Author: Sports Radio Service

Warriors Reserves Close Out Game Against Portland 126-106

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Portland Trail Blazers center Deandrye Ayton (center) battles with Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry (30) and forward Trayce Jackson-Davis (right) at the Chase Center in San Francisco on Sat Dec 23, 2023 (AP News photo)

By Barbara Mason

The Golden State Warriors (15-14) beat the Portland Trail Blazers (7-21) Saturday night 126-106 at Chase Center in San Francisco. Once again the reserves closed out this game. Guards Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson had terrific showings as they won their fifth game in a row and their eighth straight home game.

After beating the Washington Wizards Friday night, the Warriors were back at work Saturday night taking on the Blazers and picked up their fifth win in a row. The Warriors are still without Andrew Wiggins missing his second game. The Trail Blazers are, much like the Wizards, trying to figure the season out struggling along the way. 

The game Saturday night was similar to the Warriors start Friday night. It was not at all what they wanted to see and despite shooting at 57 % they trailed 28-19 with under two minutes left in the first quarter. 

They had seemed to have resolved the turnover problem lately but in this game they already had nine in the first 12 minutes. Portland led after one quarter 30-23 and the Warriors were lucky that the deficit was not a whole lot worse. 

It was a terrible start for Golden State with the turnovers. It was the 15 rebounds that saved them from being even further behind the eight ball. They needed to pick it up on both ends of the ball in the second quarter.

Golden State went on a 13-3 run and this was a one point game 34-33 in favor of the Warriors. They had turned this game in a completely different direction. After being 11 down, the Warriors led 42-39 with under five minutes left in the half. 

This game had taken a 20 point swing in the closing minutes of the second quarter. They took a 57-46 lead going into the locker room after a brilliant quarter with the reserves coming up big. They did clean up the turnovers committing only four with a running total of 13. 

The Warriors took their largest lead of the game mid-way through the third quarter as the Splash Brothers really took charge 77-63. At 5:20 Curry and Thompson each had scored 23 points. Golden State only had two turnovers in the third quarter both of them coming because of eight second violations. The Warriors were looking for their eighth straight home win closing out the quarter leading 89-77.

Two minutes into the final quarter the Warriors had a 19 point lead. Portland continued to threaten throughout the fourth quarter but Golden State answered every time. 

The Trail Blazers could not keep up with the Warriors as Golden State matched them point for point and then some. The reserves once again closed out this game as the starters took the bench for the remainder of the game. Portland has some really scrappy young players but they came up short against the experience and skill of the Warriors. 

Thompson had the high for the Warriors with 28 points closely followed by Curry with 27. Bradin Podziemski finished with 15 points and bench player Trayce Jackson-Davis continues to impress with 13 points and five rebounds. 

They will need a lot of fire power as they travel to Denver on Christmas Day taking on the Nuggets. Tipoff for that game is scheduled for 11:30 AM. 

  

  

   

San Jose Sharks podcast with Mary Lisa: Sharks hope to right ship open two game road trip tonight in Vancouver

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Arizona Coyotes center Alexander Kerfoot (15) scores on the San Jose Sharks goaltender MacKenzie Blackwood (29) in the second period at SAP Center in San Jose on Thu Dec 21, 2023 (AP News photo)

On the SJ Sharks podcast with Mary Lisa:

#1 The Sharks lost on home ice on Thursday night to the Coyotes for their fourth straight loss 5-2 at SAP Center.

#2 San Jose outshot Arizona 12-7 in the first period it was a display that the Sharks had their foot on the necks of the Coyotes, but the goalies were on point keeping it scoreless. 

#3 The second period was rough for the Sharks as the Coyotes offense went to work getting three goals and taking a 3-1 lead.

#4 The Coyotes kept it up scoring two more goals and came away with a three goal 5-2 win for the Sharks fourth consecutive loss.

#5 The Sharks will try and hope that a change of scenery will be beneficial when the open the first of two road games on Saturday in Vancouver and then in head to the Southland and face the Los Angeles Kings on Wednesday night at Crypto.com Arena. How do you see these match ups.

