Category: Oakland Athletics

Thats Amaury’s News and Commentary: Teams that travel to Dallas are concerned about Ebola; MLB Postseason update

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by Amaury Pi Gonzalez

SAN FRANCISCO–The latest is everyone professional and college sports teams although they don’t say it real loud are concerned about the Ebola situation when teams have to make the trip to Dallas. For the professional teams in MLB, NFL, NHL, and the NBA all have their own charter planes. So folks who fly in and out of Dallas have a lot of concern because people don’t know about this desease and it might be airborne too.

The government says it doesn’t know much about it, the Centers for Deasese Control in Atlanta I won’t say their confused but they don’t know enough yet. Whatever they know is kind of controversial. On Sunday a goup of nurses in Oakland they went and demonstrated in front of the hospital in Oakland saying the nurses are not the problem. They say the nurses need more training.

This is a desease that is not new but it’s new to the United States but it’s been happening in Africa for along time. It’s not a direct threat right now to the players and the public at large. The players do travel in their own private planes. All teams in the four main leagues charter their planes. The same cannot be said about college players because many times when I fly to Anaheim from Oakland I run into college athletes like the Stanford women’s polo team.

I would be more concerned for the college teams because 99 percent of colleges don’t have the funds to charter their own planes. To charter a plane your talking about $40-50,000 a trip. It’s a long trip from coast to coast. I would be more concerned for college players if this pandemic spreads to other cities and states.

Kaplan returns A’s owner mayoral donation: Oakland A’s owner Lew Wolf this week received $700 that he donated to Rebecca Kaplan Oakland mayorial candidate because of a conflict of interest. Kaplan whose campaigning for mayor doesn’t want to be tainted by this donation. It would give the appearance that if Kaplan got in she would owe political favors to the Oakland A’s.

Wolf has a right to donate money to a political campaign he’s a citizen of the United States. Not only you don’t have to be a millionare you can give money to any government office. The difference here as opposed to the common citizen, Wolf is the owner of the A’s and it gives a bad impression, if Kaplan kept the money and the A’s start looking for a favor.

Is the Raiders general manager Reggie McKenzie on the chopping block? The Oakland Raiders are now 0-5 and I watched most of the game versus the Chargers on Sunday at the Coliseum and Raiders rookie quarterback Derrek Carr became the first rookie to throw four touchdowns in a game so maybe a star is born. They already fired Dennis Allen and you have Tony Sparano as the new head coach give him a shot and he told the team to forget about the 0-4 record before last Sunday’s game.

I watched that game and any Raider fan would be happy to see this kid Derrick Carr who threw for four touchdowns that would be a ray of hope for the Raiders that they have a quarterback for the future. Maybe that could start mending this situation. The fact remains their still 0-5 and they’re going to end up with the worst record in the league and they have to host the Arizona Cardinals this Sunday.

MLB postseason: The playoffs are a different season as we can see, the St.Louis Cardinals hit only 105 home runs in their regular season. Yet they hit four home runs on Sunday night against the San Francisco Giants. Kolten Wong hit one that won the game by edging the Giants 5-4 and tying up the series 1-1. Giants releiver Sergio Romo was the difference for the one run victory.

However the Cardinals lost their ace catcher and star of the team to an Oblique injury Yadier Molina. Molina is the best catcher in baseball next to Giants catcher Buster Posey. There is nobody close to Molina.
He’s the leader of that team and this will allow the Giants more prone to win this series. The Giants should be favorites. The Giants will also have to see an old guy that they don’t like A.J. Pierzynski also a former Giant.

Pierzynski will probably be catching on Tuesday night for the Cards, the Cards have 27 year old Tony Cruz but the Cardinals front office was brilliant in bringing in Pierzynski and the team carried three catchers and it paid off. They lost Molina, they have Cruz who is still a young guy and is suppose to be good defensivley. Pierzynski hits Giants pitching very well and he’s hit Hudson well.

Amaury Pi Gonzalez is the Spanish radio voice for Oakland A’s baseball and does News and Commentary weekly for sportsradioservice.com

photo credit: google images

MLB Postseason commentary: Royals can do more damage in KC; Cards will try to prevent Giants going up 2-0

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by Daniel Dullum

(0)Baltimore @ Kansas City (2) game ALCS three Monday: I’ll use the old cliche’ there is something to be said about getting hot at the right time and the Royals had a fierce month of September just to get to that one game playoff. That American League Central race was tight for the last three months of the season and the Royals just kept coming.

Here’s the secret for the Royals over the last three or four years they’ve done a great job scouting and drafting and they herded up a herd of rabbits that could hit. You put that with the pitching that they rounded up and good things are going to happen. The Royals were able to put a quality team back out on the field that fits their stadium Kaufman Stadium.

