Category: That’s Amaury’s News and Commentary

That’s Amaury’s News and Commentary podcast: Passing of A’s minor leaguer Miguel Marte; Tyler Rogers and Taylor Rogers twins who could have matched up; plus more

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Oakland A’s minor league first baseman Miguel Marte who passed away Friday at age 30 from complications from Covid-19 (mercurynews.com file photo)

On Amaury’s News and Commentary podcast:

#1 Happy Cinco DeMayo Amaury, the sad news about Oakland A’s minor league player Miguel Marte who passed away from Covid-19 complications early last week. Marte was 30 and hit .230 with three home runs in his final season in 2012. He played for the A’s organization from 2008-12.

#2 The San Francisco Giants almost had two brothers who almost face each other the Giants Tyler Rogers and the Minnesota Twins Taylor Rogers and yes both are twins but Tyler is not a Minnesota Twin.

#3 The Oakland A’s had two heavy loses this week with Miguel Mante who we talked about to pen today’s podcast and their there was A’s pitcher Matt Keough who passed away over the weekend at age 64. Keough was part of the Fine Aces consisting of Brian Kingman, Rick Langford, Steve McCatty, and Mike Norris.

#4 Former Five Ace pitcher and A’s teammate Rick Langford said, “I was proud to call him friend I’m so sad he’s gone”

#5 With a number of states opening up is this a safe indication that there might be a chance that baseball could opening in the not too far future.

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

 

That’s Amaury News and Commentary: Say Adiós to my Little Friend: Instant Replay

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MLB struck an agreement with its umpires on a new deal Friday, according to AP (photo by AP)

Say Adiós to my Little Friend: Instant Replay

That’s Amaury News and Commentary

By Amaury Pi-González

If there is a 2020 baseball season, there is a very good chance the Instant Replay will disappear. It would be a shortened season by the Covid-19 pandemic. Although is not official yet, sources say it looks like both sides came to an agreement. The umpires are guaranteed 50 percent of their salaries for the month of May, but nothing else is there are no season and no games are played.

The Major League Umpires make on average $150,000 to $450, 000 plus, if just one regular season game is played this season the umpires are guaranteed about onethird of their salaries. Umpires already have been paid from January to April. Looks like the umps will do well either way. The MLB Umpires Union said in a statement, they were pleased to reach this agreement with the commissioner’s office.

The old saying ‘the glass is half full or half empty ‘applies to the record since 2014. When the Instant Replay was established, with about half of the challenged calls resulting in reversal. In other words, major league umpires, missed half of the challenged plays and are right on the other half.

There still no timetable for an Opening Day. The parks where they are proposing to play in Arizona and Florida are not wired for the replay review, so they would play these games without no fans, and no replays. On the other hand, it seems what the owners do not want is the “replay review”.

A good scenario would be to open the season/play in Arizona and Florida and then later, if there is an effective treatment for the virus (most experts do not expect a vaccine until 2021) and then move to the original baseball parks where all 30 teams play, under the new proposed realignment of merging both leagues into three by geographical logic: East, Central and West. Even then, it would be with no fans.

Revenues? The games will be entirely for television that means the TV revenue is the only revenue generated. No fans, No tickets sold, concessions or parking. The rest we must leave to the financial experts, but anyway you look at this, is a very ugly situation.

Finally: Since we are talking about numbers, I will make it very simple. In my book there is a 50-50 of a season in 2020.Those are my best odds.

Stay well.

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

That’s Amaury’s News and Commentary: Really Inside Baseball–Exclusive with Mickey Morabito A’s Traveling Secretary

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Oakland A’s Traveling Secretary Mickey Morabito who has been with the club since 1981 (file photo sfgate.com)

Really Inside Baseball: Exclusive with Mickey Morabito Athletics Traveling Secretary

That’s Amaury News and Commentary

By Amaury Pi-González

Mickey Morabito is the longtime Oakland Athletics Traveling Secretary. Like everybody else in the baseball world he is on “stand by” but not just sitting at home watching the flowers bloom. I talked with Mickey, whom I have known since he came from New York to the Bay Area. At this time just beginning the month of May, if there is a baseball season it would be an abbreviated one, like the 1981 season.

