Category: Uncategorized

by Daniel Dullum – pinch-hitting for Amaury Pi Gonzalez

PHOENIX – There has been talk about expanding in the NHL, and some of the cities mentioned are Quebec City, Las Vegas, Seattle, and Toronto. Now it’s a matter of putting it together.

Back in Quebec City, where they have a new arena almost ready to go, they will be ready for a team when the day comes. As for Seattle, they’ve got places they can play like Key Arena, but the NHL has always been hesitant to put a team so close to Vancouver. Can you imagine the possible rivalry between Seattle and Vancouver? They would play each other at least six times during the season and that would be great for the league.

Toronto was mentioned, Oklahoma City is interesting in that its a non- traditional market, and Madison, Wisconsin, is the home of the University of Wisconsin is a collegiate hockey hot bed, but whether that would translate into NHL success is a big question, because Badger sports would still rule there. Milwaukee, a larger market with a proper facility, would be more favorable to the NHL.

A second team in Toronto might sound outrageous to some folks, but season tickets or for that matter walk up tickets for the Maple Leafs are almost impossible to get if your not in on the ground floor, and it’s been that way for decades. A second team, whether it’s a suburb of Toronto for instance, or maybe nearby Hamilton – where the Arizona Coyotes almost landed – would be a viable option.

Hamilton is far enough outside of Toronto and in the Ontario province and far enough away from Buffalo that the ticket demand wouldn’t hurt either the Leafs or the Sabres. As far as Las Vegas is concerned, it would be viewed more like what the NBA did, playing an all-star game there. But as long as the sports betting boards are active in Las Vegas, no major league sport wants a team to be there.

Because the odds makers are in Vegas and there is legalized gambling, most major leagues really frown on having a team in Vegas permanently and it doesn’t look like that’s going to happen.

The Quebec Nordiques, who were forced to move from Quebec to Denver in the 1990s, didn’t have a fan attendance problem. The fans were packing Les Colissee’, but capacity at the old arena was barely over 10,000. Also, the economy wasn’t very good in Canada at that time. But that’s changed, as the Canadian dollar is now as strong than the U.S. dollar. That used to be an issue for players, but not now.

Quebec was not in a position at that time to build a new arena and so they had to let the Nordiques go, which was a shame. These are changing times now, and Quebec has a new arena for NHL hockey to bring in an expansion team.
But before the NHL has another expansion, look for the league to maybe relocate some of the teams having tough times. That said, the Board of Governors loves fresh expansion fee cash.

Daniel Dullum is filling in for Amaury Pi Gonzalez. Daniel covers A’s baseball each Thursday for http://www.sportsradioservice.com

By Daniel Dullum
Sports Radio Service
Monday, September 15, 2014

Arizona’s Mark Trumbo cranked a grand slam Monday, leading the Diamondbacks to a 6-2 win over the visiting San Francisco Giants at Chase Field in Phoenix.

It was the third consecutive loss for the Giants, who are trying to catch up to the first-place Los Angeles Dodgers. The Dodgers won 11-3 at Colorado, increasing their lead in the NL West over San Francisco to four games. The Giants are 2 ½ games ahead of idle Pittsburgh in the NL Wild Card standings.

Trumbo finished the game with five runs batted in, while Snakes starter Wade Miley (8-11) allowed one run over seven innings.

Trumbo hit his second career slam off San Francisco starter Ryan Vogelsong (8-11) in the fourth inning. He also had an RBI single in the seventh.

Vogelsong surrendered four runs on six hits and four walks while striking out five over 5 2/3 innings.

Offensively for the Giants, Joaquin Arias collected three hits and Buster Posey added an RBI single.

GIANTS JOTTINGS: San Francisco 1B Brandon Belt was activated from the disabled list prior to the game after clearing concussion protocols. Belt had been sidelined since Aug. 8. … The probables for Tuesday’s game are RHP Jake Peavy for the Giants facing RHP Josh Collmenter for Arizona.

By George Devine, Sr.