Join Mary Lisa for the Sharks podcasts each Saturday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

De’Aaron Fox breaks Kings’ assists record in 120-105 win over Suns

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The Phoenix Suns guard Seben Lee (38) blocks a Sacramento Kings De’Aaron Fox (5) shot in the first quarter at Golden 1 Center in Sacramento (AP News photo)

Friday, Dec. 22, 2023

Golden 1 Center, Sacramento, California

Phoenix Suns 105 (14-14)

Sacramento Kings 120 (17-10)

By Stephen Ruderman

SACRAMENTO–De’Aaron Fox scored 23 points, and broke the Kings’ all-time assist record, as he led the way in Sacramento’s 120-105 win over the Phoenix Suns.

Coming off a loss Wednesday night to the Boston Celtics, the Kings were looking to bounce back against the Suns in the fifth game of their six-game homestand. It was a lively Friday night crowd at the Golden 1 Center, as the fans cheered on the Kings, and loudly booed the Suns, as they took the court.

The Suns won the opening tip, and got on the board right away, as Devin Booker alley-ooped to Drew Eubanks, who dunked it in to put Phoenix up 2-0. Domantas Sabonis responded with a pair of dunks to put the Kings up 4-2.

Grayson Allen hit a three-ball for the Suns to put Phoenix up 5-5, but that would prove to be their final lead of the night. The Kings maintained a steady lead throughout the remainder of the first quarter, but never led by more than nine points. The Kings would start to pull away a bit, but each time, the Suns would get back in it

Towards the end of the first quarter, the officials contacted the Replay Command Center, and even though the clock said there was a minute and 14 seconds remaining, it was determined that there were only 21 seconds remaining. The quarter, which was sarcastically described by Kings Public Address Announcer Scott Moak as the “longest quarter in NBA History,” ended with the Kings up 35-30.

The second quarter went mostly the same as the first. Sasha Vezenkov started the quarter with a three, and Fox followed it up with a jumper to put the Kings ahead 40-30. The Kings’ lead never fell below seven for the first half of the second quarter, but there was plenty of drama.

Following a dunk by Adoka Azubuike of the Suns with 6:47 remaining to make the score 47-40, Kevin Durant was called for a technical foul, and Booker was hit with a tech of his own as he argued Durant’s foul. Harrison Barnes shot both free throws from Sacramento, and hit them both.

Durant laid one in with 4:25 remaining to cut the Kings’ lead to 51-46, but from there, the Kings began to pull away, as they closed out the second quarter with a 14-8 run.

Suns Head Coach Frank Vogel was hit with the Suns’ third technical foul of the quarter after Durant was called for a backcourt violation with 18 seconds remaining. Durant was arguing as well, and had to be pulled away to prevent his second technical foul, which would have resulted in his ejection.

The Kings went into the half up 65-54, and then they hit the ground running in the third quarter, as they went on a 31-13 run to take a 96-67 lead with 5:54 remaining. During that run, Fox recorded his 1,581st-career assist to become the Kings’ all-time assists leader.

However, the Suns didn’t go down quietly, as they went on a 17-4 run to close the gap to 100-84. Barnes hit a fadeaway jumper, and hit a free throw after he was fouled on the play, and the Kings went into the fourth quarter up 103-84.

Despite the brief reprieve, the Suns kept their momentum going into the fourth quarter. Saben Lee laid one in, and Booker hit a jumper to cut the score to 103-88.

The Kings then regained control, as the teams traded points throughout the fourth quarter, and the Kings easily won by a final of 120-105.

Despite Fox’s strong performance and historic night, Domantas Sabonis led the Kings tonight with 28 points. Keegan Murray scored 21 points.

The Kings improve to 17-10, and they will welcome in the Minnesota Timberwolves to close out the homestand for a 7:00 tip Saturday night.