The stadium is so spacious, you remember back in the 70s and 80s they had some guys like George Brett that had power and guys like Willie Wilson and Amos Otis, guys like that who run, and it’s a pitcher’s ball park. So if the Royals have someone who can hit in the gaps in right field your good to go. The Royals have a line up for these guys. I don’t know where the home runs are coming from but Mike Moustakous he’s going to become a high draft pick in the fantasy league drafts.

The Royals have some awsome pitching and their heading home with pitchers like Yordano Ventura and James Shields. With the Royals leading this series 2-0 this is not what the Orioles had in mind but also keep in mind the Orioles are not out of it yet. This is a seven game series so if the O’s win on Monday night their right back in it. The Royals had Wade Davis on the mound on Saturday who did a terrific job.

Picking up Shields from Tampa Bay has been a huge addition and they’ve got some guys that can throw bullets like Greg Holland in the bull pen. The Royals bullpen is very strong it’s similar to like the Giants. If the Royals have a lead going into the seventh or eighth inning your work is cut out because these guys can slam the door.

San Francisco (1) @ St.Louis (0) NLCS game two Sunday night: The Giants have got into the NLCS in a very unspectacular way offensively their actually using a better small ball strategy to get the job done. They’ve got power in the line up but the power kind of comes and goes and the Giants have had to manufacture runs to do it.

The Giants have scored runs well and they’ve done it enough to back up that excellent pitching. The pitching for the Giants has really been the key here. In the starting pitching department their obviously missing Matt Cain for this series and the previous one. The Giants have these veterans like Tim Hudson and Madison Bumgarner to assume the role of the ace.

All these guys have to do is get that game to the seventh inning, the Giants might have the best bullpen out of the final four teams in the playoffs right now. That is saying something because Kansas City’s bullpen is outstanding. So are the Giants, you get to the seventh inning and later your going to be looking at Sergio Romo in the eighth, Santiago Casillas in the ninth, in the seventh you have any number of pitchers you can call on Jeremy Affeldt and Tim Lincecum are two.

The Giants have done well and they really accomplished what they really wanted to do and Saturday night they got the 3-0 shutout against the Cardinals behind the help of starter Bumgarner. The very least the Giants will get out of this trip is a split in two games. The Giants are in good shape regardless of what happens Monday night.

Daniel Dullum does MLB Post Season commentary for http://www.sportsradioservice.com

photo credit: google images

Thats Amaury’s News and Commentary: Cain and Bumgarner are post season hereos

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by Amaury Pi Gonzalez

BALTIMORE–At Camden Yards in Baltimore. Kansas City Royals center fielder Lorenzo Cain went four for five and continued his incredible defense and the Royals beat the Baltimore Orioles for the second day in a row, to take a two game lead in the American League Championship Series. The Royals and Orioles now travel to Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City, where the next three games are scheduled, needing only two more wins to land in the World Series for the first time since 1985.

With temperatures of 50 degrees, a sold out crowd of 46.912 saw their team losing two games in a row, for the first time this season since June 28-29 to the Tampa Bay Rays. Royals starter Yordano Ventura left with tightness in his right shoulder after pitching 5 2/3 innings and giving up four earned runs on four hits. Ventura said after the game “I had trouble gripping the ball” Wade Davis won it in relief, and Greg Holland saved it. Mike Moustakas continues his torrid hitting with another home run, his fourth in the last six post season games.

Game 3: Monday October 13 at Kauffman Staidum in Kansas City. 5:00PM PDT West Coast time

At Busch Stadium, St Louis. The San Francisco Giants took game one of the National League Championship Series against the St. Louis Cardinals, behind the arm of Madison Bumgarner who blanked the Redbirds for 7 2/3 innings, allowing only 4 hits, while walking 1 and striking out 7. Adam Wainwright pitched for 4 2/3 innings allowed six hits to the Giants a total of three runs (two earned) and struck out two, he has been pitching with a sore elbow (tendinitis since June).

In nine postseason innings this October, Wainwright has already thrown 200 pitches, allowing eight earned runs and 17 hits.The Cardinals bullpen blanked the Giants the rest of the way, with a combination of González,Martínez,Choate and Maness. A total of 47,201 crowded the park.These two teams who faced each other again in the National League Championship Series back in 2012, will battle gain on game two on Sunday.

Game 2: Sunday October 12 at Busch Stadium in St Louis. 5:00PM West Coast time.

