Category: That’s Amaury’s News and Commentary

That’s Amaury’s News and Commentary: MLB Owners and Winter Meetings Cancelled

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Major League Baseball calling off it’s winter meetings is a cause for concern after losing over $3 billion in revenue will MLB open the season and stand to lose more revenue again for 2021? (file photo from CBS Sports)

By Amaury Pi-González

2020 Baseball season is over; the Los Angeles Dodgers were crowned World Series Champion during an unprecedented 60-game season and Playoffs. However, the pain inflicted by this 2020 in baseball is not over yet.

The league announced the cancellation of both the owners meetings in November and winter meetings in December. The agendas will be conducted virtually as needed, by the now very well-known Zoom meeting. Owners meeting: Owners, presidents, general managers and managers from the 30 teams talk about economics, on-field issues as well as trades and free agents.

Winters meeting: All Major League baseball teams and their minor league affiliates convene each December to discuss business and conduct the off-season trades and all transactions.

According to The Wall Street Journal the 30 teams lost an estimated of $3 billion. The biggest blow, no fans in the stands, no ticket sales no parking revenues, no food drink or souvenirs sold. And we must not forget that some businesses in the vicinity of many parks also suffered, even if they were open.

No surprise that most MLB teams have reduced their staffs, some more than others, its early October MLB released schedules for all 30 teams for the 2021 season, however, the Office of the Commissioner Rob Manfred has still two biggest fears for next season which are, (1)-Are we going to have a vaccine, and (2) – Are we past the Pandemic. If both answers are yes, things could begin to return with a sense of “normalcy” of some form.

Even if 2021 is played with a 162 game schedule, like for example (2019 when nobody could predict this Pandemic) and everything went ‘honky dory’ there is another problem in the horizon. After the conclusion of the 2021 season there is bitter labor-management negotiations looming. The Basic Agreement between Major League Baseball and the Players Association expires.

Baseball fans do not sweat it. The greatest Baseball philosopher Yogi Berra once said: “It’s tough to make predictions, especially about the future”.

Stay well and stay tuned.

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

That’s Amaury’s News and Commentary: Tony LaRussa returns as Manager after Nine year Hiatus

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Tony LaRussa in 1979 in his first managing job with the Chicago White Sox (1979-1986) has come full circle after managing the Oakland A’s (1986-1995) and St Louis Cardinals(1996-2011) and after nine years (2020) LaRussa is back managing the White Sox once again (file photo from pinterest.com)

That’s Amaury News and Commentary

By Amaury Pi-González

Tony LaRussa last managed in 2011 guiding the St Louis Cardinals to a World Series title. The Hall of Fame manager, now 76 is coming back as manager of the Chicago White Sox. During the wild card Series between the Oakland Athletics and the Chicago White Sox this past September, Tony was seated to my left a few booths away, by himself, taking notes.

I went over to say Hi. He has served in front office jobs for multiple teams since 2014. After the news of his hiring by the White Sox, he told ESPN “My heart was always in the dugout” He has always been a perfectionist who hates to lose a game, some might call him a “control freak”. During the recent national anthem protest he told ESPN Dan LeBatard Show, “I would not allow it on my team”, while he was the Chief Baseball Officer for the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Tony LaRussa was one of the first managers to use everybody in his bullpen to win many games, with the likes of Gene Nelson, Rick Honeycutt and Hall of Fame close Dennis Eckersley. El Show de Tony LaRussa (about 5 minutes) was in Spanish preceding every A’s game during his years with the Athletics, he loved to talk about pitching and his great pitching coach Dave Duncan.

He was always talking baseball strategy and he loved each minute of it. The ultimate baseball professional. Many games he would ask a starter like Mike Moore to give him 5 1/3 innings and then he would turn it to the bullpen. Now that “style” is in vogue, but on steroids as in the recent World Series where there was more action in the bullpens than on the field.

When the White Sox parted ways with Rick Rentería after his White Sox were eliminated by the Athletics, they were looking for an experienced manager, with wisdom and success and the gravitas of Tony LaRussa. Tony is one of two managers in history to have won World Series with teams in both leagues, with the Oakland A’s in 1989 and with the St Louis Cardinals in 2006 and 2011. George (Sparky) Anderson with the Cincinnati Reds in 1975 and 1976 and then with the Detroit Tigers in 1984

Born in Tampa, Florida, Tony LaRussa will take over a young and very talented ball-club in the Chicago White Sox, who is loaded with young and established Latino stars and a team that could be very close to winning a World Series.