Warriors Handle Washington 129-118; Former Warrior Poole leads Wizards with 25 points

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Washington Wizards guard Jordan Poole (left) and Golden State Warriors Klay Thompson (right) share a laugh before Fri Dec 22, 2023 at the Chase Center in San Francisco (AP News photo)

By Barbara Mason

Friday night the Golden State Warriors (13-14) handled the Washington Wizards (5-22)129-118. Jordan Poole was greeted with cheers from the crowd. Considering what he did when he was with Golden State he more than deserved the accolade. He was clearly moved by the reaction from the fans.

Stephen Curry continues to roll and it has gotten even better with Klay Thompson really heating up. With the absence of Draymond Green, Jonathna Kuminga has added so much to the starting roster as has Brandin Podziemski. Andrew Wiggins will be out for this game due to general illness. The Warriors bench has been terrific with Chris Paul, Trayce Jackson-Davis and Moses Moody. The Warriors have been playing great ball lately winning three games in a row and looking to make it four.

The Warriors want to come out in the first quarter setting the tone; they want to dictate play from the get-go. It did not go exactly as they had wanted. Golden State really struggled to begin the quarter. Four minutes in, they got going but it was the Wizards who got going early leading 15-7 at 7:33. It took the Warriors nearly the entire quarter but after the first 12 minutes Golden State had taken the lead 28-25. The Warriors were being tested in the opening quarter. There was more good news for the Warriors; coming out of the quarter without a single turnover.

At the half, the Warriors continued to hold the lead 63-61, but the Wizards continued to hang around winning the second quarter 36-35. Curry had 17 points in the half and Kuminga finished the half with 16.  Jackson-Davis was terrific off the bench with 8 points and 9 rebounds looking for his second double double in a row.

The Warriors began to extend their lead as the clock began to wind down on the third quarter. The Wizards had continued to play close through much of the quarter until Golden State started to distance themselves from Washington. 

With under two minutes left in the third the Warriors had taken a 101-80 lead, their largest of the game. Offensive and defensive excellence told the story of the third quarter. They committed their first foul of the quarter with seconds left. Their two point lead at the half had ballooned into 18, 101-83. Through three quarters Golden State had protected the ball really well with only eight turnovers.

Defending without fouling was the key for Golden State in the fourth quarter as the bench took over to finish this game. An 11-0 Washington run sent this game in a Wizard direction with 2:14 left in the game. The Warrior 23 point lead had been cut to 13 with less than two minutes on the clock. The bench held on winning the game 129-118.

Curry had 30 points and Kuminga finished with 22 in another phenomenal game. Thompson added another 20 points and the Warriors put this game away in the second half. Jackson-Davis finished with 10 points and 15 rebounds. Rebounds made a huge difference in this game. Golden State had 57 while the Wizards had 39 quite a disparity. Great ball protection resulted in only 12 turnovers. The Warriors had a balanced attack and the result was a nice win.

Despite the loss, the Wizard’s Jordan Poole had a productive game with 25 points. He was greeted with a lot of enthusiasm from the fans which was great to see considering what he did for the Warriors in his years with Golden State.

Post game notes: Friday night the Warriors took on the Wizards at Chase Center. This game follows the Golden State overtime win 132-126 over the first place Boston Celtics on Wednesday night. Curry scored 33 points in this dramatic win taking out Jaylen Brown and Company. 

The season leader for the Wizards is Kyle Kuzma with a game average of 23.6 points per game. Washington also has a familiar face with the tenacious Poole who is also one of their main threats. The Wizards have been struggling this season and Golden State beat the odds to even their season record at .500. 

The Warriors will continue Saturday night with another home game playing the Portland Trail Blazers. Tipoff for this game is scheduled for 5:30 PM. 

   

Barracuda hold on to take down Silver Knights 2-1

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San Jose Barracuda forward Tristen Robins (#52) gives a friendly look to Tanner Kaspick (#41) at Dollar Loan Center as they beat the Henderson Silver Knights 2-1 on Friday DEC 22, 2023. (San Jose Barracuda)

by Marko Ukalovic

Magnus Chrona played one of his best games in an inspired performance.

