Category: Oakland Athletics

That’s Amaury’s News and Commentary: Cops say they want something done about Rams “hands up don’t shoot” gesture; NFL says their staying out of it

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by Amaury Pi Gonzalez

ALAMEDA–On Sunday when some of the St.Louis Rams players came out of the tunnel just before their game against the Oakland Raiders (both teams by the way played in Los Angeles once upon a time) with their hands up in the “hands up, don’t shoot” gesture. The St.Louis Police have asked the Rams and the NFL to do something about a gesture they find offensive to the department.

The NFL made it clear that they are staying out of the fray and have stated that the league has taken an apolitical approach to the demonstration by the Rams players, “we wanted to show that we are organized for a great cause and something positive comes out of it. That’s what we hope to make happen. That’s our community, we wanted to let our community know that we support the community” said wide receiver Kenny Britt.

Most of the players were not there when the demonstrations were happening in Ferguson and when Mike Brown was shot by Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson not indicted. This was in the community and we may not like what happened and what decided by the grand jury and I can understand that but were country of laws and there a lot of laws that I don’t like and agree with.

Just because I don’t like those laws doesn’t mean I have to break them and most of these demonstrators are people of good faith that are demonstrating. I’m old enough to remember the 60s, when you throw a brick through a convenience store and you stole from that store in the demonstration that has nothing to do with that kid that was shot.

I can see the players and the Olympic athletes John Carlos and Tommie Smith in 1968 in Mexico City having their say with raised fists. I like to keep sports away from politics but it’s part of the world and the Rams are professional athletes and if I can be a little sarcastic the Rams and the Raiders are not the best two football teams in the World.

This game unintentionally got a lot of attention on two fronts for the “hands up don’t shoot” gesture by the Rams players and for the Raiders worst loss in 53 years losing 52-0. The Rams are not great shakes either. The only thing that came out of that game was what the Rams players did in their own way of demonstrating.

The thing the Raiders couldn’t do was pass the ball into the end zone, so it’s just ridiculous but that’s part of the world we live in today. The players are citizens they have their rights to demonstrate. I don’t like to see it at a football game but they have the right and there is a lot of stuff I don’t like but were a free country. As long as you don’t hurt anybody you can demonstrate until the cows come home.

Amaury Pi Gonzalez does News and Commentary several times a week for http://www.sportsradioservice.com

That’s Amaury’s News and Commentary: The ballad of Billy Beane fallout of the Donaldson deal and Perpetual rebuilding

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by Amaury Pi Gonzalez

OAKLAND–On Friday November 28, the day after Thanksgiving and commonly known as Black Friday, A’s General Manager and co-owner Trader Billy Beane struck again. He traded the biggest star he had left, to the Toronto Blue Jays, All Star Josh Donaldson, for a bevy of players.

The Oakland Athletics won the 2012 and 2013 American League Western Division, but this year after trading his clean-up hitter Yoenis Céspedes to the Boston Red Sox for the great Jon Lester, the team finished in second place and was eliminated in a one-game playoff against Kansas City, who eventually won the American League pennant.

On July 31(trade deadline)the Athletics traded Yoenis Céspedes to Boston for left handed pitcher Jon Lester. On November 28, the team traded All Star third baseman Josh Donaldson to the Toronto Blue Jays for infielder Brett Lawrie, shortstop Franklin Barreto, pitchers Kendal Graveman and Sean Nolin.

Donaldson who received the call by General Manager Billy Beane said he was “shocked”. “It doesn’t make sense to me,” outfielder Josh Reddick said. “We traded our best player the past two years.” It seems like we’re going into a rebuilding drive. Brett Lawrie is the only player that is coming from Toronto among those traded to Oakland that has experience at the major league level, he is a solid fielder, a very intense player that can play third base, but also is very injury prone. On the positive side for the A’s, Lawrie is also 4 years younger than Donaldson. Barreto is a long way from making it to the major leagues and the other two pitchers are also prospects not close to the majors.

