Category: That’s Amaury’s News and Commentary

That’s Amaury’s News and Commentary podcast: Anti A’s ball park group trying to spread the news about traffic and congestion; flyers handed out in Oakland

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ktvu.com photo: Artist rendition of a Jack London Square Oakland A’s stadium at Howard Terminal

On That’s Amaury’s News and Commentary podcast:

They’re known as Protect Oakland’s Shoreline Economy who put out a flyer explaining why the Oakland A’s shouldn’t build at Jack London Square that it would impact traffic conditions, that hundreds of millions of tax dollars would be blown on a project that could be used for infrastructure for other city projects.

So who was behind such a flyer? According to the San Francisco Chronicle, there is a company that does scrap recycling next door to the proposed site and they deny having anything to do about the flyer but it was reported that former Senator Don Perata who had been advising the scrap plant about the stadium build.

The language in the flyer looked a lot similar to a prepared report for the Oakland Alameda County Coliseum Authority board of directors. Oakland A’s team president David Kaval said he didn’t know who wrote the flyer and never heard any complaints from the company or neighbors from Jack London Square. Kaval said that on the contrary the neighbors are in favor of the new park and see it as a economic improvement to the neighborhood.

Amaury has much more on this story and the latest on the A’s at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

 

That’s Amaury’s News and Commentary Cooperstown Class of 2018: Vladimir Guerrero Was One of a Kind

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Photo credit: Amaury Pi-Gonzalez, Sports Radio Service

By: Amaury Pi-González

Vladimir Guerrero is in New York for his official induction into the National Baseball Hall of Fame at Cooperstown this Sunday, July 29, together with Jim Thome, Trevor Hoffman, Larry “Chipper” Jones, Jack Morris, and Allan Trammel.

Guerrero said in Spanish, “Me siento feliz y mi gente me hace sentir feliz, dijo el jueves en la Galería de Placa tras una visita relámpago a la meca del béisbol.” “Soy el primero de mi pueblo, que es obvio, pero también soy el primer bateador Dominicano en el Salón de la Fama”

Translation: “I am happy and my people makes me feel happy, he said this past Thursday at his Plaque on the Gallery at the Hall of Fame, after a quick visit to the baseball mecca.”

“I am the first from my town, that is obvious, but also I am the first hitter from the Dominican in the Hall of Fame.”

Guerrero, a great outfielder, was born in the town of Don Gregorio, Dominican Republic. Guerrero, who is one of the most electrifying and unconventional hitters of his generation, will now be a member of one of the most exclusive clubs, National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum.

On his second consecutive year on the ballot, Guerrero was elected with 92.9 percent of the vote, higher than his two countrymen Juan Marichal and Pedro Martínez. Guerrero picked the Angels over the Expos as his uniform in perpetuity at Cooperstown.

Guerrero said in Spanish, “Desde que vi a Vladimir en Nizao sentí que era especial.”

Translation: “When I first saw Vladimir in Nizao, I felt something special.” said Arturo DeFreites, the chief of Scouts for the Montreal Expos who originally signed the outfielder for $2,000 in 1993.

His acceptance speech with be in Spanish and he will have an interpreter.  So many players have nicknames and most are forgettable but there is only one “Vladdy” and that is this right-fielder, the incomparable Vladimir Alvino Guerrero.

That’s Amaury’s News and Commentary: 1962 Mets? Move Over, Here Comes the 2018 Orioles

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Photo credit: @Orioles

By: Amaury Pi-Gonzalez

The 1962 New York Mets lost 120 games during their inaugural season. That year the Mets started play in New York a few years after the Brooklyn Dodgers left for Los Angeles and the New York Giants left for San Francisco. With the 1962 Mets, the National League had a new team in town and they adopted the colors of Dodger blue and Met orange. The Mets’ manager was the very colorful Casey Stangel. They played 1962 at the old Giants park, the Polo Grounds, while they were building Shea Stadium in Queens.

