Category: Oakland Athletics

That’s Amaury News and Commentary: Dave Kaval is the right man at the right time in A’s history

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csnbayarea.com photo: Oakland A’s team president David Kaval

By Amaury Pi Gonzalez

OAKLAND– As a veteran working in baseball I have seen plenty. From the late mid to late 1970’s when Mr Charlie O Finley told me “Yes Amaury you can broadcast in Mexican”, until now. Obviously Charlie forgot it was Spanish. Mexican is not a language, is a nationality. Plus, even if Mexican was a language I would not understand it, since I was born in Cuba. But that is how I’ve got my start and I have been fortunate to see this franchise through the good and the bad years.It is called history.

A new era for Oakland Athletics baseball was launched when Mr Dave Kaval was introduced as new President of the Oakland Athletics. His primary mission is to build a new ballpark for the Athletics inside the Oakland city limits. He has admitted that is his main focus. The Athletics need a new park and a new look. Since he took the job as President, he has named the Oakland Coliseum Rickey Henderson Field, has renovated areas inside the Coliseum, make it much more fan-friendly, and then we have heard some of the great players of the A’s during the glory years of the team in the 1980’s like Dave Stewart, Jose Canseco getting involved, Dennis Eckersley is now a special assistant to Mr Kaval.

Why not retire Dagoberto(Campy)Campaneris #19? he was a great shortstop during the three-consecutive World Championship titles in 1972 to 1974. And when you have great and popular players like Yoenis Cespedes and Josh Donaldson(a few years back) you must keep them. It is part of the business of baseball, keeping your star players, and the fans involved with their local heroes.

“Rooted in Oakland”is a good way to start. Since they moved from Kansas City in 1968 they won four World Championships here, for those that are counting that is one more than the San Francisco Giants. Plus while in Philadelphia (where the A’s were born back in 1901) they won five more championships for a total of nine World Series titles, Yankees 27, Cardinals 11, Athletics 9. The New York Yankees have won 40 American League titles, the most in the league’s history, followed by the Philadelphia/Kansas City/Oakland Athletics(15) and the Boston Red Sox 13.

The history of this franchise is great.In the early years, the A’s established themselves as one of the dominant teams in the new league, winning the A.L. pennant six times (1902, 1905, 1910, 1911, 1913 and 1914), and winning the World Series in 1910, 1911 and 1913. They moved from Kansas City to Oakland in 1968 and four years later they started a dynasty, winning three consecutive World Series. Then came the Haas(Levi Strauss)ownership in the 1980’s, and they were one of the most dominant teams.

It seems to me that Mr Dave Kaval is the right man at the right time in history for this Athletics franchise. His approach as a populist (I might say)mingling with the fans and taking suggestions an affable executive with a vision for this franchise. And that is all good. Baseball is a game to be enjoyed by the fans, yes television and radio rights, merchandise and marketing are all good and part of the business, but no player like to play in an empty stadium.

There are four (4) locations the new President is looking at for the construction of a new stadium. Howard terminal, Lake Merritt, Jack London Square and the current Oakland Coliseum. When I first met and spoke with Mr Kaval was during the Oakland Athletics Fanfest(which by the way returned to Jack London Square this year)and my simple suggestion –this was many weeks before the Raiders announced their move to Las Vegas, was the Oakland Coliseum.

There are few baseball facilities in the country more accessible that the Oakland Coliseum., We have one of the Bay Area main arteries, Highway 880 to the West and BART to the East. The main problem is that there is not much of a village there, they need restaurants, theaters, more entertainment build around there. Why not blow the Coliseum and build a new park right there? 41.000 seats right there in the heart of the Bay Area. I am not opposed to the other three locations, but I believe the current location might be the best. Of course, during the construction there(at the Coliseum site) the A’s would have to play someplace else for a couple of seasons. That, as I see it is the biggest negative. While in the other locations they could begin building as the A’s still would play at the Coliseum, until is time to move to the new park.

Plus, I believe that if you build it right there at the Coliseum, there will be less opposition from environmentalist and other groups that will always opposed a sports facility.