Q: We all are living a unique experience, with basically the whole country paralyzed, including baseball. As a Traveling Secretary how has this affected your job?

MM: It’s been stressful. I had to keep in touch with all our hotels, letting them know to cancel our rooms. I have been canceling three weeks out, as of now I have cancelled all my hotel rooms through the Houston,Texas trip at the end of May. I also called to let out bus and truck companies know we won’t need their services….I feel bad for all of the hospitality industry…including our airline since we are not flying. I am hopeful we can play some kind of abbreviated season.

Q:As far as you can remember any other situation that resembles this when it comes to travel with the team?

MM: We have experienced weather situations. Once when a hurricane came through the Tampa area we cancelled our series there and flew to Baltimore, the next stop on that trip. We had also had mechanical situations with our plane that caused re-routing.

Morabito’s job with the Athletics is one that requires organization and communication all the time. To make the team performs well on the field, so that players are on time and rested, wherever they go, especially when they go on the road. To make sure all players, manager, coaches and staff are all on the same page.

Q: Can you give me an idea of some of the stuff that goes on before every road trip?

MM: I distribute a detailed itinerary for each trip…that has all charter times, bus times to airports and stadiums that the players and our traveling party can follow.

Q: I remember when you first arrived in Oakland from New York,with Billy Martin did you expect to be with the A’s organization this long?

MM: I didn’t really know what to expect when I came here with Billy…it looked like we would only be in Oakland for the 1980 season and then would be sold to Marvin Davis and moved to Denver. But thankfully the Haas family stepped up and bought the team from Finley and kept the A’s in Oakland. I have enjoyed my 40 years here.

Q:I know you are a big baseball fan. When you were growing up, who was your favorite team and player?

MM: I grew up a big Yankee fan,living in Brooklyn so it was a dream to get a job working for them…my favorite player growing up was Bobby Richardson.

Q:I do not think there is a school for your type of job. For those, especially young people that love the game and might be interested in doing what you have been doing so well for so many decades, did you have a mentor? What is your advice.

MM: I was the Public Relations Director in New York and when I came to Oakland, Finley told me I had to do both jobs to start. So it was a lot of on the job training, but since I have traveled with the Yankees I had a clue about what happened on the road. The Yankees traveling secretary at the time was Bill Kane, who was a good mentor for me. Somebody wanting to get into this job, I would recommend just getting any job,I would recommend just getting any job in baseball opportunities to get started.

Q: Can you name your best day as Traveling Secretary and your worse?

MM: Winning the ’89 World Series against the Giants, one of the worse was losing the wild card game to Kansas City.

Andy Dolich, longtime baseball executive in the Bay Area, with the Oakland Athletics, Dolich helped change the face of sports team advertising through the Clio Award winning “BillyBall” and who has also known Morabito for decades told me: “Mickey Morabito is the best in the business. He is the Swiss Army Knife of solving the complex world of moving teams around the country. He was the team’s answer to the GPS before there was a GPS”

I want to thank Mickey Morabito for taking his time for this interview. Just because there is no baseball as we can see he is busy today with his work. Hopefully we will see him soon.

Amaury Pi Gonzalez is the Oakland A’s Spanish play by play voice on itunes and on 1010 KIQI San Francisco and does News and Commentary each week at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

That’s Amaury’s News and Commentary podcast: Kapler says Puig most likely will not join Giants

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Former Cleveland outfielder Yasiel Puig leans against the dugout last season is negotiating with the San Francisco Giants in a deal that is reported to be close to getting done. (AP photo)

On That’s Amaury’s podcast:

#1 Giants manager Gabe Kapler said that a deal acquiring Yasiel Puig is not even close but sources said that Puig was for awhile on the Giants radar. How much would have a Yasiel Puig acquisition would have meant to the Giants.