With the worst record in history, the 1962 Mets ended their season in last place with a 40-120 record and 60 1/2 games behind the first-place San Francisco Giants, who went on to the World Series and lost in seven games against the New York Yankees. Things were easier back then, as each league had 10 teams and after they won the pennant in a few days they went directly to the World Series.

Besides the 1962 Mets, other bad teams include the 1904 Washington Senators (38-113), the 1916 Philadelphia Athletics (36-117), the 1932 Boston Red Sox (43-111), the 1935 Boston Braves (38-115), and most recently, the 2003 Detroit Tigers, who came within one game of tying the Mets, with a 40-119 record.

Right now, the 2018 Orioles are on a pace to lose around 128 games.On this day, the Orioles have a 28-73 record, and there are 61 games remaining, before their game tonight versus the Boston Red Sox in Baltimore, Maryland.

How they talk in New York, it could be, “Forget about it” for the 1962 Mets in a couple of months, which is not something that veteran skipper Buck Showalter is looking forward to, but something he likely is not be able to prevent.

Baseball is like horse racing, you can have the best jockey in the world, but if the horse is limping, you are never going to win the race.

That’s Amaury’s News and Commentary podcast: A’s waste no time to jump on Texas; Cards’ Poncedeleon 5th pitcher in MLB to debut with no-hitter into the 7th inning; plus more

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photo from theintelligencer.com: Oakland Athletics’ Jonathan Lucroy is congratulated by third base coach Matt Williams (4) after hitting a grand slam against the Texas Rangers during the second inning of a baseball game Monday, July 23, 2018, in Arlington, Texas

On That’s Amaury podcast:

#1 The Oakland A’s wasted no time taking the first game of this current four-game series in Arlington with a 15-3 win on Monday night.

#2 A’s catcher Jonathan Lucroy belted a second inning grand slam to get the offense started. Lucroy gets his second home run of the season.

#3 The St. Louis Cardinals’ Daniel Poncedeleon threw no hit ball for seven innings and is MLB’s fifth pitcher to debut to go that far. Poncedeleon was lifted after the seventh due to the pitch count. He hit 116 pitches.

#4 The San Francisco Giants, who lost two three-game series to the Oakland A’s, will be in Seattle starting tonight. The Mariners are going red-hot second place in the AL West and have been tough customers in the first half of the season.

#5 He might not be able to pitch, but the Los Angeles Angels’ Shohei Ohtani went deep, hitting a 435-foot shot to center for his eighth home run on Monday night.

Amaury Pi-Gonzalez is the Oakland A’s Spanish play-by-play talent and does News and Commentary podcasts each Tuesdays at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

That’s Amaury News and Commentary: Oakland A’s–What a Difference a Year Makes!

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Photo credit: nytimes.com

By: Amaury Pi-Gonzalez

OAKLAND, Calif. — Part two of the Bay Bridge Series continues on Friday, July 20, at the Oakland Coliseum, as both Bay Area teams open the second half of their season. The last weekend prior to the All Star break, the A’s took two out of the three games against the Giants at AT&T Park in San Francisco.

On this date in 2017, the A’s did not play. However, the next day–the first game of the second half–on July 21, they had a record of 43-53 and were in fifth (last place) with 23 games behind the Houston Astros.

As the A’s open the second half of this season, their record is 55-42 and they’re in third place, eight games behind the first-place Houston Astros and three games behind the second-place Seattle Mariners for a Wild Card spot.  From 2017 to 2018 to date, that’s an improvement of 12 more games won and 11 less games lost.

Anywho, the Giants on July 20, 2017, were in last place in the National League West with a record of 37-61, 29 1/2 games out of first-place, which was held by the rival Los Angeles Dodgers. The Giants ended in the cellar last year as they lost 98 games. In the second half of last season, the Giants had one of the worse second halves in their history, winning just 27 more games to to end the season with a 64-98 record. Because 2017 was such a pathetic season for the Orange and Black, they’re better this season. The Giants begin this series against the A’s in fourth place with 50-48 record, four games behind the first-place Dodgers and also four games behind a Wild Card berth.