The White Sox hope Tony is “el hombre” to take them to the Promised Land, as he returns to the Windy City where he managed for the first time in the major leagues in 1979. Tony resides here in the Bay Area and is the founder of the Tony LaRussa’s Animal Rescue Foundation, a non-for-profit organization with offices in Walnut Creek.

Questions like: At 76, would he be able to relate to his young ballplayers? He has not managed for nine (9) years, how would he be received in their locker room and with the media in Chicago? And many others. It will be interesting to see how his first season develops.

In Major League history, these are the top three managers in wins. 1-Connie Mack 3,731 2-John McGraw 2,763 3-Tony LaRussa 2,728

As of today the two oldest managers in MLB: Tony LaRussa, 76 and Dusty Baker, 71.

Buena suerte Tony.

Stay well and stay tuned.

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

That’s Amaury’s News and Commentary: The day the Manager became a Computer

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Tampa Bay Rays manager Kevin Cash removes pitcher Blake Snell (4) in the sixth inning of game six on Tue Oct 27, 2020 at Globe Life Park in Arlington vs. the Los Angeles Dodgers (AP News photo)

The day the Manager became a Computer

That’s Amaury News and Commentary

By Amaury Pi-González

Tampa Bay manager Kevin Cash will probably be named the Manager of the Year in the American League. These awards are given for the regular season. He managed his ball club to the best record in the American League, 40-20. With a team riddled with injuries during the season, Cash did a very good job. However, he made one inexcusable move in the deciding six-game of this World Series.

It was a do-or-die game for the Rays, as the Dodgers were leading the Series 3 games to 2. Cash sent his best pitcher to the mound, lefty Blake Snell in hope to get more than a few innings from the 2018 Cy Young Award winner. Snell was pitching a great game and after four innings had given-up no runs and two hits, while striking out nine. While the Dodgers were celebrating on the field, this is what Blake Snell said to the media. “I wanted to go the whole game”. And why would he not? He was on, executing pitches, dominating a very dangerous lineup.

Then the six inning happened. Snell gave up a soft single to center to Austin Barnes. Manager Cash immediately came out, bringing his best reliever during the regular season, Nick Anderson, who right away gave up a double to left field to Mookie Betts advancing Barnes to third base, followed by a grounder by Corey Seager to first-baseman Choi who threw to the plate, but was late, Barnes scored, a fielder’s-choice and the Dodgers within just a few minutes had tied the game 1-1.

Anderson then threw a wild pitch and Mookie Betts scored, the Dodgers had their first lead 2-1. Regarding why he took Snell out of the game who only had thrown 73 pitches, Cash said: “I didn’t want him/Snell to see Mookie or Corey for a third time”. With that decision by manager Kevin Cash, the game was lost right there and so the hopes of the Tampa Bay Rays to win their first World Series.

Mookie Betts homered in the eighth inning against righty Pete Fairbanks for the final score of 3-1 and the World Series title to the Dodgers for the first time since their huge upset of the Oakland A’s in 1988.

Tampa Bay Rays philosophy, has always been right from their front office is to play all the numbers, like a milk shake you put it in a blender and then you have the result. The problem is that sometimes a manager needs to have a “feeling” for the game and just because Nick Anderson was his best reliever during the 60-game season; it is simply stupid to bring him in a situation where his best pitcher was leading them to a victory and a tied Series. Anderson’s numbers in the regular season: 2-1 (0.55 ERA) in 19 games he saved six. Anderson’s Postseason numbers: ten games, 14 2.3 innings, 16 hits, nine runs, three home runs, four walks, nine strikeouts.

Rays reliever Nick Anderson’s said after the game: “I take a lot of the blame”.

Tampa Bay Rays was the first teams to do the “experiment” of having a pitcher start a game as an “opener” with the only mission of pitching the first inning. It was in 2018 and it was used by many teams, including the Oakland A’s during their one-game wild card playoff at Yankee Stadium, which they lost.