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

Thats Amaury’s News and Commentary: MLB Post season 2014, Some great players who did not perform well

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by Amaury Pi Gonzalez

ST.LOUIS MO–We are now heading into the American League and National League Championship Series. In the American League, it will be Kansas City at Baltimore, if it goes all 7 games, 4 will be at Baltimore and 3 in Kansas City. In the National League San Francisco at St Louis. if it goes all 7 games, 4 will be at St Luis and 3 in San Francisco..Two of these four teams will battle in the 2014 World Series. The World Series will open either at Baltimore or Kansas City, because the American League won the All Star Game this year, so they have the home field advantage

This is the fourth consecutive year that St Louis is in the NLCS and the first time since 2012 that they will meet San Francisco. This is the first time Baltimore has gone to the ALCS since 1997, as well as Kansas City. There is a possibility of a rematch of the 1985 World Series, when Kansas City beat St Louis in the famous I-70 World Series, which Kansas City won in seven games, their only World Series title. The Baltimore Orioles have won three World Series, the last time in 1983.

Of these four teams the most successful is St Louis Cardinals with 11 World Series titles, last one in 2011.Only the New York Yankees with 27 World Series titles have won more. The San Francisco Giants have won two World Series, 2010 and 2012 and their fans hope they can continue winning this year, and one every two years, for the next 48 years and compete with the Yankees in that department.

Some great players did not produce in the postseason. The obvious and most recent name of those great players that just do not perform well in the postseason, is Los Angeles Dodgers Clayton Kershaw, with a record in the regular season of 21-3 and an earned run average of 1.77 who will win the Cy Young and probably the Most Valuable Player in the National League.

The lefty (considered the best pitcher in all of baseball) is now 1-5 in the postseason, lost 2 of the 4 games against the St Louis Cardinals in this NL Divisional Series.He is the first pitcher to finish as the earned run leader in the National League in four consecutive years. Kershaw from 2010 until 2014 (including this postseason) is 3-7 with a 4.33 against the Cardinals and 70-22 with a 1.99 against everybody else.

Then we have a young guy in the American League who is going to win the Most Valuable Player, Mike Trout, of the Los Angeles Angels who hit .287 with 36 Home runs and a league-leading 111 runs batted in. During his first playoff against Kansas City this past week, Trout had one hit in 12 at bats, a Home Run, his average for the series was .083. How about Mister Home Run King? Barry Lamar Bonds with 22 seasons with Pittsburgh and San Francisco hit 762 Home Runs? In 9 Postseasons Bonds had 37 hits in 151 at bats with 9 Home Runs for an average of .245.

And then The Greatest Hitter Ever, Ted Williams,of the Boston Red Sox, last man to hit over .400. when in 1941 finished with a .406 batting average. “The Kid”, “The Splendid Splinter”, “Teddy Ballgame”, with a legendary 19 year career hitting .344 with 521 Home Runs and 1,843 runs batted in. That same Ted Williams, in the 1946 World Series against the St Louis Cardinals in 7 games had a total of 5 hits in 25 at bats, zero Home Runs and 1 run batted in, for a total batting average of .200.

Above are just a samples of present and past players, who are great players, but come postseason they are not. The jury’s still out on Kershaw and Trout, they are still young and could easily reverse their fortunes in the future.

So do not be surprised if one of these guys are the heroes from now on: David Lough (Orioles),Christian Colón(Kansas City), Pete Kozma(St Louis), Gregor Blanco(San Francisco) they are not household names across the country, only known really in the cities they play, but one of them could easily be “The Man”
This is what makes baseball the greatest game on earth.

Of these four teams left Baltimore and St Louis won their divisions. Kansas City was the First Wild Card in the American League and San Francisco the Second Wild Card in the National League. Best record during regular season of these four teams: Baltimore Orioles 96-66. Worst record during regular season of these four teams: San Francisco Giants 88-74.

ALCS: Friday October 10 Kansas City at Baltimore 5PM West Coast Time. (TBS)
NLCS: Saturday October 11 San Francisco at St Louis 5PM West Coast Time (FOX)

I like to see the Orioles win it all. It was my very first team as a teenager in Miami that I saw play, during Spring Training and I was one of their ball and bat boys then.This was back in the 1960’s,since then I always had a soft place in my heart for the Birds.

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: Royals were dominating since All-Star break; Angels fans could have been arguing in ball park before parking lot KO

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by Amaury Pi Gonzalez

OAKLAND–After broadcasting the A’s and Angels all season and they both got quickly eliminated from post season I’m just enjoying the beginning of my off season here and getting ready to go on vacation. The Kansas Royals who swept the Los Angeles Angels are a tremendous team and their the Cinderella story and this team could go all the way.