Both teams are fighting to get into the postseason at this time, which is a totally different situation at this time last year when both teams finished in last place in their respective divisions. The big difference this season is that the A’s weren’t expected to contend. The Giants acquired two veteran players in Evan Longoria, who should return to the lineup soon, and Andrew McCutchen.

Both clubs have their fair share of injuries, especially to their pitching staffs, with the Giants suffering more than the A’s when it comes to position players. Two regulars, second baseman Joe Panik and third baseman Evan Longoria are still out.

Both teams, however, should be buyers. July 31 is the trade deadline, and after that day, players have to clear waivers and trades will become more complicated.

Notes: The A’s  released veteran Santiago Casilla. The 37-year-old pitched in 26 games in relief with a 3.16 earned run average. The Dominican began his career with the A’s in 2004, went to the Giants for the next six seasons, and came back home full circle to the A’s in 2017.

The A’s announced they’re opening Mount Davis, 8,190 seats behind center field this Saturday, and the game is at 6:05 pm PDT. On that day, the A’s will honor their 1989 World Champion team, who won the World Series against the Giants. Many A’s stars of the 1989 roster will be on hand.

The current total capacity of the Coliseum is 56,782. The record attendance for an A’s game at the Coliseum was established on June 26, 2004. Also, an A’s game against the Giants would’ve seen 55,989.

That’s Amaury’s News and Commentary podcast: 2018 MLB All-Star Game in Washington DC–Crawford, Lowrie, Treinen worked hard to get to this point

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Photo credit: @NBCSGiants

On That’s Amaury’s podcast:

#1 Amaury, let’s talk about the Oakland A’s reliever Blake Treinen, who made 24 saves for the first half of the season, which helped the A’s be the winningest team in baseball. Also, it helped Treinen get selected for the All-Star Game.

#2 How important is it for Treinen to have had the first half that he had? Does that give confidence to the ball club going into the second half?

#3 The A’s Jed Lowrie hit .285 with 103 hits, 16 HRs, and 62 RBIs. He had a great first half. Amaury talks about how important his role was to the club.

#4 Three San Francisco Giants had three players in the running for the All-Star game, including a last minute push to stuff the ballot box for Giants first baseman Brandon Belt, who fell short in the voting; Buster Posey, who was elected chose to sit out the All-Star game get a cortisone shot for his hip and rest during the break, and Brandon Crawford, who will be in the National League lineup tonight at second base.

#5 Tonight’s the big night American League All-Stars versus National League All-Stars. Who do you like in this game?

Amaury Pi Gonzalez is the Oakland A’s Spanish play-by-play talent, the vice president of the MLB Hispanic Heritage Museum Hall of Fame and  does News and Commentary each week at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

 

That’s Amaury’s News and Commentary podcast: Posey to sit out All-Star game to rest hip will get cortisone Sun ; Can A’s win a series in Houston?

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mercurynews.com file photo: Giants catcher Buster Posey slides in file photo will be out of the All Star game to rest hip and get a cortisone shot after Sunday’s game

On That’s Amaury’s News and Commentary podcast:

San Francisco Giants catcher Buster Posey announced before Monday night’s game against the Chicago Cubs at AT&T Park in San Francisco that he will sit out next week’s All-Star game to rest his hip. The St. Louis Cardinals’ catcher Yadier Molina will be the National League’s signal-caller in place of Posey.

For the A’s-Astros series in Houston, the question is can the A’s break the spell and win a series at Minute Maid Field? The A’s have played some great ball of late with key hitting and great closer help from Blake Treinen, who has 22 saves, just might make a series out of it.

The Chicago White Sox’s Jose Abreu could be joining the Astros during this current Astros homestand. Abreu for the season is hitting .259 with 12 home runs and 50 RBIs. It would be ironic if he could join the Astros during this series against the A’s.

The Arizona Diamondbacks had an executive from the club scouting at Comerica Park last Sunday to watch pitcher Michael Fulmer 3-8 ERA 4.11. Last Sunday, Fulmer delivered seven strong innings. The Diamondbacks are looking to get some help in their quest to hold onto first place and the postseason and Fulmer is someone they feel that can help the club.