Manager Bob Melvin named Liam Hendricks his “opener”. During this 2020 World Series we saw Kevin Cash use four outfielders a few times, aside from the defensive shift, which is now common in the game.

All this is well and good, baseball has changed big time, but a manager gets paid to manage the game as it happens and he makes decisions that do not necessarily have to follow the statistics. Just because Nick Anderson is his best reliever, you must bring him in the sixth (6th) inning and remove your best pitcher that was pitching a heck of a game? Folks, Anderson is very good, but he is no Mariano Rivera.

You can call it stupid, dumb, without basis, whatever, but for me this move by Kevin Cash in the sixth inning can be criticized and analyze ’till the cows come home’, but the bottom line is that the Rays lost the game and lost the Series.

Kevin Cash now will have to live and deal with this decision for the rest of his career. He is  lucky. Why Lucky? Because he manages a small market team, with a small following and a short history. There were times in baseball when a manager makes such move and the next day is fired, in New York in the days of owner George Steinbrenner, he would have fired you in 30 seconds after you made the decision.

But this doesn’t happen today, because of the computer (who was invented by man) is now running man and obviously many in the game of baseball. Some now just look at the “cold blooded numbers” and forget that baseball is played by humans not robots/computers. It is a game of feeling and that includes the manager.

Unless the Manager becomes a Computer.

Stay well and stay tuned

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

That’s Amaury’s News and Commentary: 32 Years later the Dodgers win the World Series

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The Los Angeles Dodgers Cory Seager swings for an RBI single in the first inning against the Tampa Bay Rays in game 6 of the 2020 World Series on Tue Oct 27, 2020 at Globe Life Field in Arlington (AP News photo)

That’s Amaury News and Commentary

By Amaury Pi-González

Congratulations to the Los Angeles Dodgers as they completed the mission, by winning the 2020 World Series in six exciting games against the Tampa Bay Rays. Game Six: Dodgers 3 Rays 1. There are a lot of stories to be told in every World Series, in this one that of the young Cuban-born Tampa Bay Rays rookie outfielder Randy Arozarena who established a new postseason record with 10 home runs, 28 RBIs, the affable Cuban-rookie was a highlight reel by himself.

Corey Seager, Dodgers shortstop won the Willie Mays MVP Award he hit .400 with 2 home runs and 5 RBI and no errors. Seager had a tremendous postseason spearheading this great offensive Blue Machine; he is now a Free Agent. Dodgers are a very rich organization and he should be rewarded with a juicy contract.

Seager gets a World Series ring, and also said he is buying two more rings as he announced he is getting married, right after their victory. Mookie Betts who came alive offensively with a double and a home run driving all three runs in that game six, and told David (Big Papi) Ortíz an analyst for FOX, when Ortíz told him he (Ortíz) would buy a present for himself after winning a World Series, (Mookie) was going to do something similar: “I think I am going to buy a Rolls Royce”. His contract-extension with the Dodgers was around $380 million, so he could buy more than one Rolls if he so desires.

The Dodgers did not have a positive Covid-19 test during the whole season, the Dodgers had the best record in baseball winning their division again for the eighth time-in-a-row, this time with 43-17 record during an abbreviated 60 game season. Dodgers veteran third baseman Justin Turner was removed from the series-clinching game six in the seventh inning, due to positive Covid-19 test, he was not there after the game to join his teammates for the celebration. This was announced after the game.

One move that will haunt Ray’s manager Kevin Cash for the rest of his life was removing his best pitcher, lefty Blake Snell in the six inning with a 1 to 0 lead, after totally dominating the powerful and difficult Dodgers lineup. But with this manager (like many other managers in today’s game) you win with the bullpen and you lose with the bullpen. His decision will be like a ghost that would be with him until he gets to win a World Series for his team.

You might have been too young, or maybe not even born, but it was in 1988 when the Los Angeles Dodgers upset the baseball world by beating the much superior Oakland Athletics in five games. This Series is mostly remembered as the pinch-hit walk-off home run hit by Dodgers Kirk Gibson against the best closer in baseball at that time, Fremont’s own Dennis Eckersley in Game 1. Gibson would never bat again in that Series. I was there with the A’s, the first of three World Series in a row for Tony LaRussa’s A’s.

