like making a trade when you don’t have trade deadline availability. Beyond that we know that Sean is one of the nicest guys in the world.

He was so devested when that injury came, he was very depressed because he was pitching so well and he turned that depression around so quickly with a determination to get healthy and he had set his goal and sites on being back exactly this time with the team.

Charlie has lots more A’s news on the podcast tune in and every Tuesday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

That’s Amaury’s News and Commentary podcast: Beane and Forst made the right decisions staying at the A’s

photo sfgate.com

On That’s Amaury’s News and Commentary podcast:

#1 The Boston Red Sox fired their general manager David Dombrowski citing reasons why the Oakland A’s Billy Beane and David Forst declined to work for the Sox.

#2 Dombrowski led the Sox to a World Series last year. The Sox beat the Dodgers. Dombrowski will have no problem getting another front office job.

#3 A’s pitcher Sean Manaea has had such a great comeback his last outing. He beat Detroit with ten strikeouts for a 3-1 win. Manaea will be a huge plus for the A’s rotation.

#4 The A’s are close to calling up Jesus Luzardo from Las Vegas. Luzardo is ranked #3 as a left-handed pitching prospect.

#5 The A’s are in Houston facing their toughest American League opponent and the road to the World Series goes through Houston in the postseason.

Amaury Pi-Gonzalez is the Oakland A’s Spanish radio play-by-play talent on KIQI 1010 San Francisco and does News and Commentary each Tuesday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Raiders beat Broncos 24-16, Gruden picks up 100th win

Photo credit: @espn

By Jeremy Kahn

OAKLAND — Despite the fact that the Oakland Raiders their biggest acquisition on Saturday, it did not damper their performance against the Denver Broncos.

Tyrell Williams was on the receiving end of a Derek Carr eight-yard touchdown pass on the Raiders initial drive of the season, as the Raiders defeated the Broncos 24-16 before a crowd of 52,359 at the Coliseum.

With the victory in the opener against a rival that goes to back to the old AFL days in 1960, it gave Raiders head coach Jon Gruden his 100th career victory.

Rookie Josh Jacobs scored his first NFL touchdown, as he scored the first of two touchdowns on the evening with 3:30 remaining in the second quarter.

That touchdown by Jacobs ended a 13 play 95 yards that last a whopping eight minutes and thirty-five seconds.

Jacobs ended up carrying the ball 23 times for 85 yards, and scoring twice, as he helped the Raiders to the season-opening victory.

Derek Carr was outstanding, as he went 22-for-26 for 259 yards and one touchdown.

Making his Broncos debut, Joe Flacco went 21-for-31 for 268 yards and one touchdown to Emmanuel Sanders with 2:15 remaining in the game.

The Broncos kicked deep, as Vic Fangio held on to all three timeouts; however, Carr found Williams for 10 yards and then Jacobs clinched the game, as he picked up the first down after a 13-yard run.

This was the first Raiders game since the Raiders released Antonio Brown per his request on Saturday morning. Brown never played a down for the Raiders in the pre-season, as he sat out most practices due to frostbite on his feet and helmet issues.

Williams was the leading receiver for the Raiders, as he caught x passes for xx yards and the initial touchdown that got the Raiders on the board.

There was a scary moment in the third quarter, as Gareon Conley was kneed in the neck area by teammate Johnathan Abram, when they attempted to tackle Royce Freeman after a 26-yard run. Abram was called for a 15-yard unnecessary roughness call.

Brandon McManus kicked three field goals for the Broncos, as he nailed two from 26 yards and one from 39 yards.

Karl Joseph was the leading tackler for the Raiders, as he picked seven tackles on the evening, while the Broncos were led by inside linebacker Josey Jewell, who led all tacklers with 14 tackles.

UP NEXT: After the huge victory over the Broncos, the Raiders will stay home and face another old AFC West rival on Sunday at 1:05 p.m., as the Kansas City Chiefs come into the Coliseum. This will be the last home game for the Raiders in Oakland until they face the Detroit Lions on November 3.

The Raiders have a home game on October 5 against the Chicago Bears; however, that game is in London, England.

