My Favorite MLB Ballparks

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By Jeremy Kahn

SAN FRANCISCO — After revealing my favorite MLB cities, I thought I would give you a list of my all-time favorite stadiums that I have covered games in, or went to as a fan since my first MLB game with my father on June 14, 1977.

Here goes the list of the ballparks that I have gone to over the past 41 seasons, and some of them, are no longer in existence.

1. AT&T Park: Yes, I am here on almost a daily basis, but this ballpark is amazing with its views of the East Bay Hills, Coca Cola Bottle and Glove in left field.

2. PNC Park: A very close second to AT&T Park, as their view of Downtown Pittsburgh is absolutely amazing and along the Three Rivers of the Allegheny, Monongahela and Ohio.

3. Wrigley Field: What is there not too like about Wrigley Field? Besides being the second oldest ballpark in the MLB, you have lots of baseball history there. Anywhere from the ivy-covered walls, to the scoreboard, and of course, Wrigleyville.

4. Fenway Park: The Green Monster, Pesky Pole and the short walls in right field is amazing. Outside of the park on Yawkey Way is very comparable to Wrigleyville.

5. Citizens Bank Park: This is an underrated ballpark in South Philadelphia, but I have enjoyed my three different trips there. The Liberty Bell that lights up when the Phillies hit a home run or win is way cool, and the Philadelphia skyline in the distance is cool.

6. Coors Field: Another one of the newer ballparks, but it has pizzazz with its views of the Rocky Mountains, a section of seats that shows that you are exactly 5,280 feet above sea level (Mile High) and the forest beyond the center field fence.

7. Dodger Stadium: This is the stadium where I saw my first Major League game on June 14, 1977 against the Pittsburgh Pirates, when I was five years old and my father took me there. The views of the San Gabriel Mountains beyond center field, and of course, the view of Downtown Los Angeles is pretty amazing as well.

8. Comerica Park: The sight lines are amazing, and the view of Downtown Detroit is amazing. You have Ford Field, the home of the Detroit Lions literally across the street. Also, you have to enjoy all the statues of the famous Tigers players as well.

9. Petco Park: An underrated ballpark in my opinion, but the park is real nice. Gotta enjoy the Western Offices beyond the left field and the Gaslamp Quarter is cool.

10. Citi Field: They did it right, as the incorporated old Ebbets Field into the Rotunda when you first walk in and the Mets Hall of Fame is way cool. Also, the William Shea Bridge is a nice touch in right field.

11. Yankee Stadium I: This is the House That Ruth Built for god sakes, 85 years of Yankee Baseball says enough. However, the names like Gehrig, DiMaggio, Mantle, Maris, Munson, Jackson and Jeter are not too shabby either. Bob Shepphard on the P.A. System and Monument Park were amazing as well.

12. Busch Stadium: Nice ballpark that replaced the cookie-cutter park that the Cardinals played in from 1966-2005. The view of the Gateway Arch and Big Mac Land are cool.

13. Nationals Park: Great park, never went to RFK Stadium, but this place is much better than the cookie cutter stadium that was mainly football stadium for the Redskins. The view of the United States Capitol is a great touch as well.

14. Globe Life Park: Went here as a fan in 1996, as it was the first of the new ballparks I went to and I thought it was great.

15. Yankee Stadium II: Does not have the same pizzazz as the Original, but it does have Monument Park and the Bleacher Creatures.

16. Chase Field: The Swimming Pool is a cool thing, especially since it is always hot there. The hangar like look to the ballpark is not bad.

17. Angel Stadium: Has changed on three different occasions in its history, and the current one is cool with its rock pile in center field and of course, the Big A sign. Have not been there since 1998.

18. Candlestick Park: Spent many days there as a fan in the 1990s, and then worked there for the final 13. However, this place had its aura as well, from the Giants to the 49ers onto the final concert by the Beatles on August 29, 1966.