After a bye week, the Golden Bears travel to face the Wildcats of Arizona. This will be Cal’s first Pac-12 game of the season, and it will pit a North division team against one from the South. Absent the bye week, Arizona has played one more game, but both teams come into the contest undefeated. Based on strength of schedule, Cal is an underdog by anywhere from 14 to 17 points.

Arizona’s offense is rated fifth in the nation, and that showed in last Saturday’s 35-28 win over Nevada: Anu Solomon passed for 278 yards, resulting in three TDs; Nick Wilson racked up 171 yards on the ground and accounted for two trips to the end zone. Cayleb Jones is Arizona’s leading receiver and caught two of Solomon’s touchdown passes against the Wolfpack. This is what the Bears’ defense will have to contend with.

On offense, look for Jared Goff to launch his long-range air attack, but to be a target for the defense of the Wildcats. The Bears’ OL, which has looked good against Northwestern and Sacramento State, will need to be in top form.

The game is set for 7 p.m. PDT and, in a reversal of usual protocol, Arizona — the home team — has chosen to wear white uniforms, so the Bears will be free to wear the blues they typically don at Strawberry Canyon.

By Jeremy Kahn

SAN FRANCISCO-With a huge opportunity to catch the rival Los Angeles Dodgers atop the National League Western Division, but instead the San Francisco Giants laid an egg.

The Dodgers scored eight runs in the first two innings, and then added one in the third and two more in the fourth on their way to a huge 17-0 victory over the Giants before 41,533, the 322nd consecutive regular season sellout at AT&TPark.

By scoring the 17 runs on the evening, the Dodgers eclipsed their season high of 12 that was accomplished on May 31 in a 12-2 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates at Dodger Stadium.

The 17 runs scored by the Dodgers, breaks the opponent record for most runs in a game at AT&T Park, breaking the record of 16 that was set by the Florida Marlins on July 23, 2005.

With the victory, the Dodgers moved back to two games ahead of the Giants in the fight for the National League Western Division championship.

Tim Hudson lasted just one inning, the shortest outing of his 16-year major league career.

On April 15, 2000, while a member of the Oakland Athletics, Hudson went one and two-thirds innings against the Boston Red Sox at FenwayPark.

After Dee Gordon struck out to begin the game, the wheels began to roll for the Dodgers, as Yasiel Puig doubled, then after an Adrian Gonzalez groundout for the second out, Matt Kemp then doubled in Puig, and then Hanley Ramirez doubled in Kemp.

Carl Crawford then singled in Ramirez, then former Giants infielder Juan Urine singled and then A.J. Ellis singled in Crawford for the fourth and final run of the inning and Dodgers starter Zack Greinke struck out to end the inning.

Gordon and Puig led off the second inning with back-to-back singles, and Bruce Bochy saw enough and brought Tim Lincecum on to replace Hudson.

In all, Hudson went one inning, allowing six runs on eight hits, not walking a batter and striking out two.

Lincecum lasted three innings, allowing five runs on seven hits, before Michael Kickham took to the AT&TPark mound.

Uribe added a little punch in the top of the fourth inning, as he hit his ninth home run of the season that landed in the left field bleachers.

Greinke helped out his own cause, as he hit his first home run of the season off of Kickham in the top of the sixth inning.

The right-hander went six innings, allowing zero runs on four hits, walking zero and striking out five on his way to his 15th win of the season.

With the Dodgers leading 13-0 in the top of the sixth inning, Carl Crawford hit a ball that Matt Duffy snared and threw to first base; however Crawford was called out.

Don Mattingly challenged the call, and the call was reversed after a 36 second review, which brought Bochy out of the dugout to make a very special call to the bullpen.

Bochy called on his son Brett to make his major league debut against Uribe, who walked to force in a run.

After the walk to Uribe, Bochy was able to get A.J. Ellis to popout to Travis Ishikawa at first base to end the inning.

Scott Van Slyke got Bochy for a long home run in the top of the seventh inning.

In one inning of work, Bochy allowed two runs on one hit, walking one and striking out one in his major league debut.