#2 Yasiel had a reputation when he played with Los Angeles, Cincinnati and Cleveland and there were players who reportedly didn’t like him. He’s been shipped around since LA how would have fit in at the Giants?

#3 There is no doubt Puig is a talent with Cleveland he hit .267, 148 hits, 24 homers and 84 RBIs he can definitely provide power in the Giants offense.

#4  Would Puig have been the  same or somewhat kind of personality that former Giant Barry Bonds was in the clubhouse and field to the game?

#5 Some of the things that were said about Puig by some of his former teammates that he could be controversial and self fish could those issues be distractions if he had joined the Giants?

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

 

That’s Amaury’s News and Commentary: Baseball in Cuba could start before US

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Cuban baseball will be back April 30th after the Coronavirus shutdown well before Major League Baseball will consider coming back (AP file photo)

Baseball in Cuba could start before US

That’s Amaury News and Commentary

By Amaury Pi-González

According to the Havana Times. All official sports events have been canceled in Cuba until April 30th at least, in response to the global Coronavirus pandemic. That includes baseball,the one sport that people have been playing almost as long as the United States. The population of the largest island in the Caribbean is approximately 11.5 million and as of today Cuba’s total of 1,389 Covid-19 cases and 58 dead.

It would be easy to start baseball in Cuba,because everything is controlled by their government. There are no complications like here in the US with MLB the MLB Players Union,the 50 different States/politics open or not open for business and of course a much smaller country..

Here is easily explained:

1-Owners of teams. None. The Cuban communist government owns baseball and all other sports.

2-Players. Baseball players get paid by the government and the stars make around equivalent of $2,000 per year.

3-Fans/Games. Cubans pay subsidized prices of just a few centavos

4-Media. Private ownership of broadcast media(radio,TV,print is prohibited)and the government owns all mainstream media outlets *(below)

5-Largest most famous Stadium: Estadio Latinoamericano, Havana, 55,000 capacity,build in 1946.

*Cubans were allowed to have cell phones in 2010,however the Internet is very limited and strongly censored.

That’s Amaury’s News and Commentary podcast: Roberto Clemente #21 should be retired

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Roberto Clemente in his 1964 Topps Giants Card photo with the Pittsburgh Pirates (sportsmemorabila.com file photo)

Roberto Clemente #21 should be retired

That’s Amaury News and Commentary

By Amaury Pi-González

Although he was not the first Hispanic to play major league baseball, Roberto Clemente remains the most famous among all born in Latin America to play in the best baseball league in the world, and definitely the most historic figure.

There is only one number that was retired by all teams, and that was Jackie Robinson’s #42 in 1997. In Pittsburgh, were he played for his whole 18 year Hall of Fame career, there is a bronze statue of him at PNC Park and even the six street bridges, which is now the Roberto Clemente Bridge. Now, there are many statues of players, but how many do you know have a bridge with his name?

Just like Robinson, Clemente played under a lot of discrimination. Clemente also met racism in many forms, unlike Jackie Robinson, because, Clemente (from Puerto Rico) aside from the color of his skin, also had to fight his language and culture.

Many believed Clemente suffered more than Jackie Robinson. Because of his language barrier, Clemente was misquoted frequently, something he detested. Towards the end of his career, in the early 1970’s, as I was at Candlestick Park writing for El Mundo News, a Post Group publication Clemente’s Pirates team was facing the Giants and after he struck out, I heard somebody inside that press box shout “send him back in a banana boat!.”

Clemente was involved in charity. He chartered a plane from San Juan, Puerto Rico, filled with help for the suffering people of Managua, Nicaragua. It was a 6.3 magnitude earthquake that killed thousands. Clemente’s DC-3 airplane crashed north of San Juan on December 31, 1972. His very last hit was his 3,000 hit during his final at bat on September 30, 1972.