Chrona played lights out with 30 saves and the San Jose Barracuda needed every single one of them as they held on for a 2-1 victory over the Henderson Silver Knights on Friday evening at Dollar Loan Center.

San Jose has won four out of its last five games as they improved to 2-2-2 against the Silver Knights this season. Henderson had its four-game winning streak snapped.

Tristen Robins made his ‘Cuda season debut. He played on a line with Danil Gushchin and Kyle Rau.

San Jose (9-12-4-0) drew first blood early in the first period with an even strength goal. Tanner Kaspick connected with Ethan Cardwell on the right slot and Cardwell literally flew in with a wrist shot past Silver Knights goalie Michael Bullion for his eighth goal of the season at the 5:46 mark.

Cardwell thought he had his second goal less than two minutes later when he cleaned up a rebound into the back of the net. However, the officials ruled that Kaspick interfered with Boullion on the play and wiped away the goal.

The Barracuda went up 2-0 on a power play influenced goal late in the opening frame. Cardwell centered a pass in front of the crease over to Scott Sabourin who tapped home the point-blank shot for his fifth goal of the season at the 15:58 mark. Sabourin has a three-game goal streak.

Shakir Makhamadullin received the secondary assist on Sabourin’s goal to extent his point streak to five-games.

Henderson (14-11-1-2) was held to just six shots in the first period. ‘Cuda goalie Magnus Chrona had an easy opening 20 minutes.

The second period featured no goals but a lot of scoring chances. The Silver Knights had consecutive short-handed chances thwarted by Chrona. First Jonas Rondbjerg was robbed on a two-on-one opportunity. Then moments later Chrona stoned Tyler Benson’s short-handed chance.

The key moment of the game came at the 15:28 mark of the middle frame. Mason Morelli was awarded a penalty shot when Nikolai Knyzhov held him on a breakaway attempt. However, Chrona stayed sharp as he denied Morelli’s five-hole attempt.

Sabourin and Gushchin each had a chance to increase San Jose’s lead but each of their shot attempts hit the post.

Henderson cut the lead in half with a power play goal at the 7:47 mark of the third period. Adam Cracknell’s shot on the net was saved by Chrona but Grigori Denisenko cleaned up the rebound for his 10th goal of the season.

Chrona (3-6-2) stopped 30 of the 31 shots he faced to earn back-to-back victories. Boullion (1-1-0) made 23 saves on 25 shots in his second start of the season.

GAME NOTES: San Jose finished 0-for-5 on the power play. Henderson was 1-for-2.

San Jose improved to 3-10-1-1 against Henderson down in the desert.

The Stars of the Game: 1) Cardwell 2) Chrona 3) Denisenko.

UP NEXT: San Jose and Henderson conclude their two-game series on Saturday 12/23 at 7:00pm at Dollar Loan Center.

Oakland A’s relocation podcast with Daniel Dullum: A’s still need FAA approval regarding Las Vegas Airport; Vegas fans are not excited about A’s coming

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The air traffic tower under construction at the Las Vegas Airport in this Aug 6, 2014 photo. The runways for take off and landings front where home plate will face at the Las Vegas ballpark and there are concerns if the stadium lights would be a distraction for pilots. The A’s and the Tropicana are waiting for FAA approval in that part of the venture. (AP News file photo)

On the Oakland A’s Relocation podcast with Daniel:

#1 Daniel, our talk show host Jimmy Price went on location at the Tropicana Casino and Hotel and did a close visual of the property and intersection. He confirmed that this will be a tight space for a retractable and the two towers at the Tropicana will need to be demoed and as of the end of December no renderings as of yet.

#2 Also Jimmy mentioned that some of the retail, businesses and people who work and live by the strip do not want the A’s to come to the Tropicana because it will create horrible congestion and a ballpark at Las Vegas Blvd and Tropicana will be more of hinderance. Don’t forget the FAA has to approve the stadium as well as home plate faces the landing and take off runway at Las Vegas Airport.