On Monday, there were possible trade possibilities between the Milwaukee Brewers and the Baltimore Orioles. The Brewers were very interested in obtaining Manny Machado’s services and sending Brett Phillips to the O’s. Phillips had a great minor league season last year, hitting .317; but has struggled in the Brewers’ triple-A system this year. The Yankees have also expressed interest in Machado, which actually is a very likely scenario for Machado.

Amaury Pi-Gonzalez is the Oakland A’s Spanish radio play-by-play talent and goes through all the trade rumors and All-Star break news at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

 

 

That’s Amaury News and Commentary: A’s Have the Young, Exciting Players the Giants Lack

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Photo credit: @AthleticsPR

By: Amaury Pi-Gonzalez

The San Francisco Giants and Oakland Athletics are two totally different ball clubs that play on opposite sides of the Bay Area. The Giants are one of the oldest teams trying to capture the same magic with most of the same cast: Buster Posey, Hunter Pence, Brandon Crawford, Madison Bumgarner. Meanwhile, the A’s have a refreshing, talented bunch of young players with their best years ahead of them, like Matt Chapman, Matt Olson, Mark Canha, Chad Pinder and Khris Davis. The A’s young squad is one of the most prolific home run squads in the game, as they can score so much in order to win.

In case you need a refresher, the A’s play in the American League West, which is one of the strongest divisions in baseball. The Giants play in the National League West, which is pretty much just a bunch of teams barely above the .500 mark and trying to survive July. Yet, the Giants are still constructed to win it all, while the A’s are a couple of years away. But this season, the A’s might even finish in second place, after finishing as cellar-dwellars in the last three years.

And yes, it is a different game today, as hitters do not choke-up at the plate trying to make contact. The hit and run (and a stolen base, for that matter) is rarely seen. Also, the bunt is like a the typewriter–it is a conversational topic, but when somebody actually bunts, it is like a breaking news headline.

Let’s face it, in our Statcast world, it is all about the home run today, and there is no dishonor of striking out. Hence, the many .220 and .230 averages we have seen in every lineup. During the last few years, teams have been building bullpens and starters and have a hard time when they face the hitters for the third time around.

The A’s third baseman is Matt Chapman and the first baseman Matt Olson. They are two of the most exciting, all-around ballplayers in the game today, since they both can hit with power, and will likely win a few Gold Gloves. Moreover, Mark Canha can play in the outfield and has shown his excellent power on display. It is getting better–the more he plays. Additionally, Chad Pinder could play everyday, but he is the young super-utility player who plays six different positions for Bob Melvin’s team.

Melvin continues to be one of the best managers in the game, not because he has won two Manager of the Year awards–one with Arizona the other one with Seattle–but because of his tremendous ability and patience to manage young talent.

Davis is one of the most consistent sluggers in the MLB and obviously doesn’t get the same respect other sluggers get. In 2016, he hit 42 home runs and drove in 102 in his first season in Oakland, Calif. In 2017, he hit 43 homers and drove in 110. And, this season, he is on a pace to repeat for the third year in a row. He is a DH because he does his job–he hits and drives in runs. He is as dangerous of a hitter in a game situation as there is today.

As we get close to the All-Star Game on July 17th at Nationals Park–home of the Washington Nationals–both the A’s and Giants have the same goal to make the postseason. For the A’s, is much more difficult because among the AL super teams this year, two are in their division–the World Champion Houston Astros and the much-improved Seattle Mariners. The A’s record today would put them neck-and-neck with the Cleveland Indians, who are on top of the Central Division. And, with a 49-40 record today, the A’s would be right at the top of the NL West.

There are approximately 70 games left for most of the teams at this junction of the season. Both the A’s and Giants are still hoping for a wild card berth. I believe in the AL West, everybody is playing for second place, but only God knows in the NL West.

The Giants are probably going to go the second half with what they have on hand right now, and I do not expect to see any trades. For the Giants, the challenge will be this winter when they will have to re-direct their future.

