Category: That’s Amaury’s News and Commentary

Headline Sports podcast with Barbara Mason: How 49ers looked on Monday Night Football and what to expect from Raiders on Thursday Night Football; plus more

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On Headlines Sports with Barbara Mason:

#1 The San Francisco 49ers played preseason game two on Monday Night Football. Talk about how quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo looked. He had one snag in scrimmage last week when he threw into traffic and got picked five times in a row. Going forward Thursday until making the trip to Denver, he looked like he got back on track.

#2 The Oakland Raiders’ quarterbacking situation looks like it’s coming along just the way head coach Jon Gruden planned the Raiders as the Raiders are 2-0 in preseason are looking at starter Derek Carr with backups Nathan Peterman and Mike Glennon.

#3 The Oakland A’s dropped the fourth and final game of their series to the Houston Astros Sunday, but not before the A’s took three out of four from the visiting Astros. The A’s are now 1 game back in the AL Wild Card race and all their remaining games with Houston are huge not to mention with their other opponents.

#4 The San Francisco Giants almost got a four-game sweep in Arizona, but lost on Sunday when the Diamondbacks scored for three runs in the first inning early and got good pitching out of starter Merrill Kelly, who went 5.2 innings, six hits and one run.

#5 Talk has been about traffic conditions around the new Chase Arena in San Francisco and San Francisco emergency services ran a drill simulating traffic conditions during a concert or a Warriors game. Results weren’t good as ambulances and fire trucks couldn’t get through during an emergency if there was Warriors game traffic coming in or going out. Was building Chase especially next to UCSF Hospital a disaster in the waiting?

Barbara does Headline Sports each Tuesday night at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

 

That’s Amaury’s News and Commentary podcast: Sox get a taste and get shut out from former Sox pitchers Bassitt and Golito

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On That’s Amaury’s podcast:

#1 The Oakland A’s on Sunday combined for a shutout 2-0 against the Chicago White Sox and got it from pitchers Chris Bassitt and Lucas Giolito, who combined for 20 strikeouts, allowing three hits over 13 innings

#2 The Sox gave up on Giolito and Bassitt while they were struggling to stay on the team. Both pitchers had the date circled on their calendar for an opportunity to get some pitching revenge out on the team who gave up on them.

#3 Bassitt, who pitches every other five days, has a career wins total tying his total in 2015.

#4 On the shutout, A’s manager Bob Melvin said that was the best outing that he’s seen out of Bassitt this season.

#5 The A’s head to San Francisco where you and Manolo will be doing play-by-play coverage for the A’s Spanish. What’s that going to be like getting back to the City and watch these two teams who are hungry for a wild card spot?

Amaury does News and Commentary each Tuesday and is the Oakland Spanish A’s play-by-play voice on KIQI 1010 San Francisco

That’s Amaury’s News and Commentary: Baseball — ¿Qué Pasa?

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By; Amaury Pi-Gonzalez

I remember the old Cuban winter league in the late 1950’s as a kid. My father would take me every Sunday to watch the four teams that made that league. Leones del Habana (Havana Lions), Alacranes (Scorpions) del Almendares, Tigres (Tigers) del Marianao, and Elefantes (Elephants) del Cienfuegos.

Every Sunday, there was always a double-header. The first game Cienfuegos vs. Marianao, and then in the second game, the “eternos rivales” (eternal rivals, sort of like the Yankees and Red Sox), which was the Havana Lions vs. the Scorpions del Almendares.

There was a plethora of Cuban-born and American players: Orestes “Minnie” Miñoso, Brooks Robinson, Jackie Brandt, Lew Burdette, Bob Skinner, Bob Shaw, Miguel “Mike” Cuellar, Camino Pascual, Al Spangler, George Altman, Pedro Ramos,Sandalio “Sandy” Consuegra, Jim Bunning, Mike Fornieles, Luis Tiant, and dozens more,which I remember. After the season ended, they went to Cuba during the winter.

William “Bill” Werle a left handed Major League pitcher, born in Oakland, California, who pitched for the Pirates, Cardinals and Red Sox in the mid-1950’s. He also pitched for the Marianao Tigers in Cuba in 1956. That was the last time that team won the Cuban Professional Winter League title.