By Jeremy Kahn

SAN FRANCISCO-Madison Bumgarner knows what it is like to pitch in the postseason, and now he wants to lead the San Francisco back there for the third time in the last five seasons.

Luckily, the Los Angeles Dodgers were unable to score a run at all and the Giants took game one of this pivotal three-game series by the final score of 9-0 before 41,147, the 321st consecutive sellout at AT&TPark.

The 9-0 shutout by the Giants was the matched the largest shutout over the Dodgers since 1958.

In a game that was played on June 25, 1968, the Giants defeated the Dodgers 9-0 at CandlestickPark.

With the victory over the first place Dodgers, the Giants move within one game of their longtime rivals from Southern California.

Bumgarner pitched a great game, as he allowed zero runs on three hits, while walking just and striking out nine in seven innings of work on his way to his 18th win of the season.

By picking up his 18th win of the season, Bumgarner joins Johnny Cueto of the Cincinnati Reds and Clayton Kershaw of the Dodgers as the only pitchers in the major leagues with 18 wins.

When Bumgarner struck out Scott Van Slyke in the top of the second inning, it was a career milestone for Bumgarner, as he reached the 200 strikeout plateau for the first time in his big league career.

Former Giants infielder Juan Uribe was Bumgarner’s eighth strikeout victim of the evening, and with that strikeout, Bumgarner passed Ray Sadecki for the most strikeouts by a left-handed pitcher since the Giants moved to San Francisco in 1958

Joe Panik and Buster Posey got the ball rolling in the bottom of the first inning, as they hit back-to-back doubles off of Dodgers starter Hyun-Jin Ryu.

Hunter Pence then singled to centerfield to score Posey, then after a Pablo Sandoval flyout for the second out of the inning, Joaquin Arias singled to score Pence.

Gregor Blanco then walked ,and then Brandon Crawford doubled down the right field line for the fourth and final run of the inning.

Ryu was forced to leave the game after just one inning with irritation in his left shoulder, but before he left, he went one inning, allowing four runs on five hits, walked one and struck out one, as he saw his record fall to 14-7 on the season.

With the chance to break the game wide open in the bottom of the third inning after loading the bases with one out, Dodgers reliever Carlos Frias was able to get out of the jam unscathed, as he got Crawford to popout to Adrian Gonzalez at first base, Bumgarner struck out for the second time on the night and then Angel Pagan flew out to left field to end the inning.

Brandon Crawford hit a two-run home run in the bottom of the fifth, his first home run since July 18 against the Miami Marlins at MarlinsPark.

Travis Ishikawa hit a pinch-hit three run home run in the bottom of the seventh that landed into San FranciscoBay aka McCovey Cove.

It was the 67th Splash Hit by a Giants player since AT&TPark opened on April 11, 2000 and 102nd overall.

By Daniel Dullum
Sports Radio Service
Thursday, September 11, 2014

Oakland’s chances of reclaiming first place in the American League West are slipping away quickly.

On Thursday, the Athletics were blanked 1-0 at Chicago by the White Sox, increasing the Los Angeles Angels’ lead in the AL West to 10 games. Oakland lost three of four to the White Sox in the midweek series, and has lost 11 of their last 14 games.

The A’s lead the AL Wild Card race by one game over surging Detroit and 1 ½ over Seattle. The Angels won their eighth consecutive game on Thursday, while the Tigers and Mariners were idle.

The White Sox’s Marcus Semien hit a solo home run to deep left-center field off losing pitch Scott Kazmir (14-8) in the bottom of the sixth inning for the game’s only run.

Kazmir struck out seven and walked one while giving up four hits in his best start in over a month. Chris Sale (12-3) worked the first eight innings to get the win, surrendering only two hits while striking out nine.

Jake Petricka gave up one hit in a scoreless ninth to earn his 13th save of the season.

The Athletics travel to Seattle to start a three-game series Friday night, hoping to widen their lead in the Wild Card race.

