Category: Oakland Athletics

That’s Amaury’s News and Commentary

DETROIT–The A’s have been hitting home runs and this year the A’s finished third in home runs in the American League only the Orioles and the Mariners hit more home runs and the A’s have hit 186 home runs and they’ve hit 103 on the road which is number one in Major League Baseball. So although the A’s look like a team with no power and people with little names compared to the Tigers Miguel Cabrera, Tori Hunter, or Max Scherzer in a roster that looks like an All-Star team.

If you think about the Detroit Tigers you would think there is no match there but the A’s hit the home runs when they count and they also have a great pitching staff and that’s the reason why they won two out of the first four and right now they only have to win one more game in game five of the playoffs on Thursday at the Coliseum to advance. The A’s have been playing very good ball.

The A’s have a great playoff record of getting on base with eight straight games that runs from 2012 to this current series. For the Tigers everything is looking great in the win over the A’s in game four, Fister had his curve ball and a good fast ball and Fister is a right hander at 6’6. Fister is from Merced Calif he’s a very good pitcher and of course Straily was another young guy who has four pitches in what turned out to be a very great game on Tuesday night in Detroit.

It wound up to be a hitters battle later with leads trading back and forth. The A’s had a one run lead and then the Tigers took a two run lead into the ninth inning and the pressure was on with Tigers reliever Joaquin Benoit who put it away striking out the last A’s hitter to close it out for a 8-6 win at Comerica Park. The Tigers Miguel Cabrera the Venezuelan Wonder third baseman won his third consecutive he’s one of the best hitters of all time and in this era it’s hard to find somebody else like that.

Cabrera had been playing with a bad abdomen but it had to feel a lot better after the win on Tuesday night and he also is nursing a groin injury. Cabrera is not 100 percent but more like at 80 percent and is still a great hitter and it turned out to be a great game with the Tigers getting the win by two runs in a game that went back and forth. The A’s didn’t want to have to go back to the Coliseum for obvious reasons but now it’s off to game five on Thursday night.

Just a word on Dusty’s firing last week: It’s unfortunate that former Reds manager Dusty Baker got fired and they gave him an alternative to resign or they would let him go. So whatever it was he’s not there anymore he’s not employed and this is what happens with managers and Dusty’s a good manager he’s got numbers someday to be in the Hall of Fame however Dusty has never won a World Series and never won those big games.

It’s hard to get that label that he’s not a big game manager and in the month of September the Reds lost ten straight, then won seven in a row, and then lost their last six games in a row. Dusty has one of the best hitting teams in baseball with Joey Votto who hit .305 with 24 homers and 74 RBIs for the 2013 season and Dusty couldn’t pull through. In a situation like this there is nothing a manager could do.

Dusty was a .300 hitter and don’t forget he was a very good outfielder and I remember when he played but if the team doesn’t perform and their flat and after six years in Cincinnati it was good that the Reds parted ways with Dusty and he’ll get another job eventually. Their are some jobs in the Majors that are going to be open and the one in Chicago that was vacated in by Dale Sveum but there is no way Dusty is going to get hired by the Cubs this time and he may not want to go back anyway.

Amaury Pi Gonzalez does Oakland A’s baseball for Spanish radio, the MLB Network and does News and Commentary each week for Sportstalk radio

by Michael Duca

DETROIT–During the year the A’s went in and nearly swept the Detroit Tigers at Comerica and that has given the club a tremendous amount of confidence in this current American League Division Series and in that ball park. Dan Straily who started on Tuesday for the A’s is a pitcher that when you think of the A’s pitching staff he’s not the first starter that comes to mind. If you kind of think back on this season it’s hard to remember some of the guys on the club who pitched well but folks will remember Straily.

It’s also hard to remember any game that the A’s were in all the while he was there Straily is gritty, he’s a grinder, he’s quite essential for a starter in a playoff and I would have to say that if I were Oakland I’d feel pretty good about my chances at this point.The Tigers starter Doug Fister can bring out no hit stuff out to the mound every time he pitches. I’ve seen him stringing together 15 straight outs to start a game.

Fister is certainly a courageous performer if you remember the last two or three World Series he took a line drive off his toe and continued to pitch in the game and pitched pretty well and that was game two. What’s really interesting is that the Tigers made it to the World Series last year. Basically most of the same pitchers that they have now they’re from a completely different order than what they were using from last year.