#3 The other point that was brought up was this thinking by the A’s that they’ll bring in attendance by depending on tourism and visiting teams fans will travel with the team like they do for the Raiders. In baseball it’s been brought up whose going to come on a Monday or Tuesday to see the Royals or Pittsburgh Pirates at Tropicana Field very few was the answer.

#4 The A’s ballpark in Las Vegas may not be a destination spot for visitors in Vegas because the product of the A’s just won’t attract visitors from coming. If the A’s were to rebrand themselves as say the Las Vegas Blackjacks or another name then promote themselves as such much in the same way the Washington Nationals did when they left Montreal that marketing strategy might work but using the A’s and their colors it’s not going to fool or excite too many fans.

#5 Once again the non existence of renderings have fans and Vegas residents wondering what is going to work at the park. The Texas Rangers it was said did a great job of their design at Globe Life Field with their luxury boxes and and stadium layout to attract fans in Arlington. The A’s trying to shoehorn a park in the Tropicana that will be tight fit it might not only be the smallest park in the Majors but it could turn into the biggest disaster development mistake in MLB.

Join Daniel for the Oakland A’s relocation podcasts Fridays at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Aztecs overwhelm Cardinal 74-60

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Stanford Cardinal forward Max Murrell (10) and San Diego State Aztecs forward Miles Heide (40) grasp for the basketball at Viejas Arena in San Diego on Thu Dec 21, 2023 (photo by USA Today)

By Daniel Dullum

Thursday, December 21, 2023

Stanford hit the road for the final time before the start of conference play on Thursday, dropping a 74-60 non-league decision to San Diego State in front of 12,414 at Viejas Arena.

Lamont Butler led the Aztecs with a game-high 18 points on 7 of 13 field goal shooting, including three 3-pointers. He also had four assists and four steals.

Jaedon LeDee was next for San Diego State with 16 points, and Micah Parrish added 10 points.

Maxime Raynaud paced the Cardinal (5-5) with 15 points while grabbing a game-high seven rebounds, followed by Michael Jones and Brandon Angel with 14 and 10 points, respectively.

The Cardinal connected on only 3 of 20 from 3-point range, and 40.8 percent from the field. Stanford made 17 of 19 free throws.

Stanford led most of the first half and used six points by Raynaud to take an early 10-5 lead. From there the Aztecs took control of the contest, leading 34-32 at halftime

The Aztecs (6-3) used a 15-3 run to open the second half to pull away. Andrej Stockovic scored all six of his points in the second half to help Stanford cut its deficit to 10 on three different occasions. But San Diego State maintained its distance for the remainder of the game.

The Cardinal play their next game on Friday, Dec. 29, for its Pac-12 Conference opener against Arizona State.

That’s Amaury News and Commentary: Dodgers reload and acquire Yamamoto

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Yoshinobu Yamamoto seen here dealing with Team Japan during the World Baseball Classic signed a 12 year deal with the Los Angeles Dodgers on Thu Dec 21, 2023 (AP file photo)

Dodgers reload and acquire Yamamoto

That’s Amaury News and Commentary

By Amaury Pi-González

The Los Angeles Dodgers so far have had a sensational off-season, which began with signing the #1 Free Agent and two-way superstar Shohei Ohtani to an incredible 10-year-$700 million deal. A couple of weeks later, they signed free-agent pitcher Tyler Glasnow.

Today, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, considered the best pitcher in Japan, is also a Dodger with a $375 million contract; the Yankees, the Mets, and the Giants made offers for Yamamoto, but he chose the Dodgers. No surprise here; as soon as the Dodgers signed Ohtani, the two-way superstar was recruiting Yamamoto to come to Los Angeles.

Although it is not yet confirmed, it is believed that the Yamamoto contract is for 12 years and $325 million. Also, there is a posting fee of $50 million. The $325 million is the most given to a pitcher, more than Yankees’ current American League Cy Young winner Gerrit Cole, beating Cole by $1 million. Yamamoto will be making a $27 million per year salary.

