Category: Oakland Athletics

That’s Amaury’s News and Commentary pays tributes to Lon Simmons this week in Remembering Lon

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by Amaury Pi Gonzalez

OAKLAND–Lon Simmons passed this past April 5th, here in the Bay Area on MLB Opening Night and Easter Day. Lon was 91 years old. One of the truly great broadcasters of the time when there was no Internet, when people listen to each baseball game on the radio, no distractions, no e-mails, Instagram,Twitters, text messages. Lon Simmons broadcasted for the San Francisco Giants, the San Francisco 49ers and the Oakland Athletics, on a long and very distinguished Hall of Fame career of over 50 years on the radio.

In either 1997 or 1998, while traveling with the San Francisco Giants, while we were at Montreal Olympic Stadium, Montreal Canada. Lon (who always had a great sense of humor) told me prior to the game; “do you want me to read your disclaimer for you broadcast in French?” Our booth was next to that of the Expos French radio broadcaster Jaques Doucet. Lon was a storyteller, not only on the radio during the games, but also if you sat with him he always had a story. My favorite all-time singer was Frank Sinatra and I remember once telling Lon about that, he told he met Sinatra in the 1960’s during some-kind of sporting event with athletes from different sports, as well as personalities, including then golfer great Ken Venturi, who by the way was born in San Francisco.

During the last few years when he lived in Maui, Hawaii, and during Christmas I would sent him a Christmas card. He will always call a few days before Christmas to thank me, and right away he told me almost like in apologetic way, that he didn’t write anymore. My wife has a baseball signed by many Major League broadcasters, and Lon was one of the first ones to sign it, she always tells me with a smile.

Today, in a culture, where everybody wants to be famous, just for the sake of being famous, a world of reality television shows, and where you see people sitting next to each other, not talking, but texting and doing everything except communicating verbally, Lon Simmons was a treasure, a real broadcaster who could communicate and could establish a special relationship with the audience. When you broadcast baseball, a sport with so many games, a sense of humor is very important. But a genuine and spontaneous sense of humor is even more precious, and Lon Simmons had that. A baseball broadcast should me more than statistics, it should be fun and entertaining. There is no school for that.

Rest in Peace Lon.

Amaury Pi Gonzalez will be paying tributes to Lon Simmons this week, Amaury is the Spanish TV voice for the Angels and the Spanish radio voice for the A’s and does News and Commentary on http://www.sportsradioservice.com

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San Francisco Giants and Oakland A’s podcast with Michael Duca: A’s Gray look for big successes all season; SF’s Vogelsong covering as starter for Peavy and Cain

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by Michael Duca

OAKLAND–To review the first two A’s pitching performances at the Coliseum versus the Texas Rangers the A’s pitcher Sonny Gray on opening night had a no hitter going through seven innings. Gray is a quiet young man with a confidence that is well placed. When you look at young pitchers you look at two things you look at their attitude and you look at their mechanics.

I’m not as impressed with stuff as other people are, the world is full of pitchers with great stuff who are earning a living on the sidelines on the DL or whatever. He’s got very solid repeatable mechanics he’s very compact and he’s the leader on the mound and the leader on the mound is somewhat in charge of his control and expected to win and he’s got those and those are two excellent things.

If you throw six or seven innings and you give up three runs your team expects to be in the game and they expect to win. Nobody was really disappointed by A’s pitcher Jesse Hahn’s performance on Tuesday night except maybe for Jesse Hahn. I told people when the A’s pulled off that trade they had stolen another great pitcher and I firmly believe that.

The disappointment came from the offense that seemed to muster essentially nothing in five or six innings. Your not going to win games if your not hitting no matter who’s out on the mound for you. Clayton Kernshaw gave up three runs in his first start and I don’t think anybody is standing around saying he was disappointing. Jesse Hahn will work out just fine and again he was a steal getting him in the off season from San Diego.

San Francisco Giants update: My concerns about Ryan Vogelsong who got touched up for six runs and seven hits in four plus innings on Tuesday night in Phoenix is that he didn’t have a great year last year. There is just no way to get around it he’s getting on in age and skills erode as you get older.

Vogelsong is able to get the ball around 90 MPH there is not as much late movement as before but then again their playing in an altitude in Arizona. People don’t realize that Arizona is over 2.500 feet in altitude. It’s half the distance up from sea level as Denver and the ball is effected by that and the movement is effected by that.