All I have seen from the new Oakland Athletics President is positive and headed in the right direction. This franchise needed this and now I believe they are in good hands with Mr Dave Kaval. It won’t be easy to build a new ballpark, we who lived in the Bay Area most of our lives now that, this is not Kansas City or Cincinnati, but I trust that Mr Kaval will reach his objective.

 

MLB Podcast The Show with Matt Harrington: A’s open up Monday night against the Angels; Giants Melancon gets first blown save of 2017

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On the MLB Podcast The Show with Matt Harrington:

#1 Giants pitcher Jeff Samardjiza had quite an outing on Friday night going five innings of shutout ball against the Oakland A’s in the Giants win

#2 The Giants who swept the A’s during the Bay Bridge series got some excitement from Nick Hundley who hit a grand slam home run off A’s starter Andrew Triggs on Sunday

#3 The A’s got a help in the third inning on Saturday from Marcus Semien off Giant starter Ty Beede. Semien got a hit off Beede but Beede pitched a decent ball game in his own right striking out four of six hitters

#4 The A’s had the day off Sunday but that might not be a good thing as they would like to get the bad taste of losing the three game Bay Bridge series to the Giants out of their mouths. They ‘ll get their chance Monday night at the Oakland Coliseum on opening night against the Los Angeles Angels

#5 The Giants opened their season in Phoenix and Giants starter Madison Bumgarner not only was pitching a gem but he hit couple homers in his own right but closer Mark Malencon couldn’t hold the Diamondbacks and gets his first blown save of 2017 as the D-Backs come back down 5-4 to win it in the ninth 6-5. Maybe Mad Bum should have went the distance.

Matt Harrington does the MLB podcasts each weekend at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Oakland A’s Sunday day off report: A’s may show what they’ve got to offer sooner rather than later this season

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Oakland Athletics’ Yonder Alonso slides to score against the San Francisco Giants in the third inning of an exhibition baseball game Saturday, April 1, 2017, in Oakland, Calif. Alonso scored on a two-run double by Athletic’s Matt Joyce. (AP Photo/Ben Margot)

By Morris Phillips

OAKLAND–The A’s enter Monday’s season opener at the O.co Coliseum against the Angels with this unsettling fact in the back of their collective minds: they haven’t won a game in more than a week, losing their last six exhibition contests and 8 of 9.

Luckily, regular season momentum isn’t always built in spring training.  But for a club that lost 93 games in 2016, scored an American League worst 653 runs, and lost 47 games at home where its offense was its most tepid, a fast start would be a welcome change, and quite obviously, a good sign.

But the A’s schedule doesn’t offer many soft landing spots, especially in the first two months, so whatever the A’s have to do to win, it likely will have to start with playing well.  In the first two months, the A’s play the Angels 10 times, the Twins three times and the Marlins twice.  Other than that, Oakland will  see a steady diet of teams that consider themselves playoff contenders and threats to win the AL pennant. The Mariners, Rangers, Yankees, Indians, Royals, Astros, Tigers and Red Sox comprise 38 of the A’s first 53 games and all eight of those teams figure to be in the mix for the AL postseason.

To counter all those talented clubs, the A’s have to get the most out of their youthful, but promising pitching rotation, their experienced bullpen, and their hopefully improved lineup.  But Sonny Gray, the presumptive ace, will start the season on the disabled list, and Ryan Madson, the guy most likely to earn a closers’ role, didn’t pitch well in the spring.   The A’s starting lineup offers Jed Lowrie, Matt Joyce and Trevor Plouffe as experienced additions, but this is an offense that has to build itself up from scratch based on last year’s inability to score runs.

If the A’s do overcome all the inertia that might be pulling them downward in the AL West standings, a couple of names stand out: Kendall Graveman, Sean Manaea and Stephen Vogt.

Graveman made five spring starts, allowing just 13 hits in 19 2/3 innings of work.  He stuck out 16, and issued only three walks.