To the credit of Major League Baseball since 1973, one year after his disappearance, the Roberto Clemente Award (once the Commissioners Award) is given to the player in every team that exemplifies sportsmanship, community involvement and contributions to his team. And at the end one player among all 30 nominated wins the award.

Roberto Clemente was a quiet man. A professional baseball player with innate talent, a proud man, respectful of everybody regardless of race or nationality and most of all, he loved the game of baseball. The field was his canvas, and he could do anything on a baseball field. He died helping people in another country, not his own. In today’s narcissistic society, more men like Roberto are needed; these are the role models our youth need.

Many players born in Puerto Rico, like Candido (Candy) Maldonado, Rubén Sierra have told me they only wanted to wear “el número 21″for Roberto. But he is not only a national hero in Puerto Rico; his name is known internationally, especially in Latin America where more and more players are coming from to play in the United States.

The Hispanic Heritage Baseball Museum and Hall of Fame, since it was founded in 1998 has exhibited in numerous events across the country, All Star Games, Fan Fest and Museums and community events. There is no one player more popular than Roberto Clemente. During one of our exhibits at the San Francisco Main Library, we saw a man that was kneeling and praying in front of the Clemente exhibit. I asked him about that and he told me “I am Puerto Rican and he is like a God to us. His body was never recovered, but we know he is here with us”.

With the ever increasing demographics in the US which all point that in a few decades half of the US population could be Latino, not to mention the players coming from Latin America, baseball would be wise to retire number 21.

Eventually baseball will retire Roberto Clemente’s famous “número 21”. But why not now?

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

Baseball Si, Bullfights No

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Illustration of a bullfight in Cuba (image from wikiwand.com )

Baseball Sí Bullfights No

That’s Amaury News and Commentary

Amaury Pi-González

Cubans that came to the US to study in 1860 were introduced to baseball and right after the Spanish-American War in 1898 (US fought to help Cuba gain its independence from Spain-1902) Cubans learned to play the game from American soldiers.The Cubans accepted the US game and since then it has become Cuba’s passion.Cuba was a colony of Spain from 1492 to 1898.In other words since Christopher Columbus discovered the island during his first trip toward the New World.

Bullfighting was present in Cuba during its colonial period (Spain brought it to the island as well to most of Latin America) but the United States military under pressure of civic association and because Cubans never really took-on to bullfights which they considered a degrading spectacle and was abolished by the US military after the Spanish-American War in 1901.

Cubans then adapted the game of baseball as their #1 pastime. Since Cuban independence in 1902, to date, Cuba has banned bullfighting, however,today in Latin America México, Colombia,Peru and Venezuela and some others still have bullfight arenas and scheduled bullfights.

Bullfighting never really re-appeared in Cuba.However,on August 31,1947 a Sunday in La Habana at the Gran Estadio del Cerro (today Estadio Latinoamericano where baseball is played) a total of 30,000 people witnessed the demonstrations of Mexican Matadores,Fermín Espinosa, and Silveiro Pérez aka “Armillita”. It was not “pure”bullfighting,because you could not stick(Picadores)flags to the bulls or kill them. It was the only way the authorities agreed to invite the Mexican Matadores to the capital of Cuba.

But baseball flourished in the largest island in the Caribbean. It was in 1874 when the Cubans build their first baseball stadium in the Matanzas province. La Liga Profesional Cubana de Béisbol (The Cuban Professional Baseball League) was in existence from 1878 until 1961,when the Fidel Castro communist dictatorship banned all professional sports from the island.

From 1871 to 1961 the main teams in that most famous Cuban Pro-League were: Almendares,  Habana,Cienfuegos and Marianao. This Cuban league was the earliest baseball league founded in Latin America.Right after Cuba other Latin American countries learned baseball.Cuban promoters and players took the game to, México, Nicaragua, Venezuela and others who started their own leagues in the 1880s.