So the ball will rise for pitchers and you have to have a different grip on the ball, it’ll be interesting to see how he comes back from that. He was mentally concerned about how he was going to make the adjustment to the bullpen and of course his first outing is a scheduled start and he should be in the rotation for a little while due to injuries to pitchers Matt Cain and Jake Peavey.With Peavy and Cain out Vogelsong will be expected to stay in the rotation and pitcher Chris Heston will be in Arizona tonight to start after getting called up from Triple A Sacramento on Tuesday.

Brandon Belt the Giants first baseman has a groin pull and groin pulls tend to be outrageously bad our mutual friend and reporter Dave Albee managed to pull a groin while playing basketball and explained what it’s like to have a groin pull. First he was blue and purple from the pull, it effected his walk and when he did walk it was painful and that was two weeks after he got the injury. It takes about a month to recover and for Belt he may not be back well into May.

Michael Duca does A’s and Giants commentary each week on http://www.sportsradioservice.com listen to his podcast below

The A’s lose to the Texas Rangers

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by Jerry Feitelberg

The Texas Rangers won the second game of the four game series with the A’s by a score of 3-1 behind six strong innings of pitcher by former Athletic, Colby Lewis. Lewis went six innings allowing allowing one run and limiting the A’s to three hits. Jesse Hahn made his first start as an Athletic and pitched well but not well enough and took the loss. Hahn also went six innings giving up three runs and seven hits. After the game,A’s manager, Bob Melvin, though Hahn pitched well and seemed pleased with his performance. The game summary follows below.

The Rangers drew first blood in the top o the third. A’s starter, Jesse Hahn, hit Ranger second baseman, Rougned  Odor, with a pitch. Odor advanced to second when Leonys Martin hit a slow ground ball to shortstop Marcus Semien. Semien could not get the force at second as his only play was to get Martin at first. Hahn retired Elvis Andrus for the second out but Prince Fielder blooped a single to center that barely eluded the grasp of Semien. Odor scored to put the Rangers ahead 1-0 in the middle of the third.

The Rangers scored twice in the top of the fifth to take a 3-0 lead. Leonys Martin singled with one out to get things going. He advanced to third  on a single by Elvis Andrus. Martin and Andrus scored on a Prince Fielder single to right that got by Craig Gentry. Gentry was charged with an error as Fielder advanced to second on the play. Hahn retired Beltre and Choo to end the inning.

The A’s got on the board in the bottom of the sixth. With one out Sam Fuld lined a triple down the right field line. Eric Sogard ground out and that allowed Fuld to cross the plate with their first run of the game. A’s trail 3-1 after six. The A’s threatened in the bottom of the seventh. They had the bases loaded with one out but Marcus Semien ground into an inning ending double play. The Rangers bullpen shut the A’s down the rest of the way and both teams are now 1-1 to start the season.

Game notes- Sam Fuld went 2 for 4 and had a triple in the game Tuesday night. Fuld has tripled in back-to-back games for the second time in his career and is now 4 for 8 to start the season. The Rangers’ Colby Lewis is now 9-4 against Oakland and the nine wins are the most against any opponent.  Game three will be played Wednesday night at 7:05 pm at the O.co Coliseum. It will be a matchup of two left-handed pitchers. Scott Kazmir will go for Oakland and Ross Detwiler will o for Texas.

Temperature at game time was 54 degrees and the Attendance was 15,025.

Oakland Starts the Season with a Win

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by Jerry Feitelberg

The A’s ended a 10 game losing streak on Opening Day. The A’s behind the stout pitching of Sonny Gray defeated the Texas Rangers 8-0. There were many story lines to the game, but the most impressive one was the performance of Sonny Gray. Sonny had a no-hitter going through seven innings. The Rangers’ Ryan Rua singled to lead off the eighth and that was the only hit the Rangers could muster all night. Gray went eight innings allowing just one hit, walked one and struck out three. He threw 98 pitches and 66 went for strikes. The A’s got contributions from several players in recording the win. Ben Zobrist in his first game in an A’s uniform had a home run and a double and two runs batted in. Brett Lawrie, who came over from Toronto in the Josh Donaldson trade, made two nice defensive plays and had a single in his A’s debut. Billy Butler had a double and scored a run in his first game wearing the Green and Gold. Marcus Semien also made a nice defensive play at shortstop and Ike Davis also was impressive on defense. Stephen Vogt drove in four runs with a double and a three-run homer in the seventh that iced the win for Oakland.