Josh Donaldson, who originally began as a catcher, has been a solid third baseman for the Oakland Athletics, specially becoming well known across the country during the past two seasons. This year Donaldson hit 29 home runs and drove in 98 runs, in 2013 he had an even better year finishing with a .301 average and was part of the solid one-two punch in the A’s in the A’s lineup hitting ahead of Céspedes. José Bautista the Blue Jay slugger is one of the happiest people after learning of this deal. Josh Donaldson’s swing is almost a replica of that of Bautista, and they are very good friends.

With this trade the Toronto Blue Jays got even stronger in the Eastern Division, where the Red Sox are re-loading for 2015. The A’s system of moving bodies around continues. It was quite interesting during the media conference call with Billy Beane, one reporter asked the A’s General Manager, about the A’s having the money but not spending it. Beane dismissed the question by tweeting saying it was the first he’d even heard of it, so it had no bearing on the deal. According to Forbes(the people that know about money) and at the beginning of the 2014 baseball season, the Giants’ primary owner, Charles Johnson, is baseball’s richest owner. Forbes estimates his worth at $7.5 billion.

The A’s? Their operating income was $27.4 million, seventh highest in the majors. The magazine said the A’s “play in one of the most antiquated ballparks in baseball and are profitable only because of the league’s revenue-sharing system.” The attendance for the A’s last season was over two million, for the first time since 2005, when they became the first Bay Area major league team to go over 2 million.

So the Athletics Carousel continues, like the famous entertainer used to say “around and around it goes, where does it stops? nobody knows”. An old time A’s fan told me right after the deal: “man, it is tough to buy any new jerseys of A’s players, they are here rented no more than three years”. I told him, we will always have Coco. (Coco Crisp). Coco is the older statesman of the Oakland Athletics.

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

A’s Trade 3B Josh Donaldson to Toronto ; Acquires RHP Graveman, LHP Nolin, IF Lawrie and minor league IF Barreto

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OAKLAND – The Oakland A’s acquired left-handed pitcher Sean Nolin, right-handed pitcher Kendall Graveman, infielder Brett Lawrie and minor league infielder Franklin Barreto from the Toronto Blue Jays in exchange for third baseman Josh Donaldson, the club announced today.  To clear spots on the 40-man roster, the A’s designated right-handed pitcher Josh Lindblom and first baseman Kyle Blanks for assignment.

Donaldson batted .255 with 29 home runs and 98 RBI in 158 games with Oakland last year.  He ranked sixth in the American League in walks (76), eighth in runs (93), tied for ninth in home runs and tied for 10th in RBI and extra base hits (62).  Donaldson was elected to his first AL All-Star team in 2014.  He is a .268 career hitter with 63 home runs and 228 RBI in 405 games in four seasons with Oakland.

Lawrie batted .247 with 12 home runs and 38 RBI in 70 games with Toronto last year.  He missed most of the final three months of the season due to two stints on the disabled list with a broken finger and an oblique strain.  The 24-year-old right-handed hitter started 44 games at third base and 26 at second base in 2014 but has made 311 of his 344 career starts at third base.  Lawrie was the first round pick of Milwaukee in 2008 and was traded to Toronto following the 2010 season.  He is a .265 career hitter with 43 home runs and 157 RBI in 345 games.

Graveman made his Major League debut with Toronto last year, compiling a 3.86 ERA in five September relief appearances.  He combined for a 14-6 record and a 1.83 ERA in 27 starts for Single-A Lansing and Dunedin, Double-A New Hampshire and Triple-A Buffalo, earning Baseball America Minor League All-Star honors.  The 23-year-old right-hander struck out 115, walked just 31 and allowed two home runs in 167.1 innings.  Graveman was originally selected by Toronto in the eighth round of the 2013 First-Year Player Draft.

Nolin made one relief appearance with Toronto last year, allowing one run in 1.0 inning.  He combined for a 4-7 record and a 3.43 ERA in 20 starts with the GCL Blue Jays, Single-A Dunedin and Triple-A Buffalo.  The 24-year-old left-hander was drafted by Toronto in the sixth round of the 2010 draft and is 27-17 with a 3.06 ERA in 92 games, including 86 starts, in five professional seasons.

Barreto hit .311 with six home runs, 61 RBI and 29 stolen bases in 73 games with Short Season Single-A Vancouver in his second professional season.  He was originally signed by the Toronto organization as a non-drafted free agent out of Venezuela on July 2, 2012.  The 18-year old right-handed hitter was named the Blue Jays fifth best prospect by Baseball America following the season.