19. Oakland Coliseum: Small crowds and an old stadium that needs to be replaced.

20. Kingdome: Went here twice as a kid in 1987, and it was the first dome I ever saw.

21. Marlins Park: I am a college football fan, and this place reminds me of the stadium that was once there, the Orange Bowl.

2018 NBA Draft: Bay Area Edition

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By: Ana Kieu

The 2018 NBA Draft was held on Thursday night at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. As usual, the draft changes the lives of many college and maybe even high school basketball players each year. That’s almost certain unless if the young prospect turns out to be a draft bust, which is something that nobody wants, but is an inevitable situation in life.

Anywho, the Golden State Warriors and Sacramento Kings were on the board, so let’s see who these two Bay Area teams selected using their respective picks.

First Round
Kings
The Kings had the second overall pick and they used it on Marvin Bagley III, a power forward who grew up in Tempe, Az., and played college basketball at Duke for just one season from 2017-18. In 2018, he was a Consensus First-Team All-American, First-Team All-ACC, and ACC Player of the Year. He also won the Pete Newell Big Man Award. In 2017, he was named to the First-Team All-USA TODAY.

Side Note: Bagley III was selected behind his former high school teammate, Deandre Ayton (center; power forward), in the draft.

Warriors
The Warriors selected Jacob Evans (shooting guard) with the 28th overall pick. He played college basketball at the University of Cincinnati from 2015 to 2018. He finished his college career with 1,233 career points. He was also named to the First-Team All-AAC.

Side Note: Evans declared for the 2018 NBA Draft, but didn’t hire an agent to help him out.

Second Round
Kings
It was a Blue Devil kind of night of the Kings, who selected Gary Trent Jr. (shooting guard) with the 37th overall pick. Like Bagley, Trent Jr. played college basketball at Duke for just one season from 2017-18. In 2017, he was selected as a McDonald’s All-American and played in the Jordan Brand Classic. In 2015, he was the FIBA Americas Under-16 Championship MVP.

Side Note: Gary Trent Jr. is the son of retired pro basketball player Gary Trent, who played in the NBA from 1995-2004, Greece’s Panellinios B.C. from 2004-05 and 2006-07, and Italy’s UniCusano Roma in 2005.

Notes
Warriors’ JaVale McGee will be at Levi’s Bay Area store on Friday from 12-1 pm on behalf of his Juglife Water Foundation and ahead of the Water For Life Charity Softball Game.

Oakland A’s podcast with Morris Phillips: Budget crunch–A’s could share park with triple-A Nashville

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Photo credit @athletics_fanly: Former Oakland A’s pitcher Bartolo Colon pitched for the A’s with a Oakland Oaks throw back jersey during an A’s promotional day tribute to the old PCL team

On the A’s podcast with Morris:

We asked Morris his thoughts of the possibilities on the idea to bring the Oakland A’s triple-A affiliate, the Nashville Sounds, to Oakland. The money conscious-minded A’s could save a bundle from shipping players from Oakland to Nashville and vice versa by moving the team to Oakland and sharing the park with the Sounders and rename them the Oakland Oaks (named after the former PCL team in the ’40s and ’50s).

The A’s will probably own the Oakland Coliseum property soon enough and then they’ll have their say on running the facility once that’s in place. The Oaks could play at the Coliseum on days that the A’s are on the road. It would also be a good way to keep the Coliseum busy when the A’s are not using the park.

The A’s would save money on flying players back and forth from Nashville and if they would consider consolidating the the A’s and Oaks to one location. The NHL’s San Jose Sharks are doing that with their minor league club, which they moved from Worcester to San Jose, and they’ve saved a bundle on travel not to mention being able to being able to get players up to the big club by a short walk down the hallway.

If the A’s move to Jack London Square, they can continue to have the Oaks play at the Coliseum since the A’s would own the Coliseum property anyway. With the money the A’s save, they could finally have their Spanish radio broadcasters travel with the team and announce all 162 regular season games. They could afford to have them on the charter and stay at the team hotels and promote the A’s to their largest untapped audience, the Hispanic radio market.