The A’s started off the first inning with a bang. With one out, center fielder, Sam Fuld blasted a triple to the base of the wall at the 388 foot mark. The next batter, Ben Zobrist, who was playing in left field tonight, hit a home run to give the A’s an early 2-0 lead. It was Zobrist’s first at bat as an Oakland A and the crowd went crazy.

The A’s put two more runs on the board in the bottom of the fourth. First baseman Ike Davis started things off with a walk. With one out, Stephen Vogt doubled down the left field line to put men on at second and third with one out. Shortstop Marcus Semien singled to drive in Davis. For Semien, it was his first hit as an Athletic. Vogt advanced to third and then scored when Rangers’ starter, Yovani Gallardo, uncorked a wild pitch allowing Vogt to score giving the A’s a 4-0 lead after four innings of play.

The A’s broke it open in the bottom of the seventh. Designated hitter, Billy Butler, walked with one out and then advanced to second on a Brett Lawrie single. A’s catcher, Stephen Vogt, blasted a shot to deep right field off Ranger reliever Phil Klein to make it 7-0 in favor of Oakland after seven. The A’s added another run in the bottom of the eighth. Eric Sogard led off with a single. With one out Sam Fuld walked to put men on at first and second. Billy Butler, signed as a free agent after many years with the Kansas City Royals, doubled to drive in Sogard with the eighth run of the game for the A’s. Final score 8-0 in favor of Oakland.

Notes- The last time the A’s won on Opening Day was in 2004. The only no-hitter ever pitched happened in 1940 when Bob Feller no-hit the Chicago White Sox. The last shutout on Opening Day in Oakland A’s history happened when the A’s shut out Seattle in 2003. Ben Zobrist became the first player to homer in his first at-bat on Opening Day since Josh Willingham in 2011.

After the game, A’s manager Bob Melvin was all smiles due to the performance of his team He said that doesn’t guarantee the A’s will win on Tuesday, but it’s just fine for right now. He was ecstatic about Gray’s performance and felt that Gray had everything working for him. Gray had good velocity on his fast ball and his cutter and slider was also working well. Stephen Vogt said that Gray knew he had a no-hitter going and was upset when Rua singled. Melvin also said Rua’s hit made it easy for him to take Gray out of the game after the eighth inning. He was concerned that ray might have to go nine full innings and the most he pitched in Spring training was just six.

The series continues Tuesday night in Oakland. The A’s will send righty Jesse Hahn to the mound. Hahn came to Oakland in the trade that sent Derek Norris to San Diego.  Colby Lewis will pitch for Texas.

Game time will be 7:05 pm

Attendance was 36,067 which was a sellout.

That’s Amaury’s Podcast, News and Commentary: It’s an honor to be along side of Lon Simmons in the Bay Area Sports Hall of Fame

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by Amaury Pi Gonzalez

OAKLAND–Lon Simmons who called Oakland A’s games he and I crossed paths when he used to call San Francisco Giants games and then he did the A’s starting in 1981. He did the Giants from 1958-1981 and the returned back with the Giants in 2002 after finishing up with the A’s 1995. He’s a legend, he’s a Hall of Famer.

Simmons was a broadcast great who left us at age 91 on Sunday morning Easter morning on opening day of the MLB 2015 season. He had a tremendous sense of humor. Here’s a funny anecdote that’s true it was late 1997 that I was traveling with the Giants doing all the games in Spanish on KIQI Radio and KNBR was the executive producer of the broadcasts.

I was the Spanish voice of the Giants during those years and worked with Renee De La Rosa who also owned the station, we were in Montreal and a couple of hours before the game in the pressbox I was around looking for notes and looking for the lounge to eat. Lon ran into me and he asked me “how do you like Montreal?” I said “I love it” it’s like a European town and he said “do you have a disclaimer?”

I told Lon “of course we have a disclaimer he then asked “can I do the disclaimer for you in French?” I said “you speak French?” and he did something and it was in French. I’m not kidding you, Lon was an incredible man and we read about the sad news about his passing on Sunday but God gave him a long life.