Kirk Gibson could barely walk after some injuries he suffered during the NL Championship Series. I remember saying on the radio after the game something like: “It was Game One, but it had a Game Seven feeling” and also a bad omen for the Athletics.

When you talk about that ’88 Series most people remember it as the “Kirk Gibson moment”. It was pitcher Orel Hershiser who would be the MVP. He won it all that year as he led the league with 23 wins and 267 innings pitched winning the Cy Young, setting the all time scoreless streak at 59 innings. He also won the Gold Glove.

Orel was Superman, he won Game 2 and Game 5, pitched both complete games (18) innings allowed a total of seven hits, struck out 17 and had a 1.00 earned run average. In today’s baseball and in World Series history, that is one of the most dominant pitching performances, against the excellent and powerful offensive Oakland A’s team.

The 1988 AL Champion Oakland Athletics won 104 games and was maybe the best Tony LaRussa A’s team he managed during his 10 years as manager at Oakland. The A’s would go on to win it the next season, 1989 against the SF Giants in a historic Series stopped by 11 days because of an earthquake. That was the last time the Athletics won anything of significance in October.

Fast forward to 2020, the Year of the Dodgers, but not as the underdogs this time. They had the best record during the Covid 60-game season, with 43-17. After winning their eighth consecutive Western Division, they went into the playoffs swept the Milwaukee Braves in the two game Wild Card Series then eliminated the Atlanta Braves in an exciting seven game NL Championship Series. Stayed at Globe Life Field in Arlington to host the AL Champion Tampa Bay Rays.

In 1988 the Dodgers were not the best team, but they beat the Athletics. But now 32 years later, the Dodgers had the best team and they won the World Series. For the Dodgers franchise this was their six World Championship title, one in Brooklyn in 1955 the other five in Los Angeles. LA crowned the Lakers NBA Champs just a couple of weeks ago, now herer come the Dodgers. I picked the Dodgers in six, in a previous article on this website,

So, we say Adiós to this historic 2020 season and until next Spring Training.

Stay well and stay tuned

Join Amaury each week for That’s Amaury’s News and Commentary podcasts at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

That’s Amaury’s News and Commentary podcast: Rays Snell goes up against Dodgers Gonsolin in game 6 tonight

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Los Angeles Dodgers Max Muncy rounds the bases as he’s cheered on by Cody Bellinger (35) and the Dodgers dugout in the fifth inning of the World Series game 5 at Globelife Stadium in Arlington. Both teams had Monday night off before game 6 on Tuesday. (LA Times photo)

On That’s Amaury’s podcast:

#1 Amaury it might have been a brief 60 game schedule for the regular season and a different format for the post season, and the Dodgers didn’t play at Dodger Stadium for the post season but none the less after losing three of the last three World Series the Dodgers have one more game to get a shot at the ring.

#2 Amaury Joe Pederson added to the Dodgers run tally with a home run in game 5 it proved to be important as the Dodgers beat the Tampa Bay Rays by two runs 4-2.

#3 The Dodgers got some great pitching from starter Clayton Kershaw pitching over five innings and giving up two runs striking out six.

#4 Max Muncy also hit for a key home run in the fifth inning a 406 foot shot to center right and it was enough for the Dodgers to come away with the two run victory.

#5 A crucial game for both teams tonight at Arlington as the Rays need to win game 6 to tie and stay alive in the series and for the Dodgers to win game 6 to wrap their first World’s Championship in their last four World Series tries.

Join Amaury each Tuesday for an edition of That’s Amaury’s News and Commentary at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

That’s Amaury’s News and Commentary: New MLB Rules Yes or No?

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The Los Angeles Dodgers Mookie Betts (right) and the Tampa Bay Rays Willy Adames (left) hug at second base during game 3 on Fri Oct 23, 2020 in the second inning after Adames stole second base. Betts and many MLB players say that Adames is one of the most liked players in the game. (AP News photo)

That’s Amaury News and Commentary

By Amaury Pi-González

We have seen this unique 2020 baseball season with a 60 game regular schedule as the games have been played under a slew of new rules. Some are popular, others are still up-in-the-air. Here are the most talked about. Would baseball want to keep permanently? With a rating of YES, NO or 50-50.