The Roayls stole 150 bases, they only hit 95 home runs and here’s the beautiful thing about baseball it’s like former A’s pitcher Jauquin Andujar says “you never know” the Royals hit more home runs in this post season then any other team like the Giants, Dodgers and Cardinals. Here’s the thing they hit 95 home runs, not even 100 everybody else hit at least 100.

Here’s a team that has hit less than 100 home runs, for 2014 the Royals Mike Moustakas had 15 homers, Alex Gordon had 19, Salvador Perez 17, who are in double digits and all of sudden the Royals are scoring runs watch out the Royals can score with home runs and they steal more bases than anybody else. They stole third base a whole bunch of times.

The Royals have good pitching, their defense is unpeccable, so here’s Kansas City a small market team a small town in the middle of America with players that most people wouldn’t recognize outside of the media. If someone outside of KC was reading about Billy Butler they would have no idea who he is. This is a team right now that’s peaking.

The Royals are a very dangerous team, they’re going to play the Orioles in a couple of days and guess what the Royals will be in the World Series for the first time since 1985. So congratulations to the Royals they eliminated the A’s, they swept the Angels a team that won 98 games this season, right now their the team to watch.

Angels fans could have been arguing inside ball park before KO: An unidentified Angels fan who was knocked out cold by another Angels fan in the Angels parking lot after Friday night’s game could have been arguing with each other inside the ball park previous to the knock out. Two witnesses said that the fan who got knocked out was attacked from behind and there were three suspects who got away according to two witnesses identified as 15 year old Morgan and her mother Sandra.

Morgan and Sandra both have said that they did not get a good look at the suspect. The victim identified as a 43 year veteran Marine was rushed to UC Irvine Medical in Orange. I used to stay right across the street fron the hospital three or four blocks from the ball park. This is not a situation like Giants fan Bryan Stow who was beaten in the Dodgers parking lot.

The difference here Stow was a Giants fan and the other two suspects Marvin Norwood and Louie Sanchez were Dodgers fans. These were Angels fans having an argument and Anaheim Police are still investigating. The victim is in serious condition and their still looking for the suspect. This is one of those things where it’s bad PR for the Angels who normally have very good fans.

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

Thats Amaury’s News and Commentary: Why the Athletics have the best fans

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by Amaury Pi Gonzalez

OAKLAND–There might be not very many of them, around 20,000 to 30,000 on any given day, but there should be little doubt that the Oakland Athletics today have the best fans in baseball by the bay. Yes, it is true the Giants draw over 3 million since they built SBC/AT&T/PAC BELL Park and begun play there in 2000. But,there is no comparison between the Oakland Coliseum aka OCO, and AT&T Park. The beauty and the many amenities at AT&T are in another world compared to the Oakland Alameda County Coliseum. And that exactly leads to my point.

When the Athletics fans go to the Oakland Coliseum, they go to watch baseball. There is no Coke bottle in Oakland for the kids to slide, or little baseball diamonds for the kiddies to play,there are not all these different types of gourmet foods at Oakland,from Boudin Bakery to fancy vegetarian cuisine,(although the A’s have improved their food services in recent years) plus the beauty of the bay and the location of the Giants park, is one of the most beautiful things any baseball fan can experience. Yours truly called the first game at Pac Bell Park in 2000,and came over from the very maligned Candlestick Park to the park by the bay. I have a historic brick with the other announcers that first opened AT&T Park,located around the Willie Mays statue at the main entrance of the park.

Some old enough to remember Candlestick Park and the 7,680 fans that used to gathered there to watch a night game against the Pirates in the middle of July, (those were real fans to weather the wind and cold of many nights) that park was one of the worst in Major League Baseball, for many years; specially after they put seats all around the stadium. Back then,Pat Gallagher, of the Giants marketing, came out with the idea of a ‘Croix De Candlestick’, a button that was given to the fans for enduring those frigid nights.

But now it is the Oakland Coliseum the one baseball park in the Bay Area where people that go, they go to watch the game, not to be seen on television, or to take selfies,or for the social event of the day, this is not a knock on Giants fans, but nothing but the reality of the situation. When you go to an A’s game you go to see baseball, it is as simple as that. Why? well, there is not much to take your attention away from the game itself. Simple economics dictate, if I were an owner of a team, that I would rather have 45,000 causal fans than 23,000 die-hard fans, at the end you want to win at the gate, and after all is said an done, this is a business. We all understand that.

The Athletics were the first Bay Area baseball team to go over 2 million in attendance. when that was a big deal, and there was no cable television covering all home games (in 1988 with 2,287,335). This 2014 season the Athletics drew 2,003,048 an average of 24,726 per game. This average per game attendance in Oakland was the highest for the team since the 2004 season.