Last year in the rotation the Tigers used Justin Verlander to start as the number one, and Fister was number two, and this year Verlander and Fister are two and four. Even though it looked like the same Tigers team it’s one that has evolved their starting pitching and it was better this year than it was last year but the Tigers are not getting in the line of clutch hitting against an awfully good A’s pitching rotation.

The Martinez-Balfour dance: What the hell happened there? They asked the A’s Brandon Moss what happened and he was just as close to it just as much as anybody. It’s really hard to figure out. You could probably get yourself into a state of the moment if your the Tigers DH Victor Martinez. It’s hard to envision how fouling off a pitch can put anybody into a combative mood on either side. A’s pitcher Grant Balfour didn’t finish the at bat with that pitch that Martinez certainly didn’t throw the pitch around and certainly didn’t do a whole lot with it.

This was one of those boys will be boys moments in the heat of combat and while it’s a little bit closer to the on field persona that Balfour projects and that was a little bit out of character for Martinez. Balfour didn’t wake up the Tigers in game three they weren’t asleep to begin with and Martinez didn’t add anything to the A’s motivation the A’s were already plenty motivated.

It’s just a brief moment of absolute amazing entertainment kind of like watching Dodgers reliever Brian Wilson destroying his teammate’s uniform Monday night in the game in Los Angeles.

Michael Duca does commentary on the Oakland A’s playoffs at the ALDS

By Morris Phillips

If the A’s short trip to Detroit goes anything like their trip to Motown in August, Oakland’s moving on to the ALCS in short order.

In August, the A’s moved their playoff drive into high gear by taking three of four from the Tigers, scoring 34 runs in the process and coming within one out of winning all four games.  The trip to Detroit’s Comerica Park highlighted the A’s big stretch run in which they won 25 of their final 35 games to win the AL West going away.

This time the stakes are much higher, and the Oakland bats don’t figure to carry the day like they did in August.  And while the A’s don’t figure to average 8 runs a game, they do figure to benefit from not facing Justin Verlander or Max Scherzer in either game.

So far, there have been just six runs scored in first two games of the series.  For Detroit, all three of their runs came off A’s starter Bartolo Colon who had issues settling down while throwing his initial pitches.  For the A’s, two runs came later in Game 1 in a failed comeback attempt and the third run was engineered by Stephen Vogt’s game-winning base hit in the ninth inning Saturday night.

A lack of offense opposite a whole lot of quality pitches doesn’t equal fireworks, but so far, it has made for great theatre.

“For a real baseball fan, last night had to be one of the best games of the year, just watching a pitchers’ duel like that and then obviously a walk off.  That’s fun,” Vogt said.

Hitters on both sides have struggled, but if someone’s to bust out at Comerica Park, there are some obvious possibilities.  Detroit’s Miguel Cabrera continues to show the effects of a season filled with bumps and bruises, and he has yet to produce an extra-base hit in the first two games.  But while Cabrera might not be a threat to go deep, his ability to get hits and get them in big situations hasn’t dissipated.

For the A’s, Yoenis Cesepedes has the series only home run—a two-run shot in the Game 1, 3-2 loss—and he scored the winning run on Saturday.  The Cuban slugger may not have had a big regular season, but he appears quite capable now that the calendar has turned to October.

“He’s leading us, taken the reins, so to speak, getting us excited,” Vogt said of Cespedes.  “When he hits the ball, you can’t help but get excited, how loud and how hard he hits the ball.  He’s just been great for us so far.”

Jarrod Parker will make the start Monday for the A’s.   Given his status as Oakland’s second-best starter in the regular season, Parker could have been miffed at getting pushed back to Game 3, but he admitted he was not.

In fact, he was Gray’s biggest cheerleader on Saturday, exhorting the rookie throughout his eight scoreless innings. 

”I can’t put into words how great he was and how fun that is to watch,” Parker said.

Detroit’s Anibel Sanchez will oppose Parker in a game that will start at 10am PST.