Although I have never seen a live bullfight in my life,I have been lucky as a kid growing up in Cuba to have seen a lot of the great Cuban and American baseball players of that time,in that old Cuban Professional Winter League. Like Orestes Miñoso, Luis Tiant, Sandalio(Sandy) Consuegra, Julio(Jiquí)Moreno, Octavio”Cookie”Rojas, Frank Herrera, Mike Fornieles, Julio Bécquer,Edmundo (Sandy) Amorós, Camilo Pascual, Pedro Ramos, just to mention a few, as well as American baseball stars that played for those teams in the 1950’s and until 1961: Jackie Brandt, Brooks Robinson,Bob Shaw, Jim Bunning, Bob Allison, Al Spangler, Bobby DelGreco, Billy Muffett, Bill Werle. Also many African-Americans played in Cuba like Monte Irwin and Don Newcome

According to the Havana Times. All official sports events have been canceled until April 30th at least, in response to the global Coronavirus pandemic.

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

That’s Amaury’s News and Commentary podcast: A look back on the best ever team in Bay Area baseball history

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Oakland A’s left fielder Joe Rudi makes an ice cream cone catch in the webbing of his glove for a spectacular defensive play in the 1972 World Series (file photo from pinterest.com)

On Amaury’s podcast:

#1 Amaury you were very fortunate to see some of the best teams in your broadcast career in Bay Area baseball the Oakland A’s teams from 1972-74 rivaled even some of the great Yankee teams of the 1950s as the A’s had won three World Series Championships in a row.

#2 The A’s had a pitching staff that were made up of a number of 20 game winners through their World Championship years on the 1972 team they had just one 20 game winner Jim Catfish Hunter who was 21-7, followed by Ken Holzman 19-11, John Blue Moon Odam 15-6, Vida Blue 6-10, and a great reliever Rollie Fingers 11-9.

#3 Those World Series teams had some serious hitting too for that 1972 team that got it going Reggie Jackson who had a great hitting season but was injured for the World Series, Joe Rudi, Sal Bando, and Mike Epstein.

#4 Who could forget some great highlights of the 1972 World Series with the ice cream cone catch against the wall by A’s left fielder Joe Rudi and striking out Reds catcher Johnny Bench during an intentional walk.

#5 One of the other great moments in the A’s World Series was in 1973 when Willie Mays returned to the Bay Area after being traded from the San Francisco Giants to the New York Mets the previous year and was introduced in game one in front of the A’s fans in Oakland to a standing ovation.

Join Amaury for Sportstalk each Tuesday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

 

That’s Amaury’s News and Commentary: Place Your Bet? Las Vegas Casinos back in May

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Roulette Wheel (photo from ebay.com)

Place Your Bet? Las Vegas Casinos back in May

That’s Amaury News and Commentary

Amaury Pi-González

If New York is the ‘city that never sleeps’, Las Vegas is the ‘city that never stops gambling’. The two cities have a couple of things in common when it comes to closure, (1) The famous New York gangster Bugsy Siegel was the first to open a huge hotel-casino in the strip. The Flamingo in 1946. Although it was not the first it was the most famous. The first casino ever on the strip was the Rancho Vegas in 1941 a smaller type of gambling establishment. (2) The largest economic fallout for Las Vegas was September 11,2001 when terrorist attacked New York’s Twin Towers.. And for those that like this type of stuff, Las Vegas was also closed (but not this long) when President John F.Kennedy was assassinated in 1963

Because of Covid-19 pandemic, Las Vegas has been closed. But now Nevada Governor Steve Sisolak who closed all nonessential businesses for 30 days including all casinos and later extended the closure to the end of April might be ready to open this next month. Billionaire Steve Wynn owner of Wynn Hotel-Casino in Las Vegas(as well as other locations)says he is ready to re-open. Wynn has continued paying all his salaried, part-time and hourly employees until the 15 of May,which is costing the company approximately $3 million per day or $180 million for two months according to Matt Maddox,CEO of the Wynn company.

As of today Nevada had 3,728 cases of Covid-19 and 155 deaths.They are not on the top ten of cities in this regard.They are one of a bunch of States that are opening-up slowly for business.That is the plan by the medical experts on their three Phases plan made public by Dr.Deborah Birx last week.

