Category: That’s Amaury’s News and Commentary

That’s Amaury’s News and Commentary: Former Cleveland second baseman Roberto Alomar honored at All-Star game

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photo from Amaury Pi-Gonzalez: The Major League Baseball Hispanic Heritage Baseball Museum and Hall of Fame sign is on display at the Huntington Convention Center in Cleveland site of the 90th All Star Game this week.

On That’s Amaury’s News and Commentary:

The Hispanic Heritage Baseball Museum and Hall of Fame is in Cleveland, Ohio, for the 90th MLB All-Star Game, and we will be inducting to our Hall of Fame, Cleveland Indians second baseman Roberto Alomar, who is 51 years old and born in Ponce, Puerto Rico.

Our exhibit will be at the Huntington Convention Center at the MLB All-Star Game in Cleveland.

That’s Amaury’s News and Commentary: “The Martian” signs with the Yankees, 16-year-old swings like something out of this world

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photo from bing.com: 16-year-old prospect from the Dominican Republic Jasson Dominguez has been said that he’s better than Mike Trout at age 16.

By Amaury Pi-Gonzalez

He is Jasson Domínguez, a 16-year-old from the Dominican Republic, and the New York Yankees signed him to a $5 million bonus. Scouts have drawn comparison with Mike Trout and the great Yankee legend Mickey Mantle. Scouts reported that “El Marciano”, who swings from both sides of the plate, has power, speed, and a sensational arm. They nicknamed him “El Marciano”, which is Spanish for “The Martian”, because according to those that have seen him, “there is no way he is from this world.”

Domínguez, without a doubt, is the top international prospect in this year’s class. Other comments about El Marciano: “He is 16, but with a body of a man.” Domínguez was no secret to scouts of other teams like the LA Angels, Texas Rangers, and Tampa Bay Rays, who were also very interested in signing him. He is regarded as the top prospect to come from Latin America in at least a decade.

One general manager said, “He is like a Mike Trout, but he is better than Trout was at 16”. Jasson Domínguez will not play this year, but next year, he will join other Yankee prospects inside their very deep minor league system.

I do not have a commentary on him, because I have not seen him yet.

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

That’s Amaury’s News and Commentary: Warriors Trying to Appease Their Fans

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Photo credit: @warriors

By: Amaury Pi-Gonzalez

The Golden State Warriors were ready to become the next Michael Jordan’s Chicago Bulls dynasty. But now, that is all, but a memory — a wish for their fans. Kevin Durant made a brief stop with the Warriors, and in a flash, it was all just a dream for their fans — one of those dreams you do not want to wake up from.

The truth remains that in this era of huge salaries and free agency, it is very difficult to keep a championship group together in the NBA. Mega stars like LeBron James play with a team, win a couple of titles and then just move on. With the departure of Durant to Brooklyn and Andre Iguodala to Memphis, the Warriors have a totally different look.

Now the Warriors organization is saying that no Warriors player will ever wear #35 again, that of Kevin Durant, who left for Brooklyn to join his 2016 Olympic buddies Kyrie Irvin and DeAndre Jordan and leaving millions on dollars on the table, which was offered by the Warriors.

“As long as I am co-chairman of this team, no player will ever wear #35 for the Warriors again,” Joe Lacob said in a statement.

OK, Warriors fans, calm down. The organization still wants to please you and continue to win. They are going to be moving this winter to Chase Arena in San Francisco. That will be the biggest attraction, a beautiful brand-new home. As far as winning, well nothing lasts forever. The LA Lakers will probably be the favorite to win in their division, but the Warriors should still be very competitive. Well, let’s hope so.

The Beatles also broke up in 1969 John Lennon informed the other Beatles he was leaving. Later in 1970, Paul McCartney also said goodbye to his fellow band members. The Beatles had a dynasty of music in the 60’s — like the Boston Celtics’ dynasty — they also became free agents who went their separate ways. John, George, and Ringo went solo, while Paul formed the famous band Wings.

That’s Amaury’s News and Commentary podcast: Skaggs’ death a tragedy, waiting for autopsy results; Nets aren’t just banking on KD when he gets back

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Photo credit: @KleinschmidtJD

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

Los Angeles Angels pitcher Tyler Skaggs died on Monday at a Texas hotel. Amaury had a chance to work with and interview Skaggs when Amaury was doing Spanish play-by-play on Angels TV. He was a good kid and his mother, although her last name wasn’t Spanish, she was Mexican American.

He spoke Spanish. His dad’s last name was Skaggs. He was 27 years old. Amaury had a chance to speak with him during his time broadcasting Angels baseball. He was a nice young man always available to speak to with the media.

The Southland Police said they do not suspect foul play and it has not been determined if Skaggs passed away due to natural causes. Officers found Skaggs unresponsive at the hotel and was deceased at the scene.