The Dodgers, one of three teams last season to win 100 games, the other two were also divisional winners, Atlanta (104) and Baltimore (101), look like the team to beat again in the National League West. Adding Glasnow and Yamamoto to the Dodger rotation is crucial to their hopes of repeating as divisional champions, combined with a great top-of-the-lineup headed by three of the best hitters of MVP caliber in the game: Mookie Betts, Freddie Freeman, and Shohei Ohtani.

The Giants also were interested in Yamamoto, but the Dodges outbid them. The Giants’ best free-agent signing is South Korean star outfielder Jung-Hoo Lee, who received a 6-year $113 million contract from San Francisco; he can opt-out after four seasons.

His agent is Scott Boras, and many in the business believe that although Lee is a star outfielder, Boras might have oversold the player to the Giants. Cody Bellinger, who had a great season with the Chicago Cubs, is still available and one of the best position players in this 2023 class of free agents.

Many teams have shown interest in the 2019 NL Most Valuable Player; if the Giants want Bellinger, they might have to overspend, some say around $200 million. With all respect to Bellinger, I do not think he is worth that much.

Still, it is all relative to how much the Giants would want Bellinger in Orange and Black. By not acquiring Yoshinobu Yamamoto, the Giants continue to ‘swing and miss’ at the most prominent free-agent names available during the last few years.

According to Alex Pavlovic, Yamamoto informed the Giants that he would not be signing with them; the Red Sox and Blue Jays were also after the Japanese hurler. The Giants’ offseason focus was on Ohtani and Yamamoto. Unfortunately, not only did neither choose to come to San Francisco, but they went to LA to the Dodgers, the one team the Giants despise the most. Like the French say: “c’est la vie. — that’s life.

Amaury Pi Gonzalez does News and Commentary podcasts Tuesdays at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

San Jose Sharks Lose 5-2 To The Arizona Coyotes In One Last Home Game Before Christmas

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The Arizona Coyotes right wing Clayton Keller (9) scores on San Jose Sharks goaltender MacKenzie Blackwood (29) in the second period at SAP Center in San Jose on Thu Dec 21, 2023 (AP News photo)

Thursday, December 21st, 2023

By Troy Ewers

San Jose, CA – The San Jose Sharks host the Arizona Coyotes in the SAP Center following the Sharks loss to the Kings on Tuesday. After a trying first 11 games to start the season in which SJ went 0-10-1 to open the campaign, the Sharks have rebounded with a nearly -.500 record over the team’s last 21 contests, but since the calendar flipped to December, the Sharks are 4-4-1 with three of those five losses coming by one goal. The Sharks lost on home ice on Thursday night to the Coyotes for their fourth straight loss 5-2 at SAP Center.

Smooth first period for the Sharks both defensively and offensively. Similar flow to the last game, San Jose getting great scoring chances as well as stopping the opposition for the duration of the period. SJ outshot Arizona 12-7 was a display that the Sharks had their foot on the necks of the Coyotes, but the goalies were on point keeping it scoreless. 

The second period was a more electric period, but not necessarily for the Sharks. The first goal for Arizona was from Michael Kesselring on a quick wrist shot past Mackenzie Blackwood to make it 1-0.

Immediately following the Coyotes goal, the Sharks responded with a breakaway goal off Anthony Duclair and the crowd was right back in it, 1-1. Two minutes later Arizona responded with a unassisted breakaway goal of their own courtesy of Clayton Keller on a backhand shot, 2-1 Arizona.

The Coyotes knew they couldn’t take their foot off the gas and got another goal when Alex Kerfoot snuck one past Blackwood on a deflected shot, 3-1 Desert Dogs. The ending of the period was rough and chaotic, but no goal for the Sharks and the period ended 3-1.

The feeling of last game was still in the air, but since it’s the holidays the San Jose crowd was clearly still enjoying themselves, but they wouldn’t mind a win before Christmas, especially if at this point a win meant them scoring four goals and this crowd would get free tacos. 