YES. The double-header seven (7 innings each game) Each extra-inning begins with a runner on second base, at the top of the eighth (I call the runner”a free runner”). The batter or a substitute for the batter who leads off an inning shall continue to be the batter who would lead-off the inning. Commissioner Manfred is very much in favor of this, because it keeps the game more interesting and also saves a lot of time. These games in 2020 averaged 2 hours and 30 minutes each. The reason for this rule? In the interest of player health and safety MLB and the Players Association jointly announced that both games of doubleheaders will be seven innings.(It became effective August 1).

NO. Sixteen Teams going into the Playoff. The jury still out on this, but best bet is that this is a 50-50 proposition. There is a school of thought that it should be fourteen teams, instead of sixteen. This will eliminate the possibility that (with 16 teams) teams with under .500 records would advance deep into the postseason, maybe the World Series. This season the Houston Astros (29-31) who finished in second place to the Oakland Athletics, seven(7) games behind the A’s, came within one game of representing the American League in the World Series.

50-50.Universal Designated Hitter. This will eventually will be the norm someday, but maybe not in 2021. Reports indicate some owners of teams in the National League have strong opposition. Originally the American League adopted the DH rule in 1973, with pitchers continuing to hit in games played at National League parks. That was not the case this 2020, both leagues used the Designated Hitter to avoid over-working pitchers by having them hit.

Universal lost of revenue. All 30-teams reported revenue loses. A ten (10) billion dollar industry, reported earlier prior to Opening Day, were each team was projected to lose hundreds-of millions of dollars with no fans in the stands.

No Bueno: World Series ratings for Game One according to Nielsen attracted 9.1 million viewers according to Fox Sports. The least watched World Series game ever since Nielsen began tracking ratings in 1968. It could be accredited to the protagonist, although they are the best teams by record this year, LA Dodgers and Tampa Bay Rays. The Rays are not a well-known popular franchise for a national audience. There would have been a totally different audience if the New York Yankees would have met the LA Dodgers in the Fall Classic, two huge media markets with two storied franchises. The Houston Astros vs the LA Dodgers would have been a much more drama-driven series and most fun for all, for obvious reasons if you have followed baseball the last few years. However, television can pick schedules, but never will be able to determine who wins and who doesn’t. The integrity of the game still prevails.

NBA TV ratings for the final between the LA Lakers and the Miami Heat were also one of their lowest in their history. Many things can be attributed to this decline in TV audiences, the Pandemic, mixed with more politics that most people can tolerate infiltrating into the sport, which at the end is supposed to offer relief and escape from the daily events that cause anxiety in people.

Let’s face it, as much as we love sports, all this looks insignificant in the world we are living today.

Like the great Howard Cosell used to say: “Sports is the Toy Department of Human life”.

Stay well and stay tune.

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

That’s Amaury’s News and Commentary: Randy Arozarena – His Escape from Communist Cuba

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The Tampa Bay Rays Randy Arozarena gives thanks to the almighty after he hits a first inning two run home run against the Houston Astros in game 7 at Globelife Park in Arlington during the ALCS on Oct 17, 2020 (AP News photo)
That’s Amaury News and Commentary

By Amaury Pi-González

Randy Arozarena plays left field for the 2020 American League Champion Tampa Bay Rays; he recently won the Most Valuable Player Award when his team eliminated the Houston Astros last week. Today, Arozarena is playing in the World Series. But his journey to this land of freedom was not easy, as you will find here.

He was born in Pinar del Río, the Westernmost province of Cuba, one of the six provinces of the largest island in the Caribbean. That region is famous for growing the best and most famous cigars in the world, across many decades since Cuba was a colony of Spain. Because of the current system of government, communism, with no free-trade or private ownership, the Cuban cigar enjoyed their best days in the past. Now the Dominican Republic can claim their cigars are just as good, if not better. So the Cuban cigar, barely survives by its reputation of days gone by.

Arozarena played fúbol (soccer) but he was a very good baseball player in Cuba. He played for the Vaqueros (Cowboys) team in Cuba. His journey to the United States began in 2015, as he was playing for the Vaqueros, but was cut from the team just before they left to Puerto Rico to represent his country in the Caribbean Series. Why? Because the Cuban authorities feared he was going to defect the island, like most Cuban players currently playing in MLB have done.