For the A’s, winning comes as the main reason for increased attendance, some popular promotions like $2 BART Wednesday for example is a very popular promotion during weekdays day games. and until this year they have won the last two divisional series. The A’s will be improving their scoreboards and electronic big screens for the 2015 season, but they will still be playing in that same OCO.

The San Francisco Giants drew over 3 million the very first year they played at AT&T in 2000, and they have since gone over that 3 million attendance for a total of 15 consecutive seasons. For the first decade the Giants were drawing mainly on the novelty and the beauty of their beautiful new park, I remember for the “real”Giants fans that building a new park was something they believe they were never going to see during their lifetime. Then in 2010 and again in 2012 won the World Series, and since then they have recruited more fans than any other pro-franchise in the Bay Area. Most are young and the very casual fans, affluent, who buy all the merchandise they can get their hands on.

I also see more consistency in loyalty with the Athletics fans nowadays, there are always bandwagon fans, here and in any area in the country, except maybe in St Louis, Wrigley Field Field in Chicago and a few other places that do not need to win every year to fill their parks most of the time; you know the real baseball tradition from family to family. I like to salute the Oakland Athletics fans this year, it was not the outcome they were expecting, and Kansas City might be the Cinderella team this season in all of baseball,with more names of players that most people never heard. My hats are off to all A’s fans, for a good job.

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

Thats Amary’s News and Commentary: Athletics all in and all out & Cybermetrics

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by Amaury Pi Gonzalez

OAKLAND–The great thing about baseball is you really never know what’s going to happen. Unlike the NFL where coaches write plays on their game plan to execute the quarterback, in baseball a manager has to think on the spur of the moment, and then accept the results as they happen.

During the Wild Card game last night in Kansas City, between the #1 Wild Card team Royals and the #2 WIld Card team Athletics, Ned Yost, manager of the Kansas City Royals took his stellar #1 starting pitcher James Shields out with just 88 pitches, winning 3 to 2, with runners in second and third and nobody out in the sixth inning, to bring a 22 year old rookie who has been a starter during the season, Yordani Gallardo, he promptly served a three-run home run to Brandon Moss to deep center field, who already had hit a two-run homer in the first inning.

The five runs that Moss drove in, will be forever just a trivia question, since the Royals won this exciting game 9-8 in 12 inning.Yost made an inexplicable move that could have cost him the game, but his team bailed him out.

For the Oakland Ahtletics, who were “all in”, now they have to go “all out” and rebuid the engine of this car for the 2015 season. The Jon Lester for Yoenis Céspedes trade did not worked out. It is as simple as that. Yes the A’s were plagued with injuries, but they put themselves in this situation of a one game elimination, after they backed into the playoff, for one night in KC.

The A’s still have a good young pitching staff, headed by Sonny Gray, who in 2015 should have some very nice duels against Jon Lester, who will be back with the Red Sox, his favorite team, the one he has won two World Series rings. By the way, Tuesday night John Lester was charged with 6 earned runs in the A’s defeat.Put that in your Cybermetrics.

No, we will never know if the trade was not made, how would the A’s have finished this 2014 season, but we do know that when Céspedes left, the problems began for the Athletics, nobody can refute that. We know that with Yoenis Céspedes (the best athlete they had the last two seasons) the Athletics won consecutive western divisions. No, the A’s collapse was not all because of that trade, but sometimes you have to look for the obvious. I am not a guy that believes a lot in the Cybermetrics.

Cybermetrics is a new baseball statistic that seems to be invented every year, measuring another variable in the game and attempting to measure value in a different (sometimes better) way that takes the human element out of the argument. Take the human element? Hey, why have umpires then? Let’s just have four computers inside each base, to tell you if the runner was out or safe. Sounds funny? Don’t laugh, this could also happen as “changes”continue in the best game ever invented. When the runner is out, the base will turn solid red, when he is safe it will be solid green.

Many of these stats can be attributed to “sabermetrics,” which were born in the 1980s, grew in the 1990s, and really gained traction in the 2000s as many of baseball’s front-office decision makers became disciples of some of these statistics, and make consider them Gospel”. Well, I am not one of those that just go by Cybermetrics.

Imagine some GM in 1941 asking for the Cybermetrics stats of Ted Williams? For Ted Williams “WAR” (Wins Against Replacement), the only WAR Ted Williams knew was the Korean War were he served with distinction as a pilot.

My friends, if your catcher can’t catch the ball, or cannot throw anybody out at second, and your hitter cannot hit with runners in scoring position, and your outfielders can’t throw anybody out at the plate, what good are your Sabermetrics, Cybermetrics or the Metric Decimal System?