Morris Phillips is filling in for Jerry Feitelberg for today’s podcast. Morris covers Oakland A’s baseball each Sunday home and away at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Oakland Raiders podcast with Tony Renteria: Carr entering his 5th season; Carr is expected to take Raiders to new heights

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On the Raiders podcast with Tony R:

Oakland Raiders quarterback Derek Carr is entering his fifth season for the Raiders and the Raiders hope to see Carr get off to a great start and great showing for 2018. Former head coach John Madden, who came out with “Madden 19,” and gave the overall quarterback ratings.

Of the quarterback rankings, Maddon gave Carr an 82, scoring better were just the Green Bay Packers’ quarterback Aaron Rogers with 99, only fared better than the Panthers’ Cam Newton 82, the Ravens’ Joe Flacco 77 and the Rams’ Jared Goff 81.

Head coach John Gruden said he was looking forward to seeing Carr throwing to wide receivers Jordy Nelson and Amari Cooper. They could be key all season.

Tony Renteria does the Oakland Raiders podcasts at http://www.sportsrdioservice.com

San Francisco Giants podcast with Morris Phillips and Michael Duca: Giants with lowest save percentage in NL looking for relief

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On the SF Giants podcast with Morris and Michael:

The San Francisco Giants have the lowest save percentage in the MLB. The Giants are not even in the ballpark when it comes to saves with the rest of the National League bullpens. The Giants’ save percentage is 14 saves in 30 opportunities.

Right around 52%–surprisingly, San Diego is No. 1 at 82%. Obviously, the Padres haven’t had that many save opportunities that allowed the percentages to jump up. If your closer is having a great season (statistically) and you got 14 blown saves, four of which are attributed to Giants’ relief pitcher Hunter Strickland, you have to ask how do you characterize that?

There’s much more as Michael and Morris do the Giants podcast each week at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

That’s Amaury’s News and Commentary: Yankees and Red Sox Rivalry Is Always an Epic Battle

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By: Amaury Pi-Gonzalez

Forget the curse of the Bambino.

For over 100 years, the Yankees and Red Sox rivalry has arguably been the most fierce in baseball. This year is no exception as both clubs are on their way to more than 100 wins. The American League East is probably the only division in either league with such numbers. Both teams should be in the playoffs–one will win the division, the other one will finish second and advance as one of two wild card teams in the American League.

This is a very glamorous battle for top dog. As of today, the Yanks have the most home runs as a team in the MLB with 118, while the Red Sox are second with 106. Both teams are among the top five in pitching as they both sellout with frequency. There is a buzz in Yankee Stadium at the Bronx like in the 1960’s with Mantle and Maris. It’s just that this time, it’s Aaron Judge, Giancarlo Stanton, and an impressive supporting cast of Gary Sánchez, Didi Gregorious, Aaron Hicks, Miguel Andujar, Gleyber Torres. They have the potential of beating the current MLB record for most home runs in a season by a team, which belongs to the 1997 Seattle Mariners, who had 264.

The Red Sox picked up J.D. Martínez in the offseason after the Yanks inked last year’s NL MVP Giancarlo Stanton. It is all working out like both teams wanted and this epic battle could be neck-and-neck for the entire season. It’s a terrific summer spectacle for two of the great franchises in American sports.

This rivalry is so big that MLB scheduled the first regular season baseball games in Europe in 2019. The Red Sox and Yanks will face at London Stadium in England on June 29th and 30th next year.

I am sure there will be lots of stories and commentaries on English radio and television when these two teams play in the U.K.. After all, cricket is very similar to baseball with 11 players on each team and also use a bat and a ball.