We all would be blessed to make it to 91 less face it that’s for starters, Lon was one of those guys according to the news today and last night he didn’t even want a funeral and I can’t talk for him he’s in Heaven now but leave it to Lon God bless him he passed away on Easter Sunday and on Opening Day of the MLB season. He was like that comedian and God bless him it would be Lon to say, “I don’t want to be bothered I’m going to pick two big days when I go first it’s Easter and the MLB Opening Day with the Cubs hosting the Cardinals.” It’s only fitting that Lon checked out on a day with two big events. We’ll miss you Lon.

Amaury Pi Gonzalez was the former Spanish radio voice for the San Francisco Giants and is the current Spanish radio voice for the A’s and worked with Lon Simmons at both the A’s and Giants and does News and Commentary at http://www.sportsradioservice.com listen to the podcast below

Opening Day

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by Jerry Feitelberg

Opening Day 2015 kicks off Monday as the new-look Oakland A’s meet the Texas Rangers. The A’s have made a multitude of changes and the home fans will be able to see the new players for he first time.

There is something special about the first game of the season. Every team starts off in first place 0-0 and it may be the only day that the team will reside in first place all season.  The players are always excited to get the show going. The adrenaline will be flowing as the park is sold out. The players on both teams will be introduced to the fans and there will be a color guard present when the National Anthem is sung and that is usually followed by jets from either the Air Force or the Navy.

Sonny Gray will be pitching for the A’s and it will be the second year in a row for the new ace of the staff. The A’s are hoping to snap a ten game losing streak on opening day. No one knows how the A’s will do this year. Many of the pundits are picking the A’s to finish third in the division. Texas hopes to rebound from last year’s dismal season as so many players were injured and their long-time manager, Ron Washington, resigned for personal reasons. Each team wants to get off to a good start, but it’s a long season. The A’s, last year, had the best record in baseball for four months, but the last two months were a nightmare and they barely made the playoffs and then blew a lead in the one game playoff with the Kansas City Royals.

General manager, Billy Beane, went back to the drawing board and decided to go in a new directions and made many moves that upset a lot of fans. Josh Donaldson and Brandon Moss were fan favorites, but they are new playing for Toronto and Cleveland. All-Star Derek Norris now resides in San Diego. The team gave away power but got back players that are better defensively and young pitchers to strengthen both the starting rotation as well as the bullpen. It remains to be seen if Kendall Graveman and Jesse Hahn will succeed as starters. The A’s have depth and Jarrod Parker will soon be off the DL as well as A.J.Griffin. Both these men are proven starters, but they are coming off Tommy John surgery.

Winning the AL west will be a challenge for this young team. The Los Angeles Angels won the division last year but were  knocked out of the playoffs by the Royals. The Seattle Mariners finished just one game behind the A’s last year and have added a big bat signing free agent Nelson Cruz who had 40 homers for the Orioles last year. The Houston Astros had a better season last year and are also improving as they  will no longer be pushovers.

In 2012, many people thought the A’s would lose 100 games. They had a bunch of no names and cast-off and a young player from Cuba by the name of Yoenis Cespedes. They won the division on the last day of the year beating the Rangers. So, with a young team,  no one knows.  That’s why the play the games. See you at the park.

Lastly, this writer would be remiss not to mention the loss of Bay Area broadcast legend, Lon Simmons. Simmons passed away yesterday at the age of 91. He was a broadcaster for the Giants, A’s and San Franciso 49ers. He had a deep baritone voice and had a great sense of humor. People would tell me how terrific he was and it took a while for me to get his humor but once I did, I loved listening to him. One night while my wife and I were dining at a restaurant, I heard his voice. No need to turn around. I knew it was Lon. Rest in peace, Lon. You were an original and you will be missed by the Giants, A’s, 49ers and fans and most of all, by your family.

Lon Simmons spent his golden years broadcasting the revival of the Oakland A’s

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Simmons

By Morris Phillips

For 15 seasons, legendary Bay Area sports announcer Lon Simmons graced the airwaves for the Oakland A’s partnered with Bill King.

The pair had already accomplished plenty in the world of Bay Area professional sports.  King was simultaneously the voice of the Raiders and Warriors, and Simmons had enjoyed a long career with the Giants, partnered for the first 13 seasons with broadcasting giant Russ Hodges.

But in 1981, King was hired by the A’s and joined by Simmons.  The pairing was the brainchild of Walter Haas and the Haas Family, who had bought the team from Charlie Finley hoping to lift the prospects of the franchise that was sagging at that point.  Simmons recalled that never once did the ownership group interfere with the soon-to-be Hall of Fame broadcasters, allowing them to say what they felt for the entirety of their tenures.