He was a very good player in Cuba with very good numbers; he was not cut because he wasn’t good. Note: To this day after 60 years of the Communist Revolution in Cuba, no Cuban citizen is allowed to leave the country freely, unless is a government official a diplomat or in many cases sports clubs representing the country in tournaments around the world. In the past entertainers/musicians were allowed to leave to other countries for concerts, but that has also changed. Cuba is basically a closed society.

It was then in 2015 after the team in Cuba cut him from going to Puerto Rico that Arozarena decided to defect. He left the island in a small raft and headed to the West, towards the Gulf of México, a very dangerous journey in shark infested waters, which took him 8 hours to arrive to Isla de Mujeres, a small island of the coast of the famous tourist beach resort of Cancún. There in México the Mexican government granted him political exile. His family lives now in Mérida, México, his brother plays fúbol/soccer for the Cafetaleros de Chiapa. He talks to them all the time on the phone, says he plans to join them there where he is planning to live.

In an interview he gave to the New York Times, the young Cuban Arozarena: “I will not represent Cuba until things there change” and “the only thing that ties me to Cuba is my family and friends and country” plus “The situation in Cuba is bad” and added he hopes the situation changes for the Cuban people and for the Cuban baseball players.

As dangerous journey as Randy Arozarena had to endure to arrive in the US, this is common to many Cuban-born players currently playing baseball in the Major Leagues and all over the world. However (like most baseball players anyplace) their dream is to play in MLB, the best professional baseball league in the world.

I never forgot what the great Orestes (Minnie) Miñoso once told me. “When I came to the Major Leagues from Cuba in the late 1940’s I could travel in and out of the island, I lived in Cuba, but played mostly for the White Sox in Chicago, but these Cuban kids arriving since after the revolution had to go through many difficult situations before they achieve their dream”.

Perhaps one of the most incredible stories of defection by a Cuban player is that of ex-major league player Kendrys Morales, after trying and failing to defect 12 times, three of which landed him on three-day stints in prison when he was caught, finally was able to take a small rowboat to a larger vessel which then took him to the United States. He told me that story while he was playing with the LA Angels and is well documented and reported by many news agencies.

Amnesty International a reputable non-profit organization that specializes in human rights violations reports that Cuba remained mostly closed to independent human rights monitors. The government of Cuba does not allow its citizens to freely express their views, especially if they are negative to the government. Finally: There have not been free elections in Cuba for over 60 years, since the current government took power. Cuba’s government condemns free-market capitalism, yet the founder of the revolution, Fidel Castro died with close to $1 billion dollar fortune according to Forbes Magazine, who specializes in money issues.

Stay well and stay tuned.

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

That’s Amaury’s News and Commentary: Billy Beane brought winning teams but no World Series

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Oakland A’s vice president Billy Beane is waiting for the final touches on a deal that would send him to be a owner/partner with owner John Henry and the Boston Red Sox (file photo from windsorstar.com)

That’s Amaury News and Commentary

By Amaury Pi-González

Hollywood made a movie titled “Moneyball”. The reign of Billy Beane and the Oakland Athletics. Since Mr.Beane became the A’s General Manager in 1998, the team captured seven Western Division titles, including this season, always making money. Doing it with a small budget.

Billy Beane reminds me of the famous line in the movie “Godfather Two”, when Johnny Ola said: “Mr. Hyman Roth always makes money for his partners”. Mr.Beane is leaving the A’s (or so it has been reported) to join Red Sox owner John Henry business endeavors. Many are in the soccer arena, as Mr. Henry owns the famous Liverpool club among other businesses. Liverpool Football Club is a professional football club in Liverpool, England, that competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. The club has won 19 League titles.

Nothing wrong with making money, at least not in a free enterprise capitalistic system as ours. Nobody goes into business to lose money. However he will be remembered by his philosophy for over 20 years with the A’s as he brought a lot of wins to the delight of Oakland Athletics fans, but like a good and fervent fan of the A’s who has followed the club since the late 60’s, recently told me (quote) “Yes, he has been good for the A’s, but he never won a World Series for us”. Those fans, which will remain nameless, also spend a lot of money through the years buying season tickets. He told me that he is not resentful, he will always be an A’s fan.