As a Major League scout later in life, Bill told me: “Most of the Major League players, we went to Cuba, not only because of the proximity to the US, but because they paid the best in all Latin America.”

Back then, players did not have the strong union like they have today, so they had other jobs to supplement their income after the regular MLB season.

Back then,there was a lot of speed and a lot of strategy deployed by managers. Pitchers went nine innings and more. The guys in the bullpen where mediocre pitchers than didn’t have the talent to be starters. There were professional pinch-hitters, stolen bases, lots of speed, hit and run, bunts galore and even the suicide squeeze was evident in close games when one run was all that you need it.When a player struck out, it was shameful and fans would boo, and yes, games were under three hours with frequency.

Today, it is 2019 and a totally different type of game.

– The game is all about power
– The Home-run is king,there is less creativity
– Strike outs are common,on way to record
– The Hit and Run is an endangered play
-A Bunt is “Breaking News”
-The Professional Pinch Hitter doesn’t exist (not even in the National League,where there is no DH)
-Intentional Walks continue to diminish each year
-The pitchers throw harder and ‘bat speed’ was replaced years ago by ‘launch angle’
-Tampa Bay was the first team to use the now popular “opener,” a guy whose mission is to pitch the first inning

As of today,we are on a pace to hit over 6.000 home-runs for first time in a season. The Oakland Athletics recently became the first team in their franchise history to have 10 players with 10 or more home runs.

If Bill Werle came back to life today, he would see this game and would not recognize it.

It is what it is. Today’s technology has replaced strategy. Baseball still a great game ,but those of us who witnessed the “old school” style of baseball, that was the way it was meant to be played. I actually miss all the strategy and gamesmanship in the greatest game ever invented by humans.

¿Que Pasa?=What’s happening? Answer: Pasa mucho.

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

That’s Amaury’s News and Commentary: Historic A’s Spanish Radio Now 10,000 Watts, 24 Hours a Day

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Photo credit: athleticsnation.com

By: Amaury Pi-Gonzalez

Historic KIQI1010AM/990AM Oakland Athletics Spanish Radio Network used to be 10.000 watts at day and 500 Watts at night, but is now a clear 10,000 watts all day and all night. Owned by Multicultural Radio, a media company based in New York City owned by Chinese-American businessman Arthur Liu. it caters mostly to the multi-cultural community and owns television and radio stations in several of the top markets’ multiple languages. One of those stations is the flagship station for the Oakland Athletics Radio Network KIQI1010/990AM covering the nine counties of the Bay Area as well as Sacramento/Stockton and other communities in Northern California.

KIQI1010 AM radio is a historic radio station in the Bay Area that was once owned by James Gabbert, a radio and television entrepreneur and innovator. I met Gabbert at the last year’s Christmas party for the Bay Area Radio Hall of Fame and we reminisced of the year 1980 when he sold the station to Cuban-born René De La Rosa, who became one of the first Latino owners of a radio station in the State of California. During the 1980’s, De La Rosa’s KIQI 1010AM broadcasted MLB and the NBA’s Golden State Warriors in Spanish with a format that included live news, sports and talk shows.

Gabbert, who speaks fluent Spanish, told me how proud he was of selling the station in 1980 to De La Rosa, who intended to change the format to Spanish. James Gabbert, who is still involved in the media business of radio and television, also told me he travels frequently to Latin America and predicted that California would become one of the largest markets in the US for Spanish format stations with the influx of the Hispanic population, the largest minority in California and in the United States.

With a signal of 10,000 watts, located in the middle of the radio dial (1010AM frequency), KIQI now can serve the over 2 million Hispanics in the Bay Area with a much stronger signal at night, which is vital for sports, especially most Major League games, which have night schedules.

These increases in wattage power are authorized by the FCC and sometimes takes years for a radio station to obtained that permission. The old KOFY had the radio dial of 1050 AM in Spanish format. The studios were located in Burlingame, near the San Francisco Airport. It took them many years to increase their wattage from 1000 watts to what it is today. Also, they originally had permission to broadcast from sunrise to sunset. It seems that it took them forever to become a 24/7 station.

