Category: That’s Amaury’s News and Commentary

Former Cincinnati Reds great Pete Rose poses near his statue outside of Great American Ballpark in Cincinnati is still serving a lifetime ban from Major League Baseball (file photo from WLWT 700 News Radio Cincinnati)

That’s Amaury News and Commentary

By Amaury Pi-González

“T’was the night before Christmas when all through the house not a creature was stirring not even a mouse, the stockings were hung by the chimney with care all the new Hall of Fame names were read with a flair, but the name of Pete Rose still was not there” -APG.2020.

The list for the 2021 first time nominees for Cooperstown is out, including those that felt short in previous years. They are still on the ballot and some like Roger Clements and Barry Bonds will probably not be elected this year. They might have to wait a few more years. But, what about Pete?

This is the time of the year for that perennial question. Why is Pete Rose not in the Hall of Fame as a player. No player alive or still playing is remotely close to Pete Rose record of 4,256 hits. The closest one, who still active is LA Angels Albert Pujols with 3,236 hits. Also active, Miguel Cabrera 2,866, Robinson Canó 2,624 ( who also was suspended for the 2021 season for PEDs), Nick Markakis 2,388 then Yadier Molina with 2,001. All of these active players are veterans towards the end of their careers; they have really no chance of getting remotely close to Pete Rose.

Gambling is the cardinal sin of baseball, and that is why Pete Rose is not in the Hall of Fame. In 1989 Major League Baseball punished Pete Rose, manager of the Cincinnati Reds for betting on baseball.

Rose accepted a settlement than includes a lifetime ban from the game. But every year when the names of the new class of Hall of Fame players that are nominated comes out, everybody debates if he should be given the chance of induction into the Hall of Fame.

Rose recently admitted to Jim Gray that he still bets on baseball. This confession is part of Jim Gray’s “Talking to Goats” FOX News special and book. As a civilian he can bet on baseball, it is legal, just visit any Casino in the United States and you probably can place a bet, or on the internet as well.

We are a betting nation. Draft Kings is a very popular Daily Fantasy Sports for Cash in baseball, the Superbowl is approaching and after March Madness tournament in Basketball. The Superbowl is the highest sports event in amount of bets. During the summer, baseball (usually 162-game schedule) allows more opportunities to bet each day.

We are also a forgiving nation. With the advances of science, i.e. DNA, people that were wrongly convicted of murder and have been serving for decades a life sentence, have been released after DNA showed that they were wrongly convicted.

Many countries around the world, if you are convicted of murder, you are executed very soon after your sentence. O.J Simpson is a free man, after his controversial ‘not guilty’ verdict, but we all know he got away with murder, he had to hire the best attorneys in the world to save his life, so there went most of what money OJ had.

Question for everybody: What is worst, Pete Rose betting on baseball or the Houston Astros cheating and winning the 2017 World Series?

Pete Rose is not going to manage or play again. To me it looks ridiculous the fact he is not in the Hall of Fame where he belongs. If we are going to be consistent with the world we are living today (this is not 1919 and the Black Sox scandal) I hope we can see Pete Rose soon, (not after he is dead) in Cooperstown. That is my opinion, you might disagree and I respect your opinion.

Stay well and stay tuned.

Amaury Pi Gonzalez is the Oakland A’s lead Spanish play by play announcer on the A’s flagship station 1010 KIQI San Francisco and does News and Commentary at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Amaury Pi Gonzalez author in uniform with the US Army is one of five staff writers at Sports Radio Service who have served in the US Military. As Amaury writes about Veterans Day celebrated Wed Nov 11, 2020 (photo provided by Amaury Pi Gonzalez)

That’s Amaury’s News and Commenty

By Amaury Pi Gonzalez

No sport is more intertwined with the US military than baseball. Through the years many baseball players have served their nation, during times of war or peace. Some volunteered for war, some were drafted, other served in uniform in the reserves, regardless of their circumstances all showed their patriotism and selfishness to their country.

Among Hall of Fame players that served are:

Cleveland Indians Bob Feller. He left an over six-figure contract and joined the US Navy right after the Japanese attack in Pearl Harbor. He was the first American professional athlete (among all sports) to enlist and served in the US Navy from 1941 to 1945. In 1946 Bob Feller’s fastball was clocked at 98.6 miles-per hour, by a US Army device. It was the fastest at that time.

Boston Red Sox slugger Ted Williams. Teddy Ballgame is frequently mentioned as the last man in major league baseball to hit over .400 when he ended the 1941 season with a .406 batting average. His military career was also exemplary as a pilot during World War II and the Korean War, he and Larry McPhail,(high ranking baseball executive) are the only two to have served in two wars.

New York Yankee Joe DiMaggio enlisted in 1943, and never saw combat. The Yankee Clipper served as a physical education instructor in the US Army Special Services, mostly stationed in California and Hawaii.

New York Giants center-fielder Willie Mays was drafted by the US Army in 1952 during the Korean War. Although he did not see action during the war, he was much valuable to the military participating in media campaigns and public exhibitions to raise troop moral. He returned to the Giants in 1954 and led the National League with a .345 batting average, winning the Most Valuable Player.