It really is Springtime in Oakland for the Athletics in 2017

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by Charlie O. Mallonee

A's logo

OAKLAND–This is not just your usual end of spring training lets get ready for the regular season story. This year is really a new beginning for the Oakland Athletics and their fans for multiple, positive reasons.

Change of ownership and new upper management

John Fisher was always the majority owner of the Oakland Athletics for the past 11 years but no one really knew that fact. Mr. Fisher – who resides in San Francisco – preferred to stay in the background. Lew Wolff – a minority owner – was the managing partner.

During the Wolff era, the main emphasis was building a new stadium for the A’s that would allow them to better compete for the Bay Sports dollars with the Giants and their AT&T complex. There were several attempts and failures:

  • First came the plan to build a baseball park, shopping complex and residential area in Fremont on the west-side of I-880. That plan died a quiet death.
  • Then came the plan to move to San Jose. City officials were behind  the plan and had the land ready across from the SAP Arena. The Giants jumped in and said “over out dead bodies – San Jose is our territory!” In its typical avoid confrontation at any cost fashion, MLB asked the A’s to back off. The City of San Jose filed a law suit but lost in court.
  • The City of Oakland then tried to get Wolff excited about building a waterfront ballpark in the Howard Terminal area near Jack London Square. Wolff never seemed too excited about that location.
  • Finally, Wolff put together a plan to build a new ballpark, business center, shopping and residential complex on the current Coliseum site. That idea never caught traction as Oakland was still trying court the Raiders and Warriors to stay in the East Bay.

It became evident that Mr. Wolff was not going to get the job done. That combined with his age which he said was causing him to slow down made it apparent a change was coming. Many feared it meant a sale and move of the team to another market.

Mr. Fisher bought out Wolff’s stake in the team and them began to remake the front office. Michael Crowley – who had been president of the team for 20 years – moved into a consultants role. Dave Kaval – president of Fisher’s San Jose Earthquakes – assumed the team’s top spot in addition to his job with the soccer team.

kaval

Kaval has been through the stadium building process as he oversaw the construction of Avaya Stadium for the Earthquakes. The $100-million complex was completely privately funded.

avaya

Kaval has brought a new sense of enthusiasm to the organization. He is accessible to the fans, press and government officials. He has an openness to new ideas and what seems to be “can do” attitude. For the first in a long time, people are believing the Oakland Athletics are going to get a new place to play.

The A’s are now the only game in town (or soon will be)

Now that the NFL has told Oakland Raiders “to go pound sand” for the second time in 25 years by giving their OK to the team to move to Las Vegas, the A’s are or will soon be the lone occupants of the Coliseum.

coliseum-raiders_750xx640-359-0-11

As I sit in the press box and look out at “Mt. Davis” – the ugly monster third deck that was built to entice the Raiders back from Los Angeles – I want to vomit. That view out to center field used to be of the beautiful East Bay hills and BART trains zipping by every few minutes. The stadium felt open and spacious. Now, it feels closed in and crowded by too much concrete.

coliseum before

By the way, the Raiders do not use “Mt. Davis” because they cannot sell enough tickets to fill the seats. It is covered with large tarps baring Raiders logos. When the Raiders move to “Sin City”, the people of the City of Oakland will still be paying off the bonds for that ill-fated stadium alteration. Las Vegas – you might want to keep that in the back of your mind.

The Warriors are headed to San Francisco and a new home just south of the Giants’ AT&T Park.

Guess who that leaves in Oakland? “Holy Toledo!” (that’s for you Mr. King) its the A’s.

Now the A’s have two potential stadium sites. The Howard Terminal/Jack London Square site with the waterfront appeal is still available. The current Coliseum site with its great transportation infrastructure and unlimited development possibilities is now back in play.

Wow! The Oakland Athletics have choices for stadium sites. Who would have predicted that last Fall?

Finally – there is the beginning of a new season and the hope it brings

The MLB season gets underway on Sunday with three games including the Giants at Arizona. (That just chaps my hide. Baseball is supposed to begin of Monday with one day game in Cincinnati – the first professional baseball team – then the rest of baseball begins play on Tuesday).