That’s Amaury’s News and Commentary podcast: Cubs’ Garcia and Schwarber start game with 2 big flies; Twins get rare triple play against Angels; plus more

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

#1 The Chicago Cubs got a splash hit and a home run at Oracle Park in San Francisco on Monday night. Robel Garcia hit a tremendous drive into McCovey Cove and Kyle Schwarber hit his 22nd home run of the season.

#2 The Minnesota Twins got a 5-4-3 triple play in the first inning on Monday night when the Los Angeles Angels’ Edwin Encarnacion hit a grounder to Twins third baseman Luis Arraez, who tagged third and relayed the throw to second with the Twins’ Jonathan Schoop covering and Schoop threw to first baseman Miguel Sano for the triple play.

#3 The Houston Astros pitcher Gerritt Cole is the second fastest pitcher to reach 200 strikeouts in baseball history and he did it against the Oakland A’s in a 11-1 rout. For the A’s, it was their second straight loss, and for Cole, he was in total command and showed why he reached 200 strikeouts so quickly.

#4 As the trade deadline gets closer, the San Francisco Giants; key pitchers Madison Bumgarner and Will Smith are up for grabs. There also has been talk that Giants manager Bruce Bochy has talked with team president Farhan Zaidi about possibly keeping Bumgarner and Smith. It’s possible the Giants might not move them the later it gets.

#5 Houston Astros general manager Jeff Luhnow says with the roster, the Astros have they could win the whole thing. Luhnow said that with the four starters they have, they can win on good pitching and get deep into the postseason.

Amaury Pi-González is a pioneer in establishing Spanish baseball radio play-by-play in the Bay Area that dates back to 1970s. The Spanish broadcast for 72 games are heard on KIQI 1010AM/990AM with studios in San Francisco, serving also the Sacramento/Stockton market and does That’s Amaury’s News and Commentary each week at http://www.sportsradioservice.com 

That’s Amaury’s News and Commentary: Hall of Fame weekend is their World Series

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By: Amaury Pi-González

In Cooperstown, New York this weekend six players will have the weekend of their lives with their families, friends and fans as their names will be engraved into immortality in alphabetical order: Harold Baines, Roy Halladay, Edgar Martínez, Mike Mussina, Mariano Rivera and Lee Smith.

Cooperstown is a beautiful small town that’s best known as the home of the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum.

For the greatest Hall of Fame in all American sports, this is their World Series, their Superbowl, their Olympics and their World Cup altogether. Dozens of living inductees will be on hand to welcome the new class of six. The last time I visited Cooperstown, it was part of a vacation to the east coast in November 2009. From the Bay Area by plane to Miami and then up to New York, where I bordered a train from Penn Station to Albany, NY. There, in Albany, I had a rental car awaiting and from there I drove to Cooperstown, driving through beautiful green rolling hills country. The whole trip takes about 5 hours and I recommend to anybody that has the time to do it. It is truly a nice relaxing trip. Cooperstown reminds me of the movie “Back to the Future” with old brick buildings and where you feel it is 1952 all over again.

Two of the six players that will be inducted have a direct connection with the Bay Area. Harold Baines, who played with the Oakland A’s from 1990 to 1992, played a total of 22 years for various clubs, ending with 2,830 games, 2,886 hits, 1,628 runs batted in, 384 home runs and a solid .289 batting average. A designated hitter for a great part of that stellar career.

Mike Mussina attended Stanford University where he pitched for three years. He was one of the most consistent pitchers in the majors for 18 years (10 with the Yankees and eight with the Orioles). He won 270 and lost 153 with a 3.58 ERA, 2,813 strikeouts and 57 games completed in 3,562 innings pitched.

The other four will be Roy Halladay, whose family will be accepting in his behalf. He died on November 2017 as his small private plane crashed in the Gulf of Mexico. Halladay won two Cy Young Awards hurled a perfect game plus a no-hitter during playoffs with Philadelphia. 16 years with Toronto and Philadelphia, won-lost 203-105 with a 3.38 ERA who also completed 67 games. Roy “Doc” Halladay was one of the last pitchers that everybody expected to complete the game he started. I can only imagine if he was with us, what would Doc say about the new craziness by some teams to use an “opener” which is a man that would be scheduled to pitch only the first inning.