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

There is No Joy in Oakland as the A’s are One and Done

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by Jerry Feitelberg

The Oakland A’s and the Kansas City Royals played one of the best playoff games ever on Tuesday night in Kansas City. It was a thriller all the way and the fans of both teams had moments of great joy and great despair all through the night. The A’s and their fans, however, will not be celebrating as the Royals kept coming back and finally overtook the A’s in the bottom of the twelfth inning as they advanced to the best of five ALDS against the Los Angeles Angels as they won in a walk off 9-8.

Big Jon Lester started for the A’s. Lester, who won two World Championship rings with the Red Sox and was the only A’s pitcher to beat the Royals this year, was on the mound for Oakland. Lester was 9-3 against KC lifetime and 3-0 against them this year. Kansas City had their ace “Big Game” James Shields taking on the task of beating the A’s. All the pundits thought the game would be a one run game with a final score of 2-1 or 2-1 but they were wrong. It turned out to be a game of the A’s power against the running game of the Royals and in the end the running game won.

The A’s got off to a good start when Brandon Moss hit a two run homer in the top of the first. The Royals made it 2-1 when they came back in their half of the inning. The Royals then took a 3-2 lead in the bottom of the third by scoring twice off Lester. The A’s took the lead in the top of the sixth. Royals’ manager Ned Yost took Shields out in the sixth with two men on and two out and brought in Yordano Ventura to pitch to Brandon Moss. Moss hit a tremendous blast to center field to make it a 5-3 game and the A’s scored two more runs to increase the lead to 7-3.

Lester pitched well after the third inning but ran into trouble in the bottom of the eighth. Lester recorded just one out and the Royals scored three times to close the gap to 7-6. They tied the game in the ninth scoring a run off A’s closer Sean Doolittle. Former A’s outfielder Josh Willingham came through with a pinch hit single to right to start the ninth. Jarrod Dyson, pinch running for Willingham advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt and then stole third base. Nori Aoki hit a long fly to right field and A’s right fielder Josh Reddick mad a great catch robbing Aoki of a hit but Dyson tagged up and scored the tying run and the game went to extra innings.

The Royals had their chances to win the game in the 10th and 11th innings but the A’s pitchers managed to get the third out in each inning stranding the winning run at third in both frames. In the 12th and and final inning of the game, the A’s took an 8-7 lead when Alberto Callaspo,pinch hitting for Nate Freiman, poked a single to left field driving in Josh Reddick with the run. The Royals, however, were not done. Eric Hosmer hit a triple to left center field high off the wall. Christian Colon then hit a high chopper that A’s third baseman Josh Donaldson could not make a play on and Hosmer scored.

The A’s kept a close eye on Colon as they knew the Royals would try for a stolen base. The A’s called for a pitchout but Derek Norris took his eye off the ball and it hit his glove and he could not make the throw. Royals’ All-Star catcher, Salvador Perez, who had been hitless all night, lined a shot past a diving Josh Donaldson down the left field line that drove in Colon with the winning run and the celebration began for the Royals who now face the Angels Thursday night.

For the A’s, it was a season that started with high hopes and for four months they had the best record in baseball. General Manager Billy Beane made a great trade in early July for Jeff Samardzija and Jason Hammel. On July 31st, he traded slugger Yoenis Cespedes to the Red Sox for Jon Lester. Everyone thought it was a great trade and the A’s would be headed to the World Series. However, a funny thing happened to the A’s. They stopped hitting and they had a losing record the last two months of the year and made the playoffs on the last day of the season. Tuesday night’s game was a mirror of the season, a great start but a lousy finish. The A’s will have all winter now to figure things out for next year.

That’s a wrap for 2014 for A’s baseball and congratulations to the Royals who are in the playoffs for the first time in 29 years.

Game notes- Major League Baseball and MLB Advanced Media announced that Josh Donaldson was named the Oakland A’s nominee for the 2014 Hank Aaron Award.

Fans can vote exclusively online at MLB.com and the 30 Club sites. For the fifth straight year, a special panel of Hall of Fame players led by Hank Aaron will join fans in voting for the award, which is officially sanctioned by Major League Baseball and has recognized the most outstanding offensive performer in each League since it was established in 1999.

After finishing fourth in American League MVP voting in 2013, Donaldson ended the 2014 campaign with career highs in home runs (29), RBI (98) and runs scored (93), while ranking in the Top 10 in the American League in each of those three categories. Donaldson also tied his career highs in games played (158) and walks (76), and hit a Major League-leading three walk-off home runs, tied for the most in A’s history.

The Hall of Fame panel led by Aaron includes some of the greatest offensive players of all-time –Roberto Alomar, Johnny Bench, Paul Molitor, Eddie Murray, Frank Thomas and Robin Yount. These Hall of Famers – who combined for 16,956 hits, 8,844 RBI and 2,109 home runs – have all been personally selected by Aaron to lend their expertise to select the best offensive performer in each League.