The White House appointed world-renowned global health official and physician Ambassador Deborah Birx to the Office of the Vice President to aid in the whole of government response to COVID-19 as the Coronavirus Response Coordinator.She is working with longtime friend and associate Anthony Fauci MD. Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infections Diseases. They have known each other and have worked together for over 40 years for various administrations.

Never in history Las Vegas has been shut down this long. This is a huge economy fallout in the billions of dollars. By far the largest economic fallout for Sin City. Las Vegas has 150,000 hotel rooms(more than any other city in the US) and Las Vegas is the #4 most visited city in North America; only New York #1, Miami #2 and Los Angeles #3 have more visitors each year. Once a little oasis for people traveling between Chicago and Las Vegas,today this desert city is a world destination.

Place Your Bet? No Sports-Books. 2020 could be the worse year in the history for Las Vegas. Even with the opening of some of the Hotels and Casinos as well as other businesses the loses will continue, especially as long as most professional sports leagues remain inactive. Their sports books generate more in revenue, especially March Madness and the Superbowl.

Captain Renault(Claude Rains)to Rick Blaine (Humphrey Bogart) “I’m shocked,shocked,to find there is gambling going on here!” (Casablanca 1942) At Rick’s Café Américain”

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

 

That’s Amaury’s News and Commentary: The Baseball Situation

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Dr. Anthony Fauci said MLB and sports needs to take a very cautious approach to re-opening the season that players, working personnel, and family do not infect each other. (file photo from minnpost.com)

The Baseball Situation

That’s Amaury News and Commentary

By Amaury Pi-González

Even if there is a 2020 season,under the most recent plan by Major League Baseball of some kind of a season with 15 teams in Arizona and 15 in Florida playing with no fans in attendance,all the powers-to-be at this time do not seem to agree on issues pertaining to a season. MLB, the owners,the players.

Why owners are hesitant to start the season? Teams have already lost money, no ticket sales,no sales of parking lot spaces, no sales of souvenirs, food, suite rentals,the advertising (signage) inside the stadiums. If season is shortened, players would get paid portion(pro-rated)per their contracts. However they will not receive their full salaries if the season takes place with the regular 162 game schedule, something that is very unlikely at this time.

Because we are in unprecedented situation,these issues are very fluid. MLB is listening not only to politicians who have the power to declare stay at home policies and all the other stuff that we by now have become accustomed to, for the first time in our lives, but also most of these decisions are under the guidance of the medical experts. For example,this is what renown Dr.Anthony Fauci, Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases believes has to be done: “Nobody comes to the stadium. Put (the players) in big hotels, test them every week, and keep them very well under surveillance. Make sure they don’t wind up infecting each other or their families and let them play the season out.”

Some players might not want to take their families to Arizona or Florida.Two of the higher profile players,both from Los Angeles area teams, Mike Trout of the LA Angels and Clayton Kershaw of the LA Dodgers already objected to the long time separation from their families.

According to Major League Baseball the original March agreement did not protect clubs in the event games were played in empty ballparks.The union says salary issues were clearly covered. The main trust of the issue by owners (as it seems) is that nobody ever anticipated playing games in empty ballparks.

Millions of people are currently unemployed,some might never get their jobs back. Across the country thousands of businesses are trying to survive,some might, some might not,they are racing for loans and grants from the government.

In the best scenario,suppose teams go back and play May and June in Florida and Arizona with no fans and then if the situation greatly improves they return to their respective cities across the country and let the fans in. But how about the fans? Going to the park,if you do not have a job baseball is not going to be a priority anyway, it is a luxury.

A unique and different challenge to all the people in the business of baseball who has never been in this situation, but the country also has never been in this situation. According to a report by Forbes,  Major League Baseball grossed a record $10.7 billion in revenue for the 2019 Season an increase from the $10.3 billion the prior year

So I leave it to your imagination. At the end this might be too big to solve, for the National Pastime at least for 2020.

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