The Athletics open the regular season on Monday at home with the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. It will be a four-game series that concludes with a day game on Thursday.

RHP Kendall Graveman (10-11, 4.11 in 2016) gets the call for the A’s and RHP Ricky Nolasco (8-14, 4.42 in 2016) taking the hill for LAA.

The A’s still have some personnel decisions to make. They still have 36 players on the roster as of Saturday. Five of those players (Bassitt, Gray, Mengden, Smolinski and Wendle) are expected to start the season on the Disabled List. So, that means six players remain who have to be sent to the minors or released. These are never easy hours for front office personnel and coaches as they have to decide the fates of players.

Eight relievers in the “pen” to start the season

A’s manager Bob Melvin announced on Saturday the team will start the season with eight pitchers in the bullpen. Melvin said that will be the case until of the starting pitchers have made at least two starts. The “skipper” is anticipating shorter outings until his starters have a little more game experience under their belt.

Another reason for the expanded relief corps is the performance of RHP Frankie Montas. Montas came to the A’s from the Dodgers last season in the Reddick/Hill trade. He was on DL recovering from rib surgery last year. The 100-mph throwing pitcher is on a limited pitch count so the “pen” is a great spot for him right now.

When Sonny Gray returns, Montas is expected to go Nashville and return to working as a starting pitcher. A starting pitcher that throws 100-mph – whew.

Giants win the final Spring Training game 6-3 over the A’s in Oakland

The Giants used the long ball to beat the A’s on Saturday. Nick Hundley crushed a grand slam home run in the 4th inning off A’s starter Andrew Triggs. Hundley ended up with four RBIs in the game to improve his total to 12 for the spring.

Justin Ruggiano hit a two-run homer in the top of seventh inning with Raul Alcantara on the hill for the A’s. All of the San Francisco runs came via the long ball.

Giants RHP Tyler Beede (2-0, 2.03) started the game and picked up the win. He pitched 4.0-innings giving up two runs on five hits. Both runs were earned. He struck out five and walked none. Ironically, Beede did not make the Giants major league roster.

RHP Andrew Triggs (1-3, 8.10) took the loss for the Athletics. Triggs allowed four runs (all earned) on six hits including the Hundley grand slam. He struck four and walked one. Triggs will be on the A’s roster on Monday night when they open the season with the Angels.

 

The A’s drop the first game of the Bay Bridge Series to the Giants 3-0

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Oakland Athletics starting pitcher Sean Manaea throws to the San Francisco Giants during the third inning of an exhibition baseball game Thursday, March 30, 2017, in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)

by Jerry Feitelberg

San Francisco- Round, one of the annual Pre-season Bay Bridges Series, went to the San Francisco Giants as they downed the A’s 3-0.  It was a cold and windy evening in San Francisco but that did not bother Giants’ ace, Johnny Cueto,  as he pitched five innings and did not give up a run. He scattered six hits and did not let the A’s score.

The A’s starter,  lefty Sean Manaea went four innings for the Green and Gold and did not allow a hit. A’s manager Bob Melvin had to be impressed with Manaea’s last outing before the start of the regular season. John Axford pitched a scoreless fifth inning. Lefty Daniel Coulombe set the side down in order in the sixth and pitched to one batter in the seventh. Melvin removed him after he gave up a single to Brandon Belt. Melvin brought in Liam Hendricks to pitch. Hendricks did not have a good outing as the Giants’ hitters touched him for four hits and a sacrifice fly that produced the only three runs of the game. Rookie Frankie Montas finished the seventh and eight innings for the A’s

The A’s had six hits, and they had runners reach third twice but could not score. Rajai Davis and Jed Lowrie each had two hits for Oakland.

Game two of the series will be played at AT&T Park Friday night at 7:15 pm. Game three will be played in Oakland on Saturday.