A’s ACORNS: In the 38 games since Yoenis Cespedes was traded to Boston, the A’s have scored three runs or less 23 times, have lost 12 games by one run, have seen their runs per game average drop from 5.0 to 3.5, and have a record in that span of 15-23. … A’s LHP Sean Doolittle is expected to leave the disabled list on Friday. Doolittle, the Oakland closer, had been on the shelf since Aug. 24 because of strained intercostal muscle. … Chicago starter Chris Sale lowered his AL-leading earned run average to 1.99, hoping to become the first White Sox hurler to lead the league in ERA since Joel Horlen in 1967.

By: Phillip Torres

CHICAGO- The Oakland Athletics lost another heartbreaking game on Wednesday night in Chicago against the White Sox. Starting pitcher Jeff Samardzija tossed 7 strong innings before Luke Gregerson and the Oakland defense cost the right hander a win.

The loss to the White Sox and the Los Angeles Angels win over the Texas Rangers cost the A’s another game in tbe standings, leaving them nine games back of first place in the American League West. Fortunately for the Athletics the loss did not cost them a game in the Wild Card and the remain as the top team in the two spot race for the Wild Card.

Gregerson surrendered a two-out, two-run single in the bottom of the eighth inning to blow the lead, and ultimately the game for Oakland as they could not find the offense to overcome the one run deficit in the ninth inning.

First baseman Nate Frieman committed the error that changed the game as he threw wildly to second base on a ball that was a potential double play ball. The wild throw allowed the go ahead run to reach base. The base runner eventually scored on the two out hit by Avisail Garcia after an intentional walk to Connor Gilaspie

The A’s still own a 1 1/2 game lead over Seattle and Detroit in the AL Wild Card race.

By Morris Phillips

 

Highly-regarded 49ers’ broadcaster Ted Robinson was suspended today by the team for comments he made Monday in the wake of the Baltimore Ravens decision to release running back Ray Rice after videotape released by TMZ showed the graphic nature of his attack on then fiancee’ Janay inside an Atlantic City casino elevator.

The 49ers announced that Robinson, the 49ers’ radio play-by-play announcer since 2009, will miss the team’s next two games because of his comments.  Also, Robinson was suspended by the Pac-12 Networks where he also does play-by-play on the networks’ Saturday college football broadcasts.

The Pac-12 Network also announced that Robinson will undergo sensitivity training during his period of suspension.

On Monday, in a conversational segment with Rich Walcoff on the KGO Radio news, Robinson said that Rice’s fiancée’s decision to not speak up about the attack in which she was knocked unconscious was “to me, the saddest part of it all.”

Robinson went on to say that her decision to marry Rice in the wake of the incident was “pathetic.”

49ers’ president Paraag Marathe released this statement in announcing the suspension: “The comments made by radio broadcaster Ted Robinson on Monday were offensive and in no way reflect the views of the San Francisco 49ers organization.  We have made the decision to suspend him for the next two games.  I informed Ted of our decision earlier today, and we will continue to address this matter with him internally.  Our organization stands strongly against domestic violence and will not tolerate comments such as these.”

Robinson also released a statement of apology: “I want to unconditionally apologize for my comments the other day.  As a professional communicator, I am responsible for my words.  My choice of words was careless and does not reflect my true feelings about domestic violence.  I understand that the cycle of abuse keeps people in unhealthy relationships.  No blame or responsibility for domestic violence should ever be placed on a victim.”

The 57-year old Robinson has worked for the Giants, A’s and NBC during the Olympics and Wimbledon in his 30-year career.  He recently signed an extension to remain as play-by-play announcer with the team through 2018.

Robinson’s suspension comes in the wake of the team’s controversial decision to let defensive lineman Ray McDonald play in Sunday’s game in Dallas after he was arrested—but not as of yet charged—in a domestic violence incident on August 31 at a party at McDonald’s home where he allegedly assaulted his pregnant fiancée.  The team announced that they would decline to suspend or release McDonald in the wake of that incident, instead saying that they would wait until the legal process played out and possibly until league-mandated action is taken.

Veteran KTVU broadcaster Joe Fonzi is expected to replace Robinson in the booth during the suspension.