Most historians would agree that baseball was an American invention. But playing in London will probably revive all the speculations on the origins of the game. So, Big Ben will time the breaks between innings during the Red Sox vs. Yanks games. We all understand that baseball was invented in the U.S.A., but we have to give credit to soccer (or fútbol) to the British since it’s their invention. Though, the Chinese have claimed that they played a similar game many centuries ago. Can we all get along and just play ball?

Those two games in London should sell out. After all. London is the largest city in Europe with a population of 14 million. But we are still about a year away from those games.

Back here in this hemisphere, the Yanks and the Red Sox are two of just a handful of teams picked by Las Vegas odds masters to win the World Series, alongside the Astros, Nationals, Dodgers, and Indians.

Just for the fun of it, these were the odds to win the World Series before the season began: Houston 21-4, Cleveland 7-1, Dodgers 7-1, Cubs 8-1, Yanks 9-1, Nats 9-1 and Red Sox 13-1. And, for our local teams, in the Bay Area: Giants 200-1 and A’s 300-1. Moreover, the Marlins have the longest shot of 1,250-1.

Dicey Dyson: Giants need rookie to bail out new closer in 6-5 win over the Marlins

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By Morris Phillips

SAN FRANCISCO–It’s not going to be easy. The Giants have too many injuries, inexperience in key places, too many moving parts to run over anybody. Wednesday’s narrow, heart-stopping 6-5 win over the Marlins was another example of that.

The Giants held a couple of enviable leads–5-1 after six innings and 6-3 after eight–but had to hold on when newly-anointed closer Sam Dyson gave up four hits and two runs in the ninth. But with the Curse of the Marlins on the doorstep, rookie Reyes Moronta struck out JB Shuck with two runners aboard to end it.

“Reyes has done some closing in the minor leagues and he’s got the equipment to do it,” manager Bruce Bochy said.

The Giants have won 9 of 11 at home, not enough success to counteract 18 losses in their last 25 road contests, but enough to keep them within four games of division-leading Arizona. But to make continued headway, the Giants will have to fill in the gaps like Moronta did Wednesday.

Hunter Pence and Derek Holland were the other key contributors early in the game, two guys that weren’t essentially included in the season’s original blueprint either. Pence delivered an RBI single, the third run in the Giants’ five-run sixth. Pence was hitting .174 with no home runs entering the at-bat.

Holland pitched six, strong innings before allowing hits to the first, two batters in the seventh. The 31-year old picked up the win, allowing three runs on seven hits, striking out seven, while walking two.

 

 

 

A’s hit 5 homers, rout Padres 12-4 for sweep of 2-game series

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By Jerry Feitelberg

The Oakland A’s hit five home runs at Petco Park on Wednesday afternoon in San Diego to rout the Padres 12-4. Franklin Barreto started the homer barrage with a three-run blast in the second inning to propel the A’s to the victory. Frankie Montas rebounded from a loss to the Houston Astros last week to win his fourth of the season.

The A’s sent Padres’ starter Joey Lucchesi to the showers in the top of the second inning. Lucchesi had control problems as he hit Matt Olson with a pitch. He then walked Stephen Piscotty to put men on at first and second with no out. Barreto, who entered the game with a batting average around .160, blasted a 424-foot homer to start the rout. The next hitter, Josh Phegley, also hit his first homer of the year and the A’s led 4-0. Padres’ manager Andy Green removed Lucchesi with two out in the inning and brought in another lefty, Robbie Erlin, to pitch.

In the top of the third, Mark Canha led off the frame with his ninth big fly to make it 5-0. Matt Olson followed with his 15th to make in 6-0. The A’s added another run after Barreto reached on a single but advanced to third when the Padres committed two errors on the play. Phegley hit a sacrifice fly to right to drive in Barreto with the A’s seventh run. The Padres put their first run of the afternoon on the board after Montas gave up a single to A.J.Ellis, a walk to Travis Jankowski, and a single to Cory Spangenberg.

The A’s scored one in the seventh and two in the eighth on the strength of