“Josh is well-deserving,” said A’s manager Bob Melvin. “He’s been a very inspirational player, as was Hank Aaron. He’s really showed up to play, especially in recent weeks with his injuries.”

Through October 5, fans will have the opportunity to select one American League and one National League winner from a list comprising of one finalist per Club. The winners of the 2014 Hank Aaron Award will be announced during the 2014 World Series.

The finalists for the 2014 Hank Aaron Award are:

American League National League
Baltimore Orioles Nelson Cruz Arizona Diamondbacks Paul Goldschmidt
Boston Red Sox David Ortiz Atlanta Braves Justin Upton
Chicago White Sox Jose Abreu Chicago Cubs Anthony Rizzo
Cleveland Indians Michael Brantley Cincinnati Reds Devin Mesoraco
Detroit Tigers Victor Martinez Colorado Rockies Justin Morneau
Houston Astros Jose Altuve Los Angeles Dodgers Adrian Gonzalez
Kansas City Royals Alex Gordon Miami Marlins Giancarlo Stanton
LA Angels of Anaheim Mike Trout Milwaukee Brewers Jonathan Lucroy
Minnesota Twins Trevor Plouffe New York Mets Daniel Murphy
New York Yankees Brett Gardner Philadelphia Phillies Marlon Byrd
Oakland Athletics Josh Donaldson Pittsburgh Pirates Andrew McCutchen
Seattle Mariners Robinson Cano St. Louis Cardinals Matt Carpenter
Tampa Bay Rays Evan Longoria San Diego Padres Seth Smith
Texas Rangers Adrian Beltre San Francisco Giants Hunter Pence
Toronto Blue Jays Jose Bautista Washington Nationals Anthony Rendon

Past winners of the Hank Aaron Award include: Miguel Cabrera and Paul Goldschmidt (2013); Cabrera and Buster Posey (2012); Jose Bautista and Matt Kemp (2011); Bautista and Joey Votto (2010); Derek Jeter and Albert Pujols (2009); Aramis Ramirez and Kevin Youkilis (2008); Alex Rodriguez and Prince Fielder (2007); Jeter and Ryan Howard (2006); David Ortiz and Andruw Jones (2005); Manny Ramirez and Barry Bonds (2004); Rodriguez and Pujols (2003); Rodriguez and Bonds (2001-02); Carlos Delgado and Todd Helton (2000) and Manny Ramirez and Sammy Sosa (1999).

The Hank Aaron Award was introduced in 1999 to honor the 25th Anniversary of Aaron breaking Babe Ruth’s all-time home run record, and, at that time, was the first major award introduced by Major League Baseball in more than 25 years.

Thats Amaury’s News and Commentary: A’s are looking to come all the way back; Royals back in post season from best campaign

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by Daniel Dullum

The Oakland A’s put a little touch of drama to cap off their regular season, they just barely stuck in there and that team will tell you you just want a chance. If it’s for a one game playoff so be it. Even though the A’s were in the driver’s seat the biggest issue for Oakland right now is a lack of offense. Pitching is not a problem as you go into the playoffs.

One of the reasons that hitting could be a problem is that the A’s have struggled with it after the All-Star break and they need to get their swing going now when they face the mighty Kansas City Royals at Kaufman Stadium on Tuesday night. From this point on your not going to see the number four or number five starter for anybody it’s pretty much a three man rotation for every team with the exception of the occasional one starter.

It comes down to nine innings and the A’s will start Jon Lester (16-11 ERA 2.46) against the Roayls James Shields (14-8 3.21) on Tuesday night. The Royals are playing really good baseball right now and that could be a problem for Oakland as well plus the Royals are playing at home and in the playoffs that matters a little bit because you got your fans behind you.

It’s a whole different vibe working in your own ball park and it’s been so long since the Royals have been in the post season 1985 that’s the last time the Royals were there. There were players that weren’t even born when that 85 team went to post season. It’s exciting for the Royals in Missouri and the A’s have their work cut out for them.

Pitching isn’t a problem but their running right into a red hot team and the Royals to a man also believe they think they can get the job done, they have timely hitting, and their hot at the right time of the year we’ll see how it goes for the green and gold.

San Francisco Giants wild card playoff Wednesday night: The Giants are in Pittsburgh for a one wild card match with the Pittsburgh Pirates and that could be problematic. Again Giants manager Bruce Bochy has done a terrific job pasting a line up together the last several months. They have players that have hardly been around all season long like Angel Pagan, Matt Cain and Brandon Belt.