Astros tie single-game HR mark, rout A’s 15-0

Photo credit: @astros

By Daniel Dullum
Sports Radio Service
Monday, September 9, 2019

Oakland’s road to an American League Wild Card berth hit a serious pothole on Monday, as Houston rang up A’s pitching for seven home runs in a 15-0 Astros win at Minute Maid Park.

The Astros, who lead the AL West, built an 11-0 lead after two innings, buoyed by a pair of solo homers by Yordan Alvarez, a three-run blast by Alex Bergman, two-run shots by Robinson Chirinos and Jose Altuve, and a solo homer by Michael Brantley.

Despite the loss, the Athletics remain in the second AL Wild Card berth, leading Cleveland by one game and trailing Tampa Bay by 1 ½ games.

The Astros became the first team ever to hit six home runs in the first two innings of a game, according to ESPN Stats & Info. Houston’s seven total homers tied a club record.

Chirinos added a three-run blast in the in the seventh.

All of that offense made life easy for Astros starter Zack Greinke (5-1), who struck out five without a walk and gave up two hits in six innings.

Mike Fiers (14-4) surrendered the first five Astros home runs in one-plus inning. He struck out one, but gave up nine earned runs on nine hits. Paul Blackburn, who worked five innings of long relief, gave up the other two Houston homers.

Game two of the four-game series on Tuesday matches up right-hander Tanner Roark (9-8, 3.86 ERA) for Oakland against Astros left-hander Wade Miley (13-4, 3.35 ERA). Game time set for 5:10 p.m. PST.

Sportstalk at Ping Yang Grill and Dessert in San Francisco remote podcast: Monday, September 9, 2019

yelp.com photo: Dining room section at Ping Yang Grill and Desert at 955 Larkin Street in downtown San Francisco which was formerly Little Henry’s Restaurant.

Cast: Mary Lisa Walsh (SJ Sharks beat writer), Marko Ukalovic (SJ Barracuda beat writer), Jeremy Harness (NFL analyst, PGA Golf reporter), Lewis Rubman (Oakland A’s beat writer), David Zizmor (SF 49ers podcast host), and Lee Leonard (producer).

On the podcast today from Ping Yang Grill and Dessert at 955 Larkin Street downtown San Francisco: Our thanks to your host Bay owner and proprietor at Ping Yang Grill and Dessert. Ping Yang serves some of San Francisco’s favorite Thai food: Pad Thai, Thai Crepe, Chicken Thigh, Tom Yum Soup, Curry Noodle Soup, Tender Pork Shoulder, Beef Short Ribs, Chocolate Crepe, Nutella Banana Crepe, and many more. Bay welcomes you to try many of Ping Yang’s dessert favorites. Located at the corner of Larkin and Sutter Streets in downtown San Francisco, Ping Yang Grill and Dessert.

On today’s podcast: Discussions on the National Hockey League 2019-20 season preparing to start. The San Jose Sharks what they added and how Erik Karlsson will be the face and impact of this year’s team. The Oakland A’s in the hunt for postseason play. The San Francisco 49ers’ Jimmy Garoppolo and how the progress looks from week one. The Oakland Raiders, who lost Antonio Brown to the New England Patriots, plus much more.

San Francisco 49ers podcast with David Zizmor: Defense shows up in 49ers opener in Tampa Bay

Photo credit: mercurynews.com

On the 49ers podcast with David:

#1 How important is it for the 49ers to take advantage of the four forced turnovers in their 31-17 win on Sunday in Tampa Bay?

#2 Talk about the game ejection of Kwon Alexander and the helmet to helmet hit on Tampa Bay quarterback Jameis Winston. Alexander said it was not intentional.

David does the 49ers podcasts each Tuesday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

AB Commentary: Old Wounds That Never Heal

Photo credit: cbssports.com

By London Marq

The Antonio Brown saga is far from over. Brown’s off the field shenanigans and his progress will be marked through every week of the 2019 season. It will only be magnified by the fact that he signed with the most hated team in the National Football League, the New England Patriots. Brown adds to a wide receiver core that already includes Super Bowl MVP Julian Edelman and Demaryius Thomas, who won a championship with Denver in Super Bowl 50, and is sure to be a nightmare for defenses all season long. That’s without mentioning Tom Brady, or the abundance of talent New England possesses on both sides of the ball. New England was already one of the favorites to represent the AFC in the Superbowl before acquiring the Brown. Now, they look like primed to repeat as champions.