“Not one time in those 15 years did anyone in the organization ask me why I said something or, told me I should have said something,” Simmons remembered.  “The Haases may have bitten their toungues several times, but they never criticized me.”

King and Simmons would go on to broadcast “Billy Ball” and the “Bash Brothers” along with the majority of Hall of Famer Rickey Henderson’s career in Oakland.  King with his signature “Holy Toledo!” and Simmons with his “Tell it Goodbye!” were an obvious hit with listening audiences and were a more than capable companion to the team’s rise on the field.

They were also paid handsomely for their work; Simmons and King combined to earn nearly $500,000 per season while they were in Oakland.

In 1989, the A’s were a juggernaut, loaded with talent and ended up in the Bay Area World Series opposite the Giants.  When King was felled by laryngitis, Simmons broadcast the final outs of Game 4 in Oakland’s sweep.  The irony couldn’t missed: Simmons had announced Giants’ games all those years without the team winning the World Series, but there he was doing the call when as the Giants lost on the game’s biggest stage.

In 1995, Simmons was let go as new ownership gained control.  He would go on to do short stints with the Giants until his retirement in 2002.

In 2004, Simmons was honored with Ford C. Frick award given annually to an exemplary major league baseball broadcaster.  In 2oo6, Simmons was inducted as a member of the initial induction class of the Bay Area Radio Hall of Fame.

Lon Simmons sitting with Willie Mays

Hall of Fame Broadcaster Lon Simmons Dies at age of 91

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By Jeff Hall

SAN FRANCISCO –

It is with great sadness we share the news regarding the loss of a Bay Area Legend, Lon Simmons

The Hall of Fame broadcaster passed away on Sunday at the age of 91.

Simmons did play calling for the San Francisco Giants, Oakland Athletics and the San Francisco 49ers

The Giants announced that Simmons died peacefully, saying, “The Giants family and Bay Area sports community lost a true gentleman.”

Giants President and CEO Larry Baer shared his thoughts, “Like many fans, my earliest Giants memories were listening to Lon and Russ on my transistor radio,” Baer said. “He will be deeply missed by all of us.

Simmons won the Ford C Frick award in 2004 and was known for his signature home run call saying “Tell it goodbye!”

Simmons had the voice that all aspiring broadcasters dream of having and would often get us to laugh with his quick wit sense of humor in his broadcasts.

Simmons death will be considered a great loss to all of the Bay Area since He spent many years at the microphone for both Bay Area baseball teams and many great San Francisco 49er moments.

During his season with the A’s broadcasts The late Bill King would often turn the microphone over to Simmons on a major baseball historical moment, including when Rickey Henderson set the major league stolen base record.

The A’s noted that Simmons ”called some of the greatest moments in Oakland history, including the final three outs of the A’s 1989 World Series championship.”

Simmons will always be remembered for His memorable 49er call in 1988 when Steve Young scrambled against the Minnesota Vikings in 1988.

“Young, back to throw, in trouble, he’s going to be sacked. No, gets away, he runs, gets away again, goes to the 40, gets away again, to the 35, cuts back at the 30, to the 20, the 15, the 10. He dives. Touchdown, 49ers!”

49ers CEO Jed York said the team ”was deeply saddened to lose one of our own today with the passing of Lon Simmons.”

Simmons — who spent much of his time in the radio booth alongside Russ Hodges — dealt with cancer more than once in recent years. He requested not to have a memorial service, the Giants said. He attended selected games last season and still worked as a community ambassador for the Giants after retiring in 2002.

“I’m grateful for the support of the Bay Area fans,” Simmons said upon being selected the winner of the Ford C. Frick Award. “The fans are more important to me than anything else because those are the people I tried to please the 40 years.”

San Jose Sharks & MLB podcast with Daniel Dullum: Sharks lose ground in loss time running out;Hamilton should have been suspended

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by Daniel Dullum

GLENDALE AZ–The San Jose Sharks after dropping last Saturday night’s game 5-3 to the Arizona Coyotes have put themselves in a difficult position. Sharks head coach Todd McClellan admitted after the game as much also Patrick Marleau. This is new territory for San Jose it’s been 22 years since they missed the playoffs.