A’s Agree to Terms with Billy Butler on a Three-Year, $30M Contract

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OAKLAND – The Oakland A’s agreed to terms with designated hitter/first baseman Billy Butler on a three-year contract through the 2017 season, the club announced today.
Butler spent the first eight seasons of his career with Kansas City, compiling a .295 batting average with 127 home runs and 628 RBI in 1166 games.  He ranks third on the Royals career list in batting, sixth in doubles (276), RBI and walks (427), seventh in at bats (4317), hits (1273), home runs and extra base hits (407) and eighth in games played.  The 28-year-old had his best season in 2012 when he hit .313 with 29 home runs and 107 RBI in 161 games.  He was named to the American League All-Star team that year, won the AL Silver Slugger Award at designated hitter and was honored with the Edgar Martinez Outstanding Designated Hitter Award.  Butler had three straight seasons with 40 or more doubles from 2009-11, has topped 90 RBI three times in his career and batted .300 three times.
Butler batted .271 with nine home runs and 66 RBI in 151 games with the Royals last year.  He hit .321 with four home runs in 137 at bats against left-handed pitching compared to .255 with five home runs in 412 at bats against right-handers.  Butler had an .847 OPS against lefties compared to .653 against righties.  He saw most of action at designated hitter, but also started 35 games at first base, his most since 2010.  The right-handed hitter added a .262 average and eight RBI in 13 postseason games for the AL Champions.
Butler will wear number 16 after asking current Athletic Josh Reddick for his number. Reddick will now wear number 22.

That’s Amaury’s News and Commentary: The Cuban invasion of the Y

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by Amaury Pi Gonzalez

OAKLAND–This week José Abreu was named American League Rookie of the Year. The Chicago White Sox first baseman won the honors as he finished the season with a .317 average 36 home runs and 107 runs batted in, if the White Sox had won the Central Division, José Abreu would have been in contention to win the Most Valuable Player, and you can make an argument that even with his team finishing in fourth place, Abreu’s performance is among the very best in baseball.

Other Cuban-born players, like the extremely talented Yasiel Puig, with the big market Los Angeles Dodgers got much more publicity than José Abreu, there is little doubt that Abreu had the best season among the newly arrived talented crop of players born in the largest island of the Antilles. A lot of the young people in this country are “rediscovering Cuba”, like it is a new place for baseball, but that could not be anything further from the truth.

For Cuba, baseball is nothing new. The first ever Hispanic player to play professional baseball in the United States was Esteban Bellán.

Bellán was born in La Habana Cuba in 1850. Bellán and his brother were sent to the United States to study at Fordham, a Jesuit institution. In 1868, after his time at Fordham, Bellán played for the Unions of Morrisania, a New York team.

In 1869 Bellán joined the Troy Haymakers for whom he played third base until 1872. In 1871 the Haymakers joined the National Association, which became the National League in 1876. The Haymakers later became the New York Giants, now the San Francisco Giants.The Esteban Bellán story is part of history as well as what happened in Cuba when Fidel Castro took over power over 50 years ago and eradicated all professional sports in the country, after declaring his government a Marxist-Leninist system of government, and since has remained a communist dictatorship. Cubans have been playing baseball,even before Fidel Castro’s father was born.

Major League Baseball has a rich tradition of Hispanic players, and Cubans are back in force, as part of the mix in today’s game. Many of these Cuban players arriving escaped in man made crafts and left the country in the middle of the night.

Many of the new crop of Cuban players had to risk their lives in order to come and play in the United States. Previous to the current system in Cuba, players like Orestes “Minnie”Miñoso, Camilo Pascual, Leo Cárdenas, Zoilo Versalles, Pedro Ramos, Tony Taylor, Octavio”Cookie”Rojas, Frank”Panchón”Herrera, Julio Béquer, Mike Fornieles and many others played in Major League Baseball, but even with previous dictatorships in Cuba, they were allowed to travel in and out of the island.