That’s Amaury’s Podcast, News and Commentary: After it became clear A’s were staying Raiders were leaving

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AP file photo: New Oakland Athletics President Dave Kaval holds his first open office hours, speaking to a pair of Saint Mary’s College sophomores at the Oakland Coliseum Tuesday, Dec. 6, 2016, in Oakland, Calif. (AP Photo/Janie McCauley)

by Amaury Pi Gonzalez

SAN FRANCISCO–The Oakland A’s have great leverage now with the Oakland Raiders leaving at the end of the 2019 season. The A’s are going to wind up being the only game in town. A’s team president David Kaval and Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf are getting along fine and its going to happen. It’s just a matter of where the A’s are going to build their new stadium. I had a chance to speak to Kaval and at the owners party in Arizona that they should rebuild the new A’s park right there at the Coliseum .

It’s a perfect location you have 880 to the west and you got BART to the east that’s the best location. When my father was alive he lived in the Mission District and he used to tell me it’s easy for me to go to the Coliseum than go to Candlestick Park. So the A’s have the best situation they have to build the new park there at the Coliseum but that would be after the Raiders leave in 2019.

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

 

Oakland A’s podcast with Jerry Feitelberg: Bay Bridge set to go last chance for both clubs to evaluate players before regular season

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AP file photo: This is a 2017 photo of third baseman Trevor Plouffe of the Oakland Athletics baseball team poses for a portrait. This image reflects the Athletics active roster as of Wednesday, Feb. 22, 2017, when this image was taken. (AP Photo/Chris Carlson)

by Jerry Feitelberg

SAN FRANCISCO–The San Francisco Giants will be starting pitcher Johnny Cueto for Thursday night’s game who was effective for the Giants last season and the Giants will have as strict count 50-70 pitches and they’ll take him out of the game and the Oakland A’s will be countering with Sean Manaea whose in his second season with the club. Manaea came in a little erratic last year. He got a little bit better as he got on and he has a very bright future with the A’s as long as he stays healthy.

Trevor Plouffe is the A’s third baseman and is a veteran who played with the Minnesota Twins and is considered a clubhouse leader and is swinging decent bat. He was brought on board for better clubhouse cohesiveness that the A’s didn’t have that last year. The A’s had their rumblings between Billy Butler (whose now with the Yankees) and Danny Valencia (now with the Seattle Mariners) they both got into it last season in a knockdown drag out in the A’s clubhouse over a shoe salesman and the A’s are trying to change the work environment around.

Jerry gives you more insight on the A’s podcast below and each week at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

 

MLB Podcast The Show with Matt Harrington: Graveman gets the starting call for Oakland; Will Smith has Tommy John and bull pen has question marks

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On the podcast with Matt Harrington:

The A’s have announced that Kendall Graveman gets the call to start opening day. Can he do it? The A’s have announced Sean Manaea and Jharel Cotton will be in the starting rotation. Also right handed pitchers Raul Alcantara, Jesse Hahn, and Andrew Triggs.

The Giants reliever Will Smith will be facing Tommy John surgery to rebuild his ulnar-collateral ligament. Also on the Giants front the Giants welcome back Brandon Crawford  and Buster Posey who are coming off a successful World Baseball Classic from being part of that USA team that won it all in the tournament. Question is will the WBC have an effect on Posey and Crawford and other MLB players wearing them down before the regular season?

Matt Harrington does the MLB the Show podcast each week at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

 

Oakland A’s podcast with Jerry Feitelberg: Triggs looks like he can win a spot in the rotation; Gray throwing for distance in pitching rehab

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Oakland Athletics’ Andrew Triggs warms up during the first inning of a spring training baseball game against the Chicago White Sox Wednesday, March 22, 2017, in Glendale, Ariz. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)

On the Oakland A’s podcast with Jerry Feitelberg:

A’s pitcher Andrew Triggs had a great outing on Wednesday an outing that impressed A’s manger Bob Melvin. Triggs went five strong innings giving up just three hits, two earned runs, and struck out four batters against the Chicago White Sox. Triggs was lifted for A’s reliever Ryan Madson who wound up giving up an RBI double to Melky Cabrera that charged another earned run to Triggs after he left the ball game leaving a runner stranded.