Amaury also talks about how the moves at the Golden State Warriors and how the Kevin Durant move will impact the team as he moves to the Brooklyn Nets and Andre Iguodala was rumored to go to the Memphis Grizzlies so Golden State can shed that salary. Iguodala could end up at the Lakers. DeAngelo Russell comes to the Warriors from the Nets and will probably be the point guard on the second unit.

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

That’s Amaury’s News and Commentary: Baseball in England? “This is Bloody Cool”

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Photo credit: @visitlondon

By: Amaury Pi-Gonzalez

Major League Baseball’s first regular season series will take place this weekend from June 29-30 at London Stadium in London, England.

The New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox are the greatest rivalry in baseball and perhaps professional sports. The Red Sox are the home team, which makes a lot of sense for their first ever game in England, since the Red Sox play in New England. The NFL and the NBA have played in England, but this is a first for the MLB.

The Yankees have an on-going major league record of 29 consecutive games hitting a home run, plus they just ended a 10-game homestand with a 9-1 record. As this series gets underway, the Yankees are leading the AL East with 52-28 and a nine-game lead over the reigning champion Red Sox, who are in third place.

The two-game series between the Yankees and Red Sox will see the biggest and oldest rivalry in US sports in front of an estimated 130,000 fans.

London Stadium is a multipurpose outdoor stadium with a capacity of 66,000. One of the most iconic cities of the world, London has Big Ben, Tower of London, Buckingham Palace, and the Coca Cola London Eye, a huge observation wheel next to the Thames river. It is a scenario worthy for a James Bond movie.

It will be aired on FOX Sports Saturday, June 29 at 1:10PM EDT and ESPN Sunday, June 30 at 10:10 AM EDT.

Baseball in England is a spectacle, and like the British would say, “This is bloody cool.”

That’s Amaury’s News and Commentary: ESPN Deportes saying Adios by September

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Photo credit: espn.com

By: Amaury Pi-Gonzalez

Social Media has done it once again. They just about eradicated print media in this country as they continue to advance as part of the biggest media transformation of our lives. ESPN Deportes from Bristol, Connecticut confirmed that their radio channel in Spanish will cease to operate this fall. As a result, many full-time and part-time jobs will be going away. Most of these jobs are in Coral Gables (Miami) as well as in New York. However, while Miami and New York were their major hubs, they have stations all across the country. Maybe the best example of what has been happening for a decade with the social media transformation is the New York Times, the most famous newspaper in the country, received a loan from Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim in 2009. Slim gave the NYT $250 million dollars to keep operating.

“Hispanic audience consumer habits are changing rapidly and this requires ESPN to evolve as well,” the statement said. “It’s no secret Hispanic fans skew heavily on digital and social media, which is why we made the decision to discontinue ESPN Deportes terrestrial radio (ESPN Deportes radio) in September.”

It is obvious that the majority of people in the US get their news and sports via social media. Everybody has a cellphone and can now access live and instant information at their fingertips. Social media facilitates the sharing of information and ways of expression via virtual communities and networks.

The future of media is truly in the hands of social media, the main engine of transformation in this business. Print media was first, then radio and television finding a way how to “befriend” social media.

Until as recently as 2016, today’s Oakland Athletics flagship station KTRB 860 AM was part of ESPN Deportes. When it comes to social media in relation to “old” media, the best thing to do is listed below.

In other words, if you can’t beat them, join them!

That’s Amaury’s News and Commentary podcast: Yankees look for more pitching to get past Rays; A’s-O’s series could feature close games; plus more

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Photo credit: @NewsdaySports

That’s Amaury’s News and Commentary podcast:

#1 The New York Yankees general manager Brian Cashman is actively going shopping looking for pitching. One of the strong prospects of winning in the postseason is good pitching. The Yankees, who have been hampered by injuries, are looking forward to a healthier second half of the season with a compliment of good pitching.

#2 The Oakland A’s are facing the Baltimore Orioles in a three-game series. The Orioles have struggled all season, but like in the show, a team like the Orioles could come out of it and make a series of it. The A’s might very well be involved in some close games in this series.

#3 As of late, the A’s have been getting some hitting production at the bottom of their lineup from Jurickson Profar, Josh Phegley, Matt Chapman, Khris Davis, Marcus Semien, and Ramon Laureano.

#4 The A’s put together a four-game winning streak before dropping the final game of their series against the Tampa Bay Rays to conclude their last road trip at 6-4.

#4 The San Francisco Giants are playing the mighty Los Angeles Dodgers for a three-game series at Dodgers Stadium the last time these two teams met at Oracle Park it nearly turned into a zoo when Max Muncy was circling the bases after pitcher Madison Bumgarner told Muncy to quit watching the ball and run and Muncy told Bumgarner if he doesn’t like it he could go into the ocean and get the ball. Amaury describes if this one will be a rivalry again.

#5 David Ortiz attorney José Martínez Hoepelman has said that the tireless effort by authorities have been fruitful and that the people want information, but they just have to wait. Dominican police say they are closing in on the ring leader Gabriel Alexánder Pérez Vizcaíno, according to the Associated Press.