26 seconds into the final period, Filip Zadina poked in the puck and it was a quick goal to make it 3-2 and the crowd had high hopes. Well those hopes were squashed and decisively. A beautiful setup on a power play created a great array of passing that led to a Nick Schmaltz goal, 4-2 Arizona.

There were still high hopes in the SAP Center, but that disappeared when Lawson Course hit a snappy wrist shot that killed the crowd and put a nail in the coffin of this game with a score of 5-2 for the Coyotes. The final seconds ticked away and a chorus of boos hit. 5-2 Coyotes and that’s the holiday send off the fans were left with.

This season for the Sharks hasn’t been easy, but for the Sharks fans it’s been something they’d like to forget or at least drown out with some eggnog. San Jose’s next game will be in Vancouver against the Canucks the day before Christmas Eve.

The Sharks hit the road on Saturday night in Vancouver a 7:00pm face off and head to Los Angeles to face the Kings on Wednesday night. The next home game for the Sharks won’t be until Thu Dec 28th and these fans hopefully can get a late Christmas gift from the boys in teal with a win back at home.

Yamamoto signs 12 year, $325 million deal with Dodgers

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Japanese pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto seen delivering in the World Baseball Classic on Mar 20, 2023 in Miami. Yamamoto has joined the Los Angeles Dodgers on Thu Dec 21, 2023 on a 12 year contract. (AP file photo)

By Jerry Feitelberg and Lewis Rubman

Super star Japanese pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto is dealing at the bargaining table before he starts dealing on the mound. Yamamoto signed a 12 year $325 million deal with the Los Angeles Dodgers joining Japanese two way player pitcher/designated hitter Shohei Ohtani.

If Ohtani was pitching this season the two would have a lot of fireside chats in the Dodgers bullpen but as everyone well knows Ohtani will be the Dodgers designated hitter. Yamamoto a right hander becomes the second highest paid guaranteed pitcher.

Yamamoto won three straight Sawamura Awards which is Japan’s equal to MLB’s Cy Young Award. Yamamoto was one of the best pitchers to come through the Japan’s big leagues in it’s 74 year history. Yamamoto was a well sought after pitcher with the New York Mets who were the expected front runners for Yamamoto followed by the New York Yankees, Boston Red Sox, San Francisco Giants, Philadelphia Phillies and Toronto Blue Jays.

Yamamoto had an amazing run in Japanese ball throwing 820 1/3 innings with a 1.65 ERA and allowed only one home run in every 28 innings pitched. Yamamoto has a mix of pitches split finger, a curve ball that loops and has hitters off balance and bend their knees to take a swipe at it and a devastating 99 MPH fast ball.

Yamamoto is noted as being as good as any pitcher that came from Japan. He’s 5’10 and 176 pounds. He most likely will be the number one pitcher in the Dodger starting rotation. He will have Ohtani with him to give him pointers on how to throw to certain hitters that he faced when he pitched.

With the acquisition of Yamamoto and Ohtani’s encouragement behind him this could catapult the Dodgers into the NL West stratosphere with Yamamoto’s pitching and Ohtani’s hitting. The Dodgers failed to make it to the NL Championship series last season so there are big expectations for them to make it to the World Series this season with Yamamoto and Ohtani on their roster.

Yamamoto’s sterling record in Japan doesn’t, however, guarantee him success in Los Angeles.  In a recent interview with Gary Phillips of the New York Daily News, Brian Cashman noted some of the differences between the Nippon Professional Association and MLB.

These include a difference in the size the baseball in the two organizations; multi-time zone travel in the States; the longer MLB season; Japan’s traditional Monday days off; the use of the six man rotation rotation in Japan; and the higher overall level of play in the MLB.

Cashman, who was wooing Yamamoto at the time, added that his scouts were confident that he could overcome these possible obstacles to stateside success. The Yankee scouts might very well be correct in their assessment, but that doesn’t mean that the Dodgers have a lock on the 2024 season and beyond.

Jerry Feitelberg and Lewis Rubman are both MLB beat writers for http://www.sportsradioservice.com