By George Devine, Sr.
Once more, the Oakland Athletics are in the American League Division Series, and once more they face the formidable Detroit Tigers. Having ended the season by winning home field advantage, Oakland will host the first two games at O.co Coliseum on Friday, October 4 and Saturday, October 5. The first game, scheduled for 6:37 p.m. PDT, is already a sellout and as of today there are only a thousand seats available for the second, in which the first pitch will be 6:07 p.m. PDT. That reflects the fact that the top-deck tarps have been removed, except those covering the “Mt. Davis” seats which do not afford a good view of the baseball outfield in the dual-purpose stadium.
All-Star right-hander Bartolo Colón (18-6, 2.65 ERA), who ranked second in the league in wins and ERA this season, will start Game 1 while right-handers Sonny Gray (5-3, 2.67) and Jarrod Parker (12-8, 3.97) will start Games 2 and 3, respectively. Right-hander Dan Straily (10-8, 3.96) will take the mound in Game 4 if necessary.

Max Scherzer (21-3, 2.90) favored to win the American League Cy Young award this year, will start for Detroit in Game 1. Justin Verlander, who won that award in 2011, is designated for Game 2. Anibal Sanchez and Doug Fister are slated for Games 3 and 4, respectively. Should he be needed for Game 5, Scherzer could conceivably start given the rest he would have after Game 1. Oakland manager Bob Melvin could be considering a similar placement for Colon based on the same reasoning.
Both teams’ players have acknowledged the impact of the fervent Oakland crowd in the beginning games of the series. Scherzer has described the atmosphere as “rowdy” but says he is prepared to deal with it. The A’s Brandon Moss says he hopes the roar of the fans will more than drown out some of the negative talk that has circulated recently about the Coliseum.
Meanwhile, those attending the games at Oakland may find it easier to utilize the internet and various related forms of social media, based on an announcement made today. The Oakland Athletics are using Comcast Business Ethernet services to deliver high-speed Internet at Oakland’s O.co Coliseum, which also houses the team’s executive and administrative offices. The fiber-based Ethernet connection from Comcast allows the team to support daily operations for front office staff as well as spikes in demand caused by local and national media covering each game.

The Athletics finished first in their division at the end of the 2012 season and needed additional bandwidth to support four times as many members of the media covering each game during the playoffs. Up to 175 employees already utilize the team’s Internet connection on non-game days, and that number more than doubles to 400 when the team is in town, necessitating a fast, reliable connection that allows them to work efficiently without any drops in performance.

Previously, the organization consistently ran at 98% utilization of its old 9 Mbps Internet connection from early in the morning through the end of night games played at the stadium. Large uploads of files needed to be scheduled during off-hours to avoid impacting employees’ ability to conduct business during normal work hours. They needed fast, reliable Internet service that could scale easily as new initiatives were started and as temporary spikes in bandwidth demand presented themselves during the playoffs and other special events. The team was also looking for a service that would enable them to easily add bandwidth as their IT staff transitions to tapeless disaster recovery technology and as other bandwidth-intensive needs arise.

“Like any other business, the Athletics are heavily dependent on technology to operate efficiently and that dependence only increases as time passes,” said Nathan Hayes, director of information technology for the Oakland Athletics. “It goes without saying that we needed a fast, reliable connection that would allow us to focus on other aspects of the business. With our previous connection, we couldn’t even let our staff stream away games at their desks due to its limited capacity. Our current service from Comcast Business not only provides a dramatically faster user experience for our staff and members of the media, but it is also able to scale easily, allowing us to pursue additional projects without fear that we’ll outgrow its capacity anytime soon.”

The Oakland Athletics now have a 100 Mbps Ethernet Dedicated Internet connection at O.Co Coliseum, providing bandwidth for employees and media. This is more than 10 times the bandwidth of their previous 9 Mbps connection at the same price. With the ability to scale up to 10 Gbps by making a single phone call to Comcast Business, The Athletics are now better equipped to meet any additional bandwidth needs that may arise in the future such as the team’s planned move toward the use of cloud-based disaster recovery technology, which will allow for additional cost savings as well as greater security and efficiency.

“Comcast Business has established a proven track record in supporting professional sports franchises that are looking to leverage technology to improve how they do business,” said Ted Girdner, regional vice president for Comcast Business. “With so many moving parts that are critical to the success of every event hosted at the stadium, we can provide the peace of mind that comes with fast, reliable Internet service, allowing the team’s staff to focus on providing the best experience possible for attendees.”