That is not possible in today’s Cuba and that is why most of these Cuban players arriving now,have to defect while they are playing outside their country, or escape in small boats looking for that opportunity of playing here, in the Major Leagues. For any baseball player the ultimate goal is to play here in the best baseball league in the world. These two countries are separated geographically by 90 miles, but in ideology by 10,000 miles.

Dozens of Cubans have defected, and not all made it to the Major Leagues, but today Yoenis Céspedes, Yasiel Puig, José Abreu, José Fernández, Aroldis Chapman, and others are part of the names in box scores during the regular season which media and fans are very familiar.

The young Yasmani Tomas is part of the new breed, the 23 year old has been pursued by at least six different teams and could be the next signing. Maybe by the time you read this article he already has a contract. Also,a 19 year old that has been working out in Guatemala, by the name of Yoan Moncada,(considered a phenom), there are reports of at least 60 Major League scouts who went to Guatemala to see the kid.

The Los Angeles Angels recently signed 20 year old Cuban-born infielder Roberto Baldoquin to a record-breaking $8 million signing bonus. In 2004 the Angels signed Kendrys Morales, making that the last time the Angels dived into the Cuban-player market. By the way, this season Yoslan Herrera pitched for the Angels, he was born in Pinar del Rio, Cuba, the land of the great Tony Oliva. Cuban Rusney Castillo, who signed with the Boston Red Sox is now going to play for the Caguas team of the Puerto Rican Winter League.

Back in 1980 the Mariel Boat-lift brought a group of players, among them Bárbaro Garbey,who played third base for the Detroit Tigers and Texas Rangers, so Cubans have been leaving the island for decades now, but what is different now is this “steady stream” of players arriving, which is more like and invasion of the “Y”< A lot of these Cuban players have first names that begin with the letter "Y".

I have asked many of them,-more of that later- and they really do not know. What we do know is that until the collapse of the Soviet Union 25 years ago in 1989, the Soviet influence was big in Cuba, since the former communist super power was supporting Cuba to the tune of billions of dollars each year. It is possible that because of the failure of that system, that the Cuban government now "looks the other way" and is just about conceding that they cannot keep these talented players in Cuba.

Yuniesky Betancourt, was one of the first I remember(with the first name beginning with a Y) when he was at the Seattle Mariners Spring Training camp in Peoria, Arizona, before his first year,(2005) I asked him,if he knew why he and many of his compatriots had names that began with the letter Y. He really didn't know. Although this is not any kind of scientific study,I came to the conclusion, simply common sense, that it was the result of these players were born during or recently after the collapse of the Soviet Union. While many of these names are not Russian, they are a combination of Russian and Cuban cultures. But there is no doubt, the Y is now a very popular letter in the baseball dictionary.

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

Thats Amaury’s News and Commentary: Former A’s Alvin Dark 92 and Kelvin Moore 57 pass away

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by Amaury Pi Gonzalez

OAKLAND–Former A’s manager Alvin Dark passed away on Thursday at the age of 92 the Oakland A’s announced in a press release. Dark whose many successful accomplishments as a player and a manager in baseball was overshadowed by telling former Giant first baseman Orlando Cepeda to stop talking in Spanish in the Giants clubhouse during his time with the San Francisco Giant as manager in the 1960s.

Dark at the time wanted the Latino players on those 60s Giants teams like Juan Marichal, Felipe Alou and Cepeda to talk in English only in the Giants clubhouse. Years later Cepeda would say everytime Dark saw him he would apologize for that and Cepeda would say, “he didn’t know our background or where we came from.”

Cepeda would tell Dark when he would apologize, “that’s in the past now, that’s in the past, I don’t hold grudges against nobody.” Dark died at his home in Easly South Carolina from a long bout with Alzheimer’s disease. Dark came from a very strong born again Christian background and would often give talks in churches which he did in the East Bay quite often when he was managing the 1974 Oakland A’s.

Dark’s career started out with the Boston Braves in 1946, in 1948 he finished third in voting for the American League rookie of the year with the Braves. In the 48 season Dark played a key role in helping the Braves get to the World Series it would be the Braves first pennant since 1914. Dark however it hit only .167 in the 1948 World Series and was traded to the New York Giants after the season.