What your seeing is the residue of the newly aligned playoff system the NHL adopted which they pick the top three teams from each division and there’s two wild cards. Some folks might say it’s fair and some may not think it’s fair I think it is. It puts more of an onus on winning your division.

It’s makes those western or eastern conference games mean a lot more, that what were seeing there’s quite a logjam in the NHL West and the Sharks let two points get away on Saturday. When your trying to latch onto that last wild card spot that’s a game your going to have to win. Now as McClellan pointed out after the game they have three games left and that’s six possible points and their going to go after them.

The Sharks are going to need some help they just can’t win out and get in, they need some other folks to lose to. There’s still a remote possibility the Sharks can get that eighth spot it doesn’t look good for San Jose right now. When your in that position to win out it’s that pressure where your saying you’ll be able to take one out of three or two out of three, no the Sharks can settle for no less than six points and hope for the best.

On Saturday there were guys out there on the Coyotes who played spoiler playing for their careers or at least for their jobs and it’s a different energy and you know your not going anywhere you might as well be the spoiler and have some fun doing that. What the Coyotes did was they got out took advantage of a couple power plays and they got on the board right away and they kept that confidence up all game long.

Daniel Dullum is a talkshow host for http://www.sportsradioservice.com listen to the rest of his podcast below plus his coverage of the Angels Josh Hamilton and MLB

A’s lose exhibition finale to the Giants, but appear set for Opening Day against Texas

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By Morris Phillips

The A’s surprisingly successful spring ended Saturday with a loss and notable demotion, but neither development casts a cloud on the team’s mood or prospects heading into Monday’s opener against Texas at the Coliseum.

Not with Barry Zito’s return to baseball after a year off followed by Saturday’s announcement that the veteran will accept an assignment to Triple-A Nashville providing so much inspiration for the team and the coaching staff.

The 36-year old Zito pitched well this spring for the A’s, finishing with a 4.79 ERA in seven appearances, but with no shot to crack the A’s starting rotation or overtures from other major league teams, the veteran proudly accepted his assignment content just to extend his baseball career.

“I didn’t stay in shape for a year to come back here and go all in and go sit at home,” Zito said.

“I’ll take the wife and kid and have some fun with it.”

With all the cyclical trades and changes, it’s often hard to view the A’s as a cohesive team.  But they are just that, leading all major league teams with wins this spring (22) and scoring the most runs (199 in 35 games) in the process.

Accordingly, ever-faithful A’s fans better fall in line and figure out who’s playing where and what’s their place in the batting order.

But on Saturday, a crowd of better than 29,000—filled with fans of both the Giants and the A’s—just needed to remember a pair of familiar names: Zito and 39-year old Tim Hudson.

The pair, along with Mark Mulder, helped comprise the front end of the A’s formidable rotation in the mid 2000’s.  But there they were on Saturday still plying their trade.  Hudson started for the Giants and fooled the A’s for five innings in San Francisco’s 2-1 win that concluded the Bay Bridge Series.

Hudson picked up the win by scattering four hits and two walks across those five frames, keeping the A’s scoreless despite giving up doubles to Ike Davis and Ben Zobrist that could have led to big innings for Oakland.

When Hudson departed, the A’s didn’t have much success with the five Giants relievers that followed either.  Only a run scoring sacrifice fly from Brett Lawrie in the sixth kept the A’s from being shut out.

And right after Hudson called it an afternoon, Zito appeared, pitching a scoreless sixth inning for the A’s.  The veteran entered and left to applause—from fans of both teams.

“That was kind of cool,” Hudson said.  “All we needed was Mulder to warm up and come in after him.”

NOTES: The A’s starting rotation isn’t set, but all signs point to Jesse Chavez, Kendall Graveman and Jesse Hahn completing a group that will be headed by Sonny Gray and Scott Kazmir.  With Sean Doolittle on the disabled list, former Washington National Tyler Clippard will begin the year as the closer.

Jarrod Parker—who is expected back in June—along with Sean Nolin and Josh Reddick will begin the season on the disabled list.

The A’s appear to better situated defensively this year in comparison to last with Sam Fuld and Craig Gentry supplanting 35-year old Coco Crisp in center field.  Crisp is rehabbing and working with legend Rickey Henderson in hopes that he can successfully transition to playing in left.

Ike Davis, who had an impressive spring offensively, and Brett Lawrie will be the A’s starters at first and third respectively.  Ben Zobrist will play primarily at second base with occasional starts in left and at first base.