A’s pitcher Sonny Gray has been throwing off the mound under the watchful eye of pitching coach Curt Young and Melvin. Gray who had been suffering from a lat injury strain is still tender but not tender enough to throw 20 pitchers of a distance of 60 feet and 15 pitches at 75 feet last Tuesday. Gray reportedly said he felt good after the tosses and is looking to repeat the same regiment on Thursday afternoon.

Jerry Fetielberg does the A’s podcasts each Thursday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

 

That’s Amaury’s News and Commentary: Great news Gray on the mend as 2017 season approaches

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Oakland Athletics’ Sonny Gray throws during a spring training baseball game against the Arizona Diamondbacks, Tuesday, March 7, 2017, in Scottsdale, Ariz. (AP Photo/Darron Cummings)

by Amaury Pi Gonzalez

MESA AZ–The Oakland Athletics are an optimistic bunch coming close to the end of training in the desert and within two weeks of Opening Night, Monday April 3, at home against the Los Angeles Angels. Sonny Gray their #1 starter more than likely will not open the season, A’s manager Bob Melvin told me they want to be as cautious as they can to make sure his lat is healed. An MRI last week showed a late strain in his right arm, he then met with orthopedic specialist Dr. Anthony Romeo to have his right arm checked and was cleared today (Tuesday) to start throwing again.That was great news and a sign of relief for manager Bob Melvin and the Athletics.

Sonny Gray is one of the key players on the Athletics in hopes of improving this 2017 and ending outside the cellar in the American League West. Yonder Alonso, one of the A’s veteran players told me: “Sonny is a key piece for us, he can lead our pitching staff, we need him healthy the whole season”.

Watch for young lefty starter Sean Manaea, who is having a good spring and is exhibiting great control on all his pitches, specially the slider and change up. He could come into his own this season, and if that is combined with a strong and healthy Sonny Gray, the Oakland Athletics, could have an excellent one-two on top of that rotation, also with Kendall Graveman.

The Western Division of the American League could be the division of the “have and have nots”. With Texas Rangers and Houston Astros and Seattle Mariners, any of these teams could win it, and then the Los Angeles Angels and Oakland Athletics trying to improve. In my yearly chat with Angels Manager Mike Scioscia (on his 18th season as Angels manager, currently the longest tenured manager in major league baseball) he told me about his division “it should be a very exciting season” noting that “we have very good players in our division, guys like Mike Trout, Sonny Gray, Rougned Odor, Carlos Correa among many others”. And it is true, this could be a very competitive division. One of the A’s shortcomings could be their defense, and that is one department that they have to be strong in order to support a rather young pitching staff, with great arms. Another young pitcher to look for is Frankie Montas, the 24-year old Dominican who came to the Athletics in a trade from the Los Angeles Dodgers, he has electric stuff and we will probably see him sometime during the season.

The Angels and the Athletics are bringing up the rear in this division, but both hope to improve and strive to be at least teams that would play .500 ball. The #1 pitcher for the Angels is Garrett Richards who last year opted for stem cell treatments instead of the very famous and very routine Tommy John surgery, and the chances of the Angels rest on his shoulders, very similar can be said about Sonny Gray, who could not stay healthy last season.

The Oakland Athletics are having a very good Spring Training and manager Bob Melvin does have a much better bullpen this season, a lineup with more speed and experience at the lead-off position with Rajai Davis, who with the 2016 AL champion Cleveland Indians led the league with 43 stolen bases, and the power of Khris Davis, who hopes to repeat what was the best season for him in 2016, with 42 home runs and 102 .runs batted in.

However, in baseball it all starts with pitching, and therefore the importance of a healthy Sonny Gray during this upcoming season. The results today are good news and we will see now that he got the green light to resume throwing again.

Amaury Pi Gonzalez is the Angels TV Spanish talent, the A’s Radio Spanish talent, and does News and Commentary at http://www.sportsradioservice.com