In the 1951 National League playoff game three against the Brooklyn Dodgers the Giants were trailing 4-1 the Giants managed to get within one run making it 4-3 and in the bottom of the ninth at the Polo Fields in New York. Dark hit a single and later Bobby Thompson hit a homer off Dodger pitcher Dan Newcombe for a walk off victory 5-4 to get the Giants into the 1951 World Series. The homer which was later named “the shot heard round the world.”

Dark later managed the 1962 San Francisco Giants to a World Series, the Giants played the contentious New York Yankees to seven games. The Giants lost game seven when Willie McCovey with two runners on hit a line shot to Yankee second baseman Bobby Richardson who leaped and caught it for the final out of the game. With that Yankees win that would erase their previous bitter loss in the 1960 World Series to Bill Mazeroski and the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Dark later managed the 1974 Oakland A’s to a World Series pennant, the A’s had won two straight pennants in 1972-73 and Dark’s 1974 A’s made it three straight. That A’s team had been talent loaded with Reggie Jackson, Gene Tenace, Sal Bando, Ray Fosse, Mike Epstein, Joe Rudi, Bert Campaneris, Bill North, and a pitching staff of Jim Catfish Hunter, Ken Holtzman, Vida Blue, Rollie Fingers, Paul Lindblad, John Blue Moon Odom and owned by Charlie O Finley.

Kelvin Moore passes at age 57: Former A’s infielder Kelvin Moore passed away at the age of 57 in Covington Georgia of a heart attack on Wednesday it had been reported that Moore was suffering from diabetes and other ailments in the past few years.

Moore played with former A’s second baseman and current Comcast baseball analyst Shooty Babbitt on the 1981 A’s team who won the American League West that season. Moore was a native of Leroy Alabama. Moore was selected sixth out of the draft in 1978, Moore played at Jackson State and it was on former A’s manager Billy Martin’s team that season in 81 where Moore hit .255 in 14 games.

Moore would wind up playing for Oakland for all of his three years in the big leagues between 1981-1983. Moore would hit .223 with eight home runs and 25 RBIs in 76 games. Moore is survived by his family wife Patricia and daughters Chasity and Kim and son Justin.

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

Thats Amaury’s News and Commentary: Athletics celebrate 25th anniversay of 1989 World Championship

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by Amaury Pi Gonzalez

OAKLAND–A reunion of owners, executives and employees of one of the most successful baseball teams in the history of the Bay Area took place at a well known seafood restaurant at Jack London Square in Oakland. Close to 200 people were invited. I was proud to be among them, as their Spanish play by play announcer during that great run of American League titles, as winning three Western Divisions and three American League Pennants consecutively, as well as three consecutive World Series. Many executives of the A’s of 1989 have moved onto other organizations like Walt Jocketty, the General Manager of the Cincinnati Reds.

At the entrance of this famous Jack London Square restaurant there was a big banner listing the Oakland A’s four World Series titles, 1972,73,74 and 1989. The days of Tony LaRussa in the late 80’s and early ’90’s were great for the Athletics, with such stars as Rickey Henderson, Dave Henderson, José Canseco, Mark McGwire, Dave Stewart, Bob Welch and others.

The A’s at that time, had the record for attendance in the Bay Area and were the model of marketing and involvement with the community, and as of today are even admired by Larry Baer of the San Francisco Giants. Just a few years after winning that 1989 historic World Series (the only time in history television had Live coverage of an earthquake) the Athletics gave the South Bay/San José territorial rights to the San Francisco Giants, who were dying at the gate at maligned Candlestick Park, and were planning to move out of the Bay Area.

To this day, the Bay Area is the only two-team Major League Baseball market in the country where “territorial rights” are an issue. Whenever the A’s would are able to move to San José, remains to be seen, at it is running now longer than some famous Telemundo Novelas.

1989 was a great season where for the first, and only time in history the two Bay Area teams collided in the Fall Classic. One that was interrupted by the Loma Prieta earthquake, and eventually won by the A’s via a sweep, two wins prior to the earthquake, and two more after the eleven day delay by then Commissioner Fay Vincent Jr.

Like many of these reunions, just like in High School or College, you see people you do not recognize that well, but then you realize who they are and all-of-a-sudden you are sharing memories. Many Oaklander’s were in attendance, including some millionaires who would love to see the Athletics stay in Oakland.