For the A’s, they could be buyers or sellers, most likely division sellers, but they have to keep playing as good as they have been doing as of late, because I do not know if the Seattle Mariners have a collapse coming during the second half.

That’s Amaury News and Commentary–World Cup 2018: Without México, television ratings suffer in the US

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nbcsports.com photo: Mexico manager Juan Carlos Osorio hit out at the referees after Mexico lost 2-0 to Brazil in their round of 16 clash in Samara on Monday

By Amaury Pi Gonzalez

There is little doubt that when México was eliminated by Brazil’s Neymar who beat the “Tricolor” 2-0 on Monday on July 2nd, especially in the United States. Telemundo felt like a meteor falling on planet Earth. Sad for México who opened their World Cup participation with a win over the last champion, Germany. During their match against Brazil, México caused problem to Neymar’s squad very early, but at the end, the best team won. The coach for the Mexican team was totally frustrated and blamed the loss of México on the referees, which is as absurd of a statement I can remember during a World Cup.

Fox and FS1 also suffered from the very beginning of this tournament as the U.S. were not there. The 48 group stage telecast on Fox and FS1 averaged 2.069 million viewers, according to Nielsen Media Research. This was down 42% from the 3.54 million average on ESPN, ESPN2 and ABC four years ago. For U.S. audiences, that was already a bad start and now after México was eliminated, only a small portion of the real Fútbol aficionados are watching all the way to July 15th when a new champion will be crowned.

During the 1994 USA World Cup, Edson Arantes do Nascimiento, better known as Pelé, told me during an exclusive interview I did with him for Telemundo Network, “El fútbol será grande aqui en los Estados Unidos de America y será un gran deporte, seguido por todo el público una vez tengan una selección dentro de la Copa Mundial, que pueda luchar y llegar lejos.”

Translation: “Fútbol here in the United States of America will be a great sport and followed by the people once the U.S. had a good team inside the World Cup and a good team that can go far.”

From the very beginning, this 2018 Russia World Cup was a disadvantage to the television networks carrying this event here in the U.S. At the end, it proved to be a double whammy for a lack of audience. First, no U.S. representation, then on July 2nd, México was eliminated. Mexican-born residents are by far the largest audience on Spanish television here in the U.S. and the elimination of México was the biggest story for the ratings this year on Telemundo, who also owns the rights to Copa America.

Telemundo Deportes has acquired U.S. Spanish language rights for next year’s Copa America in Brazil. The Copa America 2019 is about the championship of South America, and will include invited guests Japan and Qatar and will be played from June 14th to July 7th. This year’s World Cup was the first time that Telemundo had the rights to all its games. Univisión usually dominated that production in the past. Telemundo is part of Comcast’s Corporation/NBC Universal Incorporated.

Amaury Pi Gonzalez is the Oakland A’s play-by-play Spanish radio talent and does News and Commentary at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

That’s Amaury’s News and Commentary podcast with Jeremiah Salmonson: Lowrie headed to represent A’s at All-Star game and a look at MLB All-Star players

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mlb.com photo: Oakland A’s Jed Lowrie, Houston Astros Charlie Morton, and the Atlanta Braves’ Nick Markakis from left to right are in the top five of the mlb.com poll to go to the All Star game out of 30 players.

That’s Amaury’s News and Commentary podcast with Jeremiah:

Jeremiah is filling in for Amaury this week on the podcast and takes a look at at the most probable top five All Star players polled at mlb.com, which includes:

Jed Lowrie — Oakland A’s — .279, 86 hits, 12 HRs, 51 RBIs

Nick Markakis — Atlanta Braves — .330, 101 hits, 8 HRs, 49 RBIs

Charlie Morton — Houston Astros — 9-1 ERA 2.4

Francisco Cerevelli — Pittsburgh Pirates — .257, 45 hits, 9 HRs, and 36 RBIs

Mitch Moreland — Boston Red Sox — .299, 61 hits, 11 HRs, 39 RBIs

Jeremiah Salmonson is a talk show host at the Oakland A’s radio affiliate AM 950 KAHI in Auburn and is filling in for Amaury Pi Gonzalez