Edgar Martínez is one of only two players inducted this year that played their whole career with the same team. The Seattle Mariners from 1987 to 2004. He originally was a third-baseman, but became one of the best pure hitters of his generation as a DH. 2.056 games, 2,247 hits, 309 home runs and 1,261 runs batted in and a combined .312 average. He hit over .300 in 11 of his 18 seasons and he had the eye of an eagle, struck out only 1,202 times in 8,674 trips to the plate. I used to call him “el oportuno” (translation: “the clutch one”) because he was the type of hitter you want with the winning run on base, he will not disappoint.

Lee Smith. About time! This man should have been inducted many years ago. He was a great reliever. During 18 years saved 478 and pitched for Boston Red Sox, Chicago Cubs, St. Louis Cardinals, NY Yankees, Baltimore Orioles, California Angels, Cincinnati Reds and Montreal Expos.

Mariano Rivera. Born in Panamá, the land of the great Hall of Famer Rod Carew, Rivera was the greatest closer in the history in this position. With a cutter from heaven he saved an incredible 652 games with a 2.21 ERA in 1,115 games,1,283 innings pitched with 1,173 strikeouts. It would be safe to say that this save record is safe and might not be broken during mine, yours, your kids and their kids years unless if baseball invents another crazy rule. Rivera only played for one club, the New York Yankees, from 1995 to 2013. He is a wonderful man who is truly an idol in his native Panamá. Also, a real gentleman. Every time I interviewed Rivera, he conducted himself with great professionalism. We were truly privileged to have witnessed his career.

Congratulations to all! They represent the best of the best.

That’s Amaury’s News and Commentary podcast: A’s rise from last place to making a run at the Astros

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Photo credit: @Athletics

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

#1 The A’s are making a run at second place in the AL West and chasing the Houston Astros after having a rough first half. They came on strong in the closing weeks of the first half now in sight for a wild card and just six games back behind the Astros.

#2 The San Francisco Giants are another team that has been making noise. They have won 11 of their last 12 games and they didn’t waste any time in Colorado, taking out the Rockies in a doubleheader on Monday.

#3 If the Giants were to trade Madison Bumgarner, would he be a second half trade rental?

#4 The Tampa Bay Rays have won five of their last six games, including two wins over the New York Yankees on July 4th and 5th. The Rays are in a heated battle with the Yankees, which started Monday night.

#5 The Chicago Cubs had won five of their last six games going into Monday night’s game with the Cincinnati Reds. The Cubs are holding a two-game lead in the NL Central.

Amaury Pi-González is a pioneer in establishing Spanish baseball radio play-by-play in the Bay Area that dates back to 1970s. The Spanish broadcast for 72 games are heard on KIQI 1010A/990AM with studios in San Francisco, serving also the Sacramento/Stockton market and does That’s Amaury’s News and Commentary each week at http://www.sportsradioservice.com 

That’s Amaury’s News and Commentary Q &A: Mid-season Chat with the Athletics President

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photo from TK Sports and sportsblogs.com: Oakland A’s president David Kaval is Amaury Pi Gonzalez’ guest for this week’s That’s Amaury’s News and Commentary

Mid-season Chat with the Athletics President

That’s Amaury News and Commentary

Amaury Pi-González

OAKLAND–The All-Star Game has come and gone. The American League continues to show its superiority over the National League. It doesn’t matter if the games counts or are only exhibitions, the American League keeps winning, extending their winning streak to seven-in-a-row. Talking about winning, the Oakland Athletics are on a roll again, with almost the same record as they had last season at this time of the year when they took-off with a sensational second half, advancing to the postseason.

There is nobody more enthusiastic about the A’s success that Mr. Dave Kaval, their President, and why not. There is great news all overcoming from this organization as we entered the second half of this season. I had basically two questions in mind for Mr. Kaval.

APG: How do you feel about the 1st half of the season for the A’s?

DK: “How can you not love this team?! Fiers’ lights-out no-hitter; Ramon Laureano’s laser arm in centerfield; Josh Phegley’s emergence at the plate and the amazing defense of Matt Chapman and Matt Olson at the corners. They’re an exciting”

APG. What is the latest on the proposal for the stadium at Howard Terminal?