Brown is just the most recent of a long line of disgruntled players to leave their team and sign with New England. From the moment of his release from Oakland it seemed like it was only a matter of time before Antonio Brown became a Patriot. No two fanbases have more hatred and vitriol for the New England Patriots than Oakland and Pittsburgh fans and the Brown signing has ripped open old wounds.

For the Raiders, it is story of stolen glory. It all goes back to the January of 2002 and the tuck rule that turned Tom Brady’s fumble into an incompletion, propelling New England to their first Super Bowl. It was an officiating call that will live in infamy and one that Raider fans will never forget. The raiders would make it to the Super Bowl the following year, losing to Tampa Bay and haven’t won a playoff game since. Meanwhile, the Patriots have been to eight more Super Bowls and winning five of them. In 2005, Hall of Famer Randy Moss was traded to the Raiders bringing hope to the franchise. But after posting only 553 yards and 3 touchdowns in 2006 the Raiders traded Moss to New England where his career was immediately revived. In his first season as a Patriot, Moss had over 1,500 yards and 23 touchdowns, setting the all-time record to receiving touchdowns in a season. Moss’s effort in New England was a slap in the face to the Raiders who couldn’t get Moss to display any work ethic. In short, much like Antonio Brown, he didn’t want to play for Oakland.

Pittsburgh has also lost significant players to New England and those players have helped the New England win championships. Frustrated with his role, running back LeGarrette Blount walked off the field before the end of game versus the Titans in 2014. Two days later he signed with the Patriots and was instrumental in helping them when the championship three months later. Linebacker James Harrison joined New England only a few days after being waived by Pittsburgh. To make matters worse, the Steelers are arguably the Patriots biggest rival over the past two decades and they are constantly battling New England for the top spot in the AFC. It’s devastating from their perspective to see their former players join their biggest and toughest rivals.

But who could blame the Raiders or the Steelers? Antonio Brown has been a constant headache for both organizations and clearly demonstrated that he didn’t want to play for either team. His actions cost Pittsburgh a playoff berth last season and almost certainly tanked Oaklands chances this season. What choice does a team have with a player who doesn’t want to show up to work. It has been said time and time again, teams only want players who want to be there. Now the Raiders and Steelers must watch New England benefit from their decision to do what was best for their team and let Brown go.

New England’s acquisition of Antonio Brown spells terror for 31 other teams. It’s difficult to see them as anything but a Super Bowl favorites, even at this early point in the season. But for the Raiders and Steelers, two teams who have been victimized so many times by New England on and off the field, this is a recurring trauma.

San Francisco Giants podcast with Morris Phillips: Giants have no offense in LA as they prepare for Bucs series tonight

from sfgate.com photo: San Francisco Giants starter Dereck Rodriguez reacts during a pitching change during the fifth inning of a baseball game against the Los Angeles Dodgers in Los Angeles, Sunday, Sept. 8, 2019.

On the SF Giants podcast with Morris:

#1 The Los Angeles Dodgers in Sunday’s game had a breakout fourth and fifth innings when they scored two and three runs in each respective inning. One thing they’re noted for is they can swing the bats.

#2 The Dodgers wound up getting a 5-0 shutout against the San Francisco Giants behind Dodger starter Kenta Maeda, who pitched four innings surrendering just one hit and struck out six.

#3 Meanwhile, Giants starter Derek Rodriguez continues to struggle. He went 4.2 innings, three hits, two earned runs, and four strikeouts. Rodriguez drops his record to 5-9.

#4 No one hits RBIs in this one. Buster Posey just picked up two hits and a hit each for Mike Yastrzemski and Austin Slater simply no offense Sunday for the Giants.

#5 The Giants open a four-game series against the Pittsburgh Pirates starting Monday night at Oracle Park at 7:15 pm. Starting for Pittsburgh, Trevor Williams (7-6, 5.16 ERA), and for the Giants, Madison Bumgarner (9-8, 3.81 ERA).

Morris does the SF Giants podcasts each Monday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com