#6 Turning to Los Angeles where the San Francisco Giants are playing a three-game series with the Dodgers, our attention turns to a topic we didn’t get to talk about — In feature article in the Los Angeles Times Los Angeles Dodgers Spanish announcer Jaime Jarrin, whose 84-years-old, lost his wife last month in May after 65 years of marriage. The Dodgers paid a tribute to their marriage and Jaime, who is a huge part of the Dodger family, talked about losing his wife last February 28th.

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

That’s Amaury’s News and Commentary: David Ortiz Shot for $8K Bounty

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Photo credit: @nypost

By: Amaury Pi-Gonzalez

Former Boston Red Sox star David Ortiz was shot Sunday in Santo Domingo for an $8,000 bounty according to the latest police reports from his hometown of Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. While $8,000 would only pay for a couple of months rent in a San Francisco apartment, in the D.R.–a poor Caribbean country of 12 million people, $8,000 is a lot of money. As a matter of fact, that is the equivalent of $400,000 Dominican pesos.

Ortiz was shot at a bar as part of a plot that also included two cars, a motorcycle and at least a half-dozen men, Dominican police revealed Wednesday. That was the motive behind the attempted murder of Big Papi, a national heroe in the baseball rich island. During the ambush, Ortiz and two others were wounded. Dominican police investigators believe the conspirators met hours before the ambush, hoping to collect the $8,000 bounty. Ortiz was shot inside the Dial Lounge and Bar. Witnesses captured one man, a shooter of Ortiz, beat him and waited until the police arrived. The police instantly put him in jail.

Two other suspects were arrested. According to the D.R. police, this attack involved several people who arrived in two cars and a motorcycle, per Ney Aldrin Bautista, Director de la Policia Nacional (Translation: Director of the National Police). At this time, the Dominican police has not revealed who paid the bounty for the murder of Ortiz. The investigation continues. As of today, the Dominican Police now have six people in custody who revealed that somebody hired 10 people to kill Ortiz.

After a successful second surgery, Ortiz is resting comfortably in a Boston, Massachusetts hospital. Of all the countries outside the United States, the D.R. remains as “Numero Uno” as far as major league talent today.

That’s Amaury’s News and Commentary: Check the Ball? On Pace for 6,513 Home Runs

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Photo credit: @SportmaniaM

By: Amaury Pi-Gonzalez

It used to be the Home Run was the most exciting play in the game of baseball, but at this pace, the 2019 MLB season is becoming so much of a routine event that it’s like “an intoxication of eating too much candy”. Last season, there was a total of 5,585 home runs hit among all 30 teams, but that is not the record for a single season. The record for a single season was established in 2017 with 6,105. Today, we are on a pace for 6,514 or more.

On Sunday, the Washington Nationals hit four straight home runs off of pitcher Craig Stammen. It was the ninth time in MLB history a team has hit back-to-back-to-back-to-back homers. On Monday, the Arizona Diamondbacks and Philadelphia Phillies hit 13 home runs at Citizens Bank Park. The D-Backs finished with eight home runs while the Phillies hit five for the new major league record.

A major league ball is supposed to weight between 5 and 5 1/4 ounces. Nowadays, pitchers throw harder than ever, and hitters have the launch angle mode, which is the perfect storm as managers really do not have to use a lot of strategies. It is all about Earl Weaver’s favorite play, the three-run homer. The game has changed and the ball has also “changed”.

That’s Amaury’s News and Commentary podcast: Very possible Big Papi was a target of a hit; Resting comfortably in Boston hospital

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ap photo: Fans at walk past a photograph of Boston Red Sox’s David Ortiz before a baseball game at Fenway Park in Boston, Oct. 1, 2016.

On That’s Amaury’s News and Commentary podcast with Amaury Pi-Gonzalez:

Big Papi (David Ortiz) is the face of those World’s Championships Boston Red Sox teams who won three World Series. In the Dominican Republic, he’s almost like a God, he could probably run for president and win. Let’s face it, Ortiz can run for president and win. Ortiz is an idol and the bad guys know that Ortiz had money there are kidnapping and robberies there and there really isn’t any solid proof why he got shot, but his publicist said that this was a hit job.

I have talked to Dominicans and it looks like a hit job it was premediated and these two guys came on motorcycles and they stopped by the bar restaurant that Big Papi was seated at. They shot Ortiz in the back and the other friend, whose a famous news anchor in the Dominican Republic, Ortiz was with.

Ortiz is resting in a Boston hospital resting after a long surgery. Doctors reportedly removed part of his spleen and liver and it has been reported that Ortiz is not out of the woods yet. Eventually, Ortiz will have to go through therapy and then he will probably have therapy for his mental well-being after going through something like this. One of the two suspects who fell of their motorcycle was caught by witnesses and beaten before police came and arrested him and he had confessed to the crime.

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