DK: “We’ve had a very busy few months working on our plans for a waterfront ballpark at Jack London Square. In May, the Board of Port Commissioners voted 7-0 to approve a term sheet between the Port of Oakland and the Oakland Athletics”

A big test for the club is coming, as they embark on a road trip that takes the young A’s to Minnesota and Houston, two first-place teams. The Minnesota Twins are one of the great surprises this season as they have owned the Central Division (once dominated by the Cleveland Indians) during the first half of the season. They will play a four-game series at Minnesota 18th to the 21st, the next day they are in Texas, against the Houston Astros for a three-game series.

While a lot of discussions is focused on the Wild Card already, the A’s have a total of 11 games left against Houston, seven at Houston and four at Oakland. Not to overlook Minnesota, but Houston is getting healthier and they are a formidable team when they have Springer, Altuve, Bregman, and Company, plus a very good pitching staff headed by All-Star Justin Verlander. It should be fun, because the A’S are not afraid of anybody these days, and they also had their share of injuries.

We thank Dave Kaval, as we share his enthusiasm, with the largest minority in the Bay Area, that of Latinos (around 2 million people) many more during the next Census and, many who have been supporting the Athletics for many years, are also excited about the possibility of a new ballpark.

Amaury Pi-González is a pioneer in establishing Spanish baseball radio play by play in the Bay Area that dates back to 1970s.The Spanish broadcast for 72 games are heard on KIQI 1010A/990AM with studios in San Francisco, serving also the Sacramento/Stockton market.

That’s Amaury’s News and Commentary podcast: MLB Hispanic Museum honoring players at All-Star Game; Guerrero sets Home Run Derby record; plus more

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Photo credit: @Ron_Clements

That’s Amaury’s News and Commentary podcast:

#1 Amaury talks about the Major League Baseball Hispanic Heritage Museum being in Cleveland. This has got to be a special being able to show the fans what’s the Museum is all about.

#2 The Museum will be honoring former Cleveland second baseman Robby Alomar, Alomar had quite a career in Cleveland and looked forward to the honor by the museum.

#3 The Toronto Blue Jays’ Vlad Guerrero Jr. went deep enough times in the first round to set a Home Run Derby record for first round home runs.

#4 Fans are waiting for the All-Star Break to end and to get the second half started. Amaury talks about what to look forward to in the second half.

#5 In the second half of the season, the Oakland A’s have shown that they can put it together from the first half. What is to be expected from the A’s in the second half?

Amaury Pi-Gonzalez is the vice president of the Major League Baseball Hispanic Heritage Museum, the Spanish play-by-play announcer for the Oakland A’s and does News and Commentary each Tuesday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

That’s Amaury’s News and Commentary: US Women’s World Cup Champions? Equal Pay!

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Photo credit: @marceloclaure

By: Amaury Pi-Gonzalez

Yes, the FIFA Women’s World Cup champion US women’s soccer team should get equal pay like their male counterparts, but what they have to do is for their attorneys to re-negotiate their contracts. However, when it comes to this recent international World Cup, the ruling organization is FIFA (International Federation of Association Football) and FIFA has been a very corrupt organization for a long time.

FIFA would say that the Men’s World Cup is watched by half of the world, while the Women’s World Cup is not. While that is true, here in the US, the latest World Cup where the US women won their fourth World Cup accumulated a total rating bonanza for the FOX network. The last time they won the Women’s World Cup four years ago, they had an impressive 25.4 million viewers, making it the most watched soccer game in American TV history.
Yesterday, 14.3 million viewers watched the 2-0 win over the Netherlands in Lyon, France for the now four-time World Cup champs, which is up 22% over the 2018 Men’s World Cup Final.

The US women’s team that just won have a great argument to make, especially here in the US, to get paid as much as the US men’s team. This however, will be played out in a legal arena as attorneys are already involved. Today, this female championship team today has great leverage and enjoys tremendous popularity in this country. I cannot see why they cannot get equal pay.

When it comes to fútbol (soccer) in World Cup competition, the male teams always show higher ratings than their female counterparts. That is the whole world. In some countries where soccer is king, women still have to walk behind men, they are prohibited to get an education, and in some countries, they are not even allowed to drive.

But we are different that the rest of the world, so my prediction is that the US women’s team have an excellent opportunity to finally have equal pay and this is their best time for that argument.

Regardless of whether or not they get equal pay, we must congratulate them for a great World Cup. New York will welcome them with a ticker tape parade this Wednesday.