Somebody said that although the Giants have now won three World Series, they still have not won one against the A’s and the Giants have not won three in a row. History usually is more appreciated a quarter-of-a-century later. Andy Dolich who as the brain in the A’s business side of things winning multiple Celo’s for television commercials was the Master of Ceremonies, trying some comedy he showed a plastic “finger” as the finger that José Canseco recently lost as he was cleaning his gun. Dolich introduced Wally Haas Jr. who spoke, and later a video with 1989 highlights ran as people mingled, drank and had dinner.

As I spoke to Wally Haas Jr, whose father was the owner of the team during those years, and thanked him for the invite, he is still one of the most unpretentious movers and shakers in the Bay Area. His company paid millions to have their name Levi at the brand new San Francisco 49ers facility in Santa Clara. Wally has always been a quiet but effective boss, and when they bought the team from Charlie O.Finley they turned a dying franchise into the pride of the Bay Area. Wally Haas Jr. was very gracious (as always) with the people at this reunion, he thanked them and said this was a great event and was extremely happy to get together with all of us.

After the A’s-Finley dynasty winning three consecutive World Series in 1972, 1973 and 1974, this feat of winning three consecutive World Series has only been matched and surpassed by the New York Yankees, who own several dynasties and a record of 27 World Series titles. During three years from 1988 to 1990 the Oakland A’s were the standard for excellence, although they lost the 1988 World Series to the Dodgers, in one of the biggest upsets in history and after winning the American League with a 104-58 record, and sweeping the Red Sox in the ALCS, then in 1989 they finished 99-63 took the Blue Jays in five games in the ALCS and swept the Giants in the World Series. In 1990 Bob Welch won 27 games and the Cy Young, the A’s won 103 and lost 59, swept Boston again in the ALCS, but got swept by Cincinnati in the World Series.

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

photo credit: Amaury Pi Gonzalez and Gail Gonzalez

Thats Amaury’s News and Commentary: All Royals need to do is win one game over the weekend to send it back to KC

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by Amaury Pi Gonzalez

SAN FRANCISCO–As all of you know I’ve broadcasted most of my career in the American League making me an American League guy and I have been covering American League teams for a long time although years ago I broadcasted with the Giants in the National League. I have said this all year, I said it in L.A. on Fox Sports, on the Angels Spanish network, the best bullpen in baseball is the Kansas City Royals.

The Giants have a very good bullpen with Jean Machi, Javier Lopez a specialist for lefties, then you have Sergio Romo who is not good this year let’s face it. The best bullpen in baseball is the Kansas City Royals. If the Royals get a starting pitcher for 5.1 or six innings like what happened on Wednesday night with Royals pitcher Yordano Ventura.

The Royals have the best relievers in the game in the sixth you have Ventura who throws 101-102 MPH, then in the eighth you have Wade Davis another flame thrower who has a great slider and a splitter. Then in the ninth you have closer Greg Holland one of the best closers in baseball. So the formula for the Royals is to have a decent starter.

Of course it’s tough to come back for the Giants in a game like Wednesday to come from being five or six runs down in a World Series. We saw what the Royals did on Wednesday they scored five runs and Giants starter Jake Peavy just got tired. These things happen the Giants have a very good bullpen. They used Tim Lincecum on Wednesday night and he has back problems.

According to Giants manager Bruce Bochy Lincecum is not that serious, but they have a problem in the bullpen. The Giants need to have their pitcher last a little bit longer than KC. The Royals have pitchers that can throw and get out of an inning and they have a potent bullpen.

The Royals have been winning with that bullpen all year long and they have centerfielder Lorenzo Cain. Cain is a tremendous athlete. Cain is the best athlete amongst these two teams. In the line up the Royals have Alex Gordon, Billy Butler who hit pretty well especially against guys like that. This going to be a very interesting rest of the way in this series.

If the Giants win the next three games in San Francisco they win the World Series but all the Royals have to do is win one out of three to take it back to Kaufman Staidum. This may go six or seven games maybe all the way. It’s going to be a game to game World Series, the Giants want to sweep over the weekend in AT&T Park but it’s most likely that the Royals at minimum can win one of the next three games at AT&T forcing a trip back to Kaufman.