That reflects the feelings of a lot of A’s fans if Mr.Beane exits Oakland on his way to Boston. In the past Mr. Billy Bean has said “My job is to get us to the playoffs”. He is quoted on Michael Lewis book (Moneyball) quote: “My s**t doesn’t work in the playoffs”. So, Mr.Beane has been transparent on his style of management.

The Tampa Bay Rays, one win away from moving to the World Series as of today, are in very similar to the current Oakland A’s. A small budget team with relatively very good success on the field, a team that won the AL East over the New York Yankees with their typical huge payroll, and ironically, the Rays are a team with very similar problems to the Athletics, i.e. both franchises want to build a new ballpark

Stay well and stay tuned.

That’s Amaury’s News and Commentary: The A’s got to Second Base What’s next?

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Oakland A’s manager Bob Melvin (left) and Houston Astros manager Dusty Baker (right) meet with the umpires at home plate prior to game 1 of the ALDS Mon Oct 5, 2020 at Dodger Stadium Los Angeles (AP News photo)

The A’s got to Second Base. What’s next?

That’s Amaury News and Commentary

By Amaury Pi-González

This is how I rate a Postseason. First base is the Wild Card, Second base is the Division, Third Base is the Championship and Home is the World Series. So, at the end the A’s were stranded at second base as they brought the AL Western Division Title, their first since 2013.

When Tony LaRussa was the manager, he did a brief pre-game segment “El Show de Tony LaRussa” trans: “The Tony LaRussa Show”. Tony will talk about many things, in Spanish (one of the official languages of baseball) but he always said that winning the division was the most important during a season, the caveat was, that he considered winning the Division one stepping stone to the World Series, but not getting far after that was more like a mission failure.

1990 was the last time the Oakland Athletics played in a World Series. As a matter of common knowledge, we know that a generation averages about 25 years—from the birth of a parent to the birth of a child— It has been 31 years since the last time the A’s played in late October.

A lot of questions for the A’s this winter. Will they keep their lead off-hitter and shortstop Marcus Semien, who is now a free agent as well as closer Liam Hendricks, who finished second in the league in games saves with 14 and a 1.78 earned run average? Other free agents, in addition to Semien, and Hendricks, are Joakim Soria, Mike Fiers, Yusmeiro Petit, Robbie Grossman and T.J. McFarland.

That is half of the bullpen there. We do not know how many will be staying, after all it is a business and their agents have to negotiate deals with the Athletics ownership regarding these players, who by the way were all very important in the team success this season.

The A’s usually do not sign players to long deals. Khris Davis deal extension on April 2019 called for a two-year (2020-2021) for $33.5 million. During this 2020 season (granted it was 60 games) he hit two home runs and drove in ten runs during the regular season, a disappointment for what is expected of him.

During the recent Playoff he hit three home runs and drove four runs, in seven games. From 2016 to 2018 he hit a total of 156 home runs and drove 408 runs. One of the last four year deals was when the team acquired Cuban outfielder Yoenis Céspedes in 2012 for four years and $36 million, a bargain for a man of his talent.

Since then Céspedes has played with the Red Sox, the Tigers and Mets. The A’s should have kept Céspedes; he was one of the most popular players in Oakland in recent history. Also a case could be made that they should have kept Josh Donaldson. Donaldson was an excellent player while with the A’s from 2010-2014. When they did not keep him here, he left for Toronto and the next season (2015) he was the American League MVP with a .297 average 42 home runs and 123 RBI.

Nobody knows that keeping players of such caliber could have helped the A’s to their fifth World Series title, we will never know, but keeping your stars is always good for the morale of the team, the attendance and the overall value of the team.

It also doesn’t mean that the teams with the biggest payrolls are guaranteed success. The NY Yankees with one of the top payrolls in baseball was just eliminated by the Tampa Bay Rays, who every year seems to be in the bottom of the league in total payroll.

Yet, the Rays could be the AL Champions if they can beat the Houston Astros. For teams like the Yankees and the Dodgers, success is not defined by winning a wild-card spot of winning a division; it is the whole enchilada, the World Series.

Simple capitalism, if you invest big money, you expect big dividends. On the other hand, if you make a lot of money with little investment, that is even better. Fans are fans, and they also expect to see good teams, because the pay money to watch their team, so everybody has an interest in winning. Winning, is the American way.