Second base had been a problem and that started with the Giants Marco Scutaro being out for the season, rookie Joe Panik has been sensational and a real pleasant surprise taking the second base role .305, 31 runs scored, a homer and 18 RBIs. It’s been one thing after another for the Giants regarding the injuries. The outfield is in flux.

The Giants have veterans in that line up that can come up with a timely hit, like Buster Posey, Pablo Sandoval, and Hunter Pence. Brandon Crawford has been swinging the hottest bat on the team in the last month. For Moss you can’t pick a better time to pick it up. It’s not impossible for the Giants their gong to run into a steadily improving Pirates team that’s not going to be satisfied with just getting into the playoffs. You can be assured the team who wants this game and wants to advance from the N.L. Wild Card is going to be in for a fight.

Daniel Dullum covers Oakland A’s baseball and is fills in for Amaury’s News and Commentary for http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Thats Amaury’s News and Commentary: Wild card Kansas City Royals long time in the making 29 years host A’s

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by Amaury Pi Gonzalez

KANSAS CITY–The Oakland Athletics have been frequent flyers to the playoffs in recent years, although they still have not won a World Series since 1989 when they defeated the San Francisco Giants in a four game sweep in the Earthquake Series. This Tuesday in Kansas City, the A’s (#2 Wild Card team)will send lefty Jon Lester to the mound against James Shields, two #1 pitchers that were acquired by these teams, Lester recently, Shields this past off season.

26 of the Royals players on their roster today were not born in 1985. The Royals won the division by one game over the California Angels and then won the ALCS against the Toronto Blue Jays in seven games, winning the World Series against the St Louis Cardinals also in seven games.

This is the first postseason experience for the Kansas City Royals in 29 years. It was in 1985 during the famous I-70 World Series, between the two Missouri teams the Royals and St.Louis Cards. Pitcher Bret Saberhagen won two games during that series and was the Most Valuable Player. Some of the names on that Royals roster:

Pitcher Bud Black, today the manager of the San Diego Padres, pitcher Marc Gubicza, today television analyst for the LA Angels, George Brett, partner-owner of the Royals and then some of these names you might remember: Jim Sundberg, Frank White, Willie Wilson, Onix Concepción, Omar Moreno, Jorge Orta, Lonnie Smith, Daryl Motley, Hal McRae, Dan Quisinbery, and Denis Leonard, just to mention a few.

1985 was:

-The first year where all World Series games where held at night

-The last year where the Designated Hitter was not used in an American League park.

-Don Mattingly of the New York Yankees (today LA Dodgers Manager) was the American League MVP

-Bret Saberhagen was the World Series MVP

-Oakland A’s home attendance 1,334,599

-San Francisco Giants home attendance 818,697

-Oakland A’s total payroll $9,058,606

-San Francisco Giants total payroll $8,221,714

-Highest paid player – Mike Schmidt (Philadelphia) $2,095,967

-A gallon of gasoline was $1.20

-The medium price for a home nationwide was $27,000

-The top movies were: Comando, Rocky IV, and Back to the Future

-#1 Song in the US: “Careless Whispers” WHAM/George Michael

-Ronald Reagan,73, takes oath of office for the second-term as 40th President

One game series outlook: Power: A’s, Batting Average: KC makes more contact, but only 95 HR last in MLB. Speed: KC #1 in MLB with 153 stolen bases. Bullpen: KC.most powerful bullpen in baseball. The A’s had a September not to forget, but they made it with fumes in the tank. It is imposible to predict a ONE game elimination game. The KC fans are going to go crazy after 29 years without one single visit to the postseason, they could be standing all the way, that may play as the tenth man on the field for them.

Because of these factors, the two starting pitchers are key here. If KC has the lead after the sixth they could coast to a win. Kansas City has lots of speed, and I expect Manager Ned Yost to run on the A’s catcher(s)that is part of their offense, since they do not hit home runs. If the A’s score first, it could calm the crowd down and the A’s could roll, they need some of that good hitting they had in the first half. Reddick is the only guy hot these days, they need some other bat(s) to pick it up…

But, here is the thing, it is only ONE GAME, you can flip a coin. A bad hop, and error, a bad call by an umpire(judgement call), not the ones you can challenge?

Prediction: I am 100X100 positive that the team that scores the most runs, will advance and play the LA Angels in the Divisional Series, (best of fiive) starting this weekend at Angel Stadium in Anaheim.

All the exciement of the game(live) can also be heard in Spanish on KIQI 1010AM Oakland/San José/San Francisco….KATD 990AM Sacramento/Stockton…KWRU 1300AM Fresno/Visalia—KEJY 790AM Eureka, the Oakland Athletics Spanish Radio Network, PDT 5PM this Tuesday the 30th of September.

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