Amaury Pi Gonzalez is doing News and Commentary on the World Series for http://www.sportsradioservice.com

photo credit: google image

That’s Amaury’s News and Commentary: TV Network wise Royals and Giants slated to be lowest rated World Series in history

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by Amaury Pi Gonzalez

KANSAS CITY–The Oakland A’s were leading the Kansas City Royals 7-3 in the wild card game at the end of September with A’s ace Jon Lester on the mound the Royals came back and they won it and they haven’t lost since. They have won eight games in a row a new playoff record, beating Oakland in one, sweeping the Angels in three and sweeping the Orioles in four. I like it now when you have to play wild cards.

The Royals are really scoring, they have great pitching and they own the all time new MLB playoff record for consecutive wins in the post season and their headed for the series. They have timely hitting they can steal more and this will be a very interesting World Series. The San Francisco Giants have more experience in the post sesaon on their side coming into the series with Pablo Sandoval, Tim Lincecum, Buster Posey, Madison Bumgarner, and Sergio Romo guys like that who have been with this team when the won the World Series two years ago.

The Royals have their act together and everybody is playing to their potential like the Royals outfielder Lorenzo Cain who might be the best athlete on both of these teams. Your talking about a team that is in good standing they’re undefeated in the playoffs. The Royals have home advantage opening up at Kaufman Stadium on Tuesday and this being their first series since 1985.

So it’s a beautiful story really and Kansas City is a small city, it’s in the middle of the country, it’s a small TV market. People at the TV networks are not going to be happy at Fox and why is that? Because they didn’t want a San Francisco-Kanas City World Series. These are two regional teams and if you walk in the streets of San Francisco everybody is wearing their orange and black.

You might see that in the East Bay and in Marin County too, but when you leave the Bay Area the Giants don’t have that many fans. In Kansas City it’s the same thing, their in the middle of the country, what the network wanted was teams like the L.A. Angels against the Washington Nationals or the Dodgers and the Angels it’s the big rivalry of L.A. and the number two TV market.

Baltimore a team on the east coast might be a club that they would like to have on TV, but believe me the networks did not want the Royals and the Giants in the World Series. I’m going to come out and make a prediction this is going to be one of the lowest rated TV World Series in history. Not a lot of people are going to watch it. People around the country have already said they’ve seen the Giants twice now in the last four years and here they come back on again (yawn) and the Royals are small town baseball.

Nationally you have the Bay Area team the Giants and then you have small town Royals and it doesn’t have that appeal. I want to make this point the St.Louis Cardinals they have a lot of fans in this country and their a traditional team. They never moved, they’ve played in St.Louis forever and you talk about the Cardinals they do have more fans than the Giants and the Royals and it’s too bad they didn’t make it.

It would have been a wonderful story if the Cards made it to the series it would have been the Royals versus the Cardinals because both teams play in the same state of Missouri or the I-70 series. It would be a repeat of the 1985 World Series. It would be a better television draw than these two teams this season the Royals and Giants so let’s hope they have a good series.

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

photo credit: google images

That’s Amaury’s News and Commentary: The Earthquake Series 25 years later. I remember.

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by Amaury Pi Gonzalez

OAKLAND–As we approach the 25th anniversary of the Loma Prieta earthquake, this Friday the 17th, which stopped the World Series for eleven days, we must remember what was going on in 1989 and during those years.

Just after the Oakland Athletics defeated the San Francisco Giants in that 1989 World Series, with two victories prior to the earthquake and two victories after the earthquake, KSTS CH 48 Telemundo would begin a schedule of weekend games live in Spanish of the four time World Champion Oakland A’s. The first and only time that a Spanish television station in the Bay Area broadcasted live baseball games in Spanish. This was years before the soccer furor and the US 1994 World Cup, which I also covered for Telemundo.

Then, General Manager, Joe Cruz, built a brand new set, colors Green and Gold, and authorized an expense of a few thousand dollars to build such a nice set. Yours truly was the Sports Director and Anchor those early years at Telemundo. The play by play of the games then were done from those studios, live, with a green screen in the background calling A’s games.