The World Series should always be the goal for every team that is competing in the major leagues, but different teams have different philosophies. During this unusual 2020 season, having 16 teams go into the postseason, was a positive move by MLB and the Players Union. It created something positive during a very tough year.

FOX Network was rooting for a Yankees vs. Dodgers World Series, a coast-to-coast affair, a potential ratings bonanza, two huge media markets, loaded with superstars, a producers dream about two rich glory franchises, the Yanks with 27 Titles and the Dodgers with six.

It would have been a very sexy type of conclusion to this crazy truncated season, but it is not going to happen. It could be the Tampa Bay Rays vs. Atlanta Braves, because such is baseball, still the most unpredictable of all sports. A lot of people in LA want to see the Astros again and that might happen (they have their reasons) although they still have a formidable potent experienced lineup filled with hitting stars, the Rays still have much more pitching and that is always worth the price of gold at this time of the year.

As for the Athletics? Wait for next season.

One more thing: If you need a laugh, because the A’s or your team didn’t make it this far this season? I recommend you watch the movie Major League (1989). The new owner of the Cleveland Indians put together a purposely horrible team so they’ll lose and she can move the team. But when the plot is uncovered, they start winning just to spite her. She wants to move the team to Miami for a warmer climate and a new stadium. Mind you, when that movie was made, there was not a Major League team in Miami, since then the Marlins were born in 1993.

Stay well and stay tuned.

Amaury Pi Gonzalez does News and Commentary each week at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

That’s Amaury’s News and Commentary: Dusty Baker the best Happening for the Astros

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The Houston Astros manager Dusty Baker (12) heads out to pay a visit to the mound in a Sep 27th, 2020 game against the Texas Rangers at Globelife Park in Arlington (AP News photo)

That’s Amaury News and Commentary

By Amaury Pi-González

Dusty Baker as manager of the Houston Astros was the calm after the storm and surely the best thing that could have happened to a team that was reeling from an infamous sign-stealing scandal.

The Astros who just eliminated the Oakland Athletics in the AL Divisional Series taking three of the four games at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles are a happy bunch going into the AL Championship Series, and four (4) more wins away from a consecutive trip to the World Series, as they lost the October Classic last year in seven (7) exciting games to the Washington Nationals.

Dusty Baker’s team has gotten this far without their #1 starter Justin Verlander a Cy-Young-type of pitcher who had Tommy John surgery and will not be back for at least another year. Dusty who is the ultimate players-manager, and who sometimes still feels like he is playing is the type of man at the helm the Houston organization badly needed.

Before the beat the A’s in the divisional series, they swept the powerful Minnesota Twins. The Astros escaped the booing by fans all over the country, since there were no fans allowed this 2020 season, and they are one of the most experienced bunch of players advancing to the ALCS. At the time of this article they will face either the New York Yankees or the Tampa Bay Rays.

The Astros are filled with great Latino talent, such established stars like; José Altuve, Carlos Correa, Yuliesky Gurriel, Martin Maldonado, Aledmys Díaz, newcomers Framber Valdés, Elodi Paredes, José Urquidy. During some games they wear a T-Shirt (under the jerseys) that read, Somos Astros, translated We’re Astros. Dusty understands enough Spanish to hold an interview or conversation and he seemed to have bonded with this team.

With 23 years as a manager and his whole life as a baseball man, once a very good baseball player with a 19-year resumé that traveled through Atlanta Braves, LA Dodgers and last two years here in the Bay Area with SF Giants and then with the Athletics his last team in 1985, he is the winning-est major league active manager as of today.

Dusty’s Houston Astros are playing well and with a mission to go back to the World Series again. The Oakland A’s had a good run, won their division, took care of the young Chicago White Sox, but they ran into a much more post-season experienced team with one of the best line-ups in the game.

Not an excuse, but the A’s lost to injury/surgery their best player, third-baseman Matt Chapman for the last part of the season and the duration of the seven (7) games they participated in the playoffs.

Wishing Dusty all the luck in the world, the rest of the playoffs. Hey Dusty, you should have a special mask with a small hole for your toothpick!

Stay well and stay tuned.