New York Yankee legendary catcher Yogi Berra volunteered during the assault on Normandy, France, during the famous D-Day. Berra was told not to mention his secret mission to his family. He was on a rocket boat during the first waves of the allied invasion of Europe, landing at Normandy, France, which began the eventual undoing of Hitler and his occupation.

The most famous #42. Jackie Robinson joined the US Army in 1942 and was commissioned a second Lieutenant in 1943. Honorably Discharged in 1944. While serving Robinson was arrested and court-martialed protesting segregation, but was acquired later. Pitcher Hoyt Wilhelm (He threw the best Knuckleball ever) pitched for the NY Giants and eight other teams, served in the US Army during the Battle of the Bulge, was injured in and received a Purple Heart

These Hall of Famers also served in uniform: Roberto Clemente, Tom Seaver, Rod Carew, Nolan Ryan, Don Larsen, Pee Wee Reese, Johnny Mize, Joe Gordon and many others.

Sandy Alderson, once Executive for the Oakland Athletics, new York Mets and San Diego Padres, served during the Viet Nam war as a US Marine Lieutenant.

My apologies to those I did not mentioned and the many more that also served the country.

On behalf of all the staff here at Sports Radio Service and our veterans we salute you and thank you for your support. past and present collaborators; Ken Gimlin, US Army, Joe Cronin, US Army, Tony Rentería, US Marines, Jerry Feitelberg, US Army, Amaury Pi-González, US Army.

Stay tuned and stay well.

Amaury Pi Gonzalez is the Oakland A’s Spanish radio lead announcer on 1010 KIQI San Francisco and does News and Commentary at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

 

AJ Hinch gets a new lease on life after spending the 2020 season suspended from the Houston Astros scandal. Hinch will be at the helm for the Detroit Tigers for 2021. (photo from the Detroit Free Press)

That’s Amaury News and Commentary

By Amaury Pi-González

Alex Cora was hired by the Boston Red Sox as their new skipper for the next two years running through 2022 with a two-year club option for the ’23 and ’24 seasons. In 2017 Alex Cora was the bench coach for the World Champion Houston Astros.

Because of a coordinated cheating of signs, he was suspended for a year, together with manager A.J Hinch as well as General Manager Jeff Lunow, who is a very good General Manager, proficient in Spanish who sat with us during a few innings of a broadcast, a few years ago as the Astros visited Oakland.

Alex Cora’s suspension expired immediately after Dodgers eliminated the Rays in this most recent World Series. Cora also assumed the manager’s position (during that 2017 cheating season with the Astros) every time manager Hinch was ejected; which was in three occasions. To refresh our memories: The 2017 Astros team won the West with 101-61 record, 21 games over second place LA Angels. A’s finished in last place, 26 games behind. Then the Astros took the World Series from the Dodgers. Obviously, the cheating paid off.

Not a surprise Cora is returning to Boston, he is well regarded by the Boston Red Sox organization. As a rookie manager Cora guided the Red Sox to 108 victories and a World Series title in 2018. However, the next season (2019) under Cora, the club ended with a 84-78 record, in third place 19 games behind the NY Yankees.

The most famous baseball scandal was that of the 1919 World Series, between the Chicago White Sox and the Cincinnati Reds, most well known as The Black Sox Scandal. In 1920 four players admitted to a Grand Jury they had thrown the 1919 World Series in return from a bribe by a gambling syndicate led by Arnold Rothstein and his associates.

A total of seven players were involved. “Eight Men Out” is an excellent movie about that most famous scandal. 1920’s and 2020, are two different planets in baseball. The highest paid player in 1920 was the great Ty Cobb, $20,000 a season with the Detroit Tigers. The Detroit Tigers franchise in 2020 is worth an estimated $1.25 billion.

Major League teams have the right to hire whomever they want, they are a private business and that is their right. And, granted, Cora won a World Series as Manager of the Red Sox and nobody accused the Red Sox of cheating that year.

However, I would think that the memory of the 2017 Houston Astros cheating and winning a World Series, still very much fresh in our minds. In a way looks like you can cheat and wait a couple of years and you are back in the game. I do not want Alex Cora suspended for life, that would be ridiculous, but coming back this soon? I do not think is a very good look for Major League Baseball. The wounds are not healed yet.

If there is cheating inside an organization, the most culpable are those in charge, from the top down, General Manager, to the Field Manager, then the players, and in some instances, maybe even the owner. During these times, owners are not that involved with what happens down on the field.

Unlike the days of black and white television, and prior, where some owners were really “hands on” with the teams. Not that very long ago, owners that come to mind are Charlie O. Finley with the Kansas City and Oakland A’s and George Steinbrenner of the New York Yankees, those were hands-on owners, they were really bosses with lots of passion for the game and they were not shy to show it.

Back in the days of the Black Sox Scandal, things were different, teams were mostly owned by families with certain affinity to the game and not big corporations like today. Not to mention a record that will never be broken, that of the Owner and Manager of the Philadelphia Athletics for over 50 years. Connie Mack who won 3,731 games, tops in major league baseball, he also played prior to his managing-owner years and never wore a uniform while managing, famous for his white straw hat.

“Cheating is baseball’s oldest profession. No other game is so rich in skullduggery. -Thomas Boswell.

Stay tuned and stay well.

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