In this I Phone-Twitter-I Pad-Smart Phone and whatever else world we are living today, it is good to remember the many things that were done on radio and television. Like an old friend in the business tells me: “everything already has been done, at least once, although some people think they are re-discovering the world”.

But for me that faithful moment on October 17, 1989 at 5:04 PM is forever engraved in my memory. That morning it was a clear and perfect day in the Bay Area, temperatures around 70 degrees. One of those beautiful ‘Indian Summer’ days which we are accustomed here in the Bay Area, in September and October. I was doing the Spanish play by play for the Oakland Athletics on KNTA 1430AM radio, with main studios in San José.

My broadcast partner was Evelio Areas Mendoza, today retired and living in his native Nicaragua, Erwin Higueros (today broadcasting the Giants in Spanish)was our engineer. The A’s won games one and two at the Oakland Coliseum. Game three, four and five, were scheduled for San Francisco.

We were given a very small auxiliary broadcast booth next to the roof at Candlestick Park. The A’s dominated, winning at Oakland Saturday the 14th, by a score of 5-0 and then again on Sunday the 15th, by 5-1. The Loma Prieta Earthquake struck on October 17, 1989 at 5:04 p.m. Game 3 was scheduled to start at 5:35 pm at Candlestick Park, and thousands of people were already in the stadium when the quake occurred. Because of the coincidence of timing, it was the first major earthquake in the United States ever to be broadcast by live television.

We were doing our pregame show when the earthquake struck and I remember Evelio doing commentary about the enthusiasm of the Giants fans at the park, saying that the park was rocking because of the Giants fans in the stands, when the quake struck and I remember saying, “Evelio this is more than the Giants fans, I think we are having an earthquake” Both teams players were standing on the field, in a state of disbelief, I remember some of the players’ wives of the A’s came down to the field to be with their husbands, legendary Giants star and Hall of Famer Willie Mays wondered around the field, the San Francisco Police Department and other emergency services came onto the field at Candlestick Park. Our broadcast lines went down, we were “off the air”.

After the quake, and while in the main Press Box at Candlestick, I was interviewed by various local Bay Area as well as Latin American media outlets to talk about the earthquake. We were inside a stadium that had no view to the outside, so we all didn’t know what was happening outside. While at the Press Box I remember seeing the first images on CH 5 with Anchor Ana Chávez and saw for the first time the part of the Bay Bridge that broke in two with some cars dangling on top of the water, and then the fire at the Marina. By the way, Olga and Joaquin (my parents) previously to living in the Mission District in San Francisco, also lived for a few years at #2 Cervantes in the Marina. That building was destroyed and fire burned it to the ground that afternoon.

It took me close to three hours to drive back to my home in Fremont, since the bridges were close I had to drive around the bay all the way south. First stopped to see my mother and father whom at that time- were living in a retirement building in the San Francisco Mission District, they were fine, although their apartment was a real mess. Then I dropped Evelio at his home in Daly City and later Erwin at his home in Oakland. My car water pump was leaking that morning, so I drove my wife’s car(who was in much better shape) to the game.

As for the Series itself Commissioner Fay Vincent decided to postpone Game three (although he didn’t tell anyone before doing so, resulting in an umpire protest) initially for five days, resulting in the longest delay in World Series history.. It was postponed for another five days (until October 27) because of delays in restoring transmission links. When action resumed for game three, the 27th of October the Athletics won 13-7 and then completed the four-game sweep by winning the next day, by a score of 9 to 6. The score was settled, the Athletics swept the Giants and now they have won four(4)World Series since they arrived in Oakland (from Kansas City)in 1968.

At the time of this 1989 World Series, the Giants have not won a World Series in their history in San Francisco since 1958. They won it 21 years later in 2010, and then again in 2012,at their new ATT Park.

Just one of my many memories in the business, which I thought was appropriate to remember during this week, when we celebrate 25 years since the earthquake that stopped the World Series for eleven days.

Amaury Pi Gonzalez is the Spanish radio voice for Oakland A’s and on television on Fox Sports in Los Angeles with the LA Angels, and does News and Commentary each week for http://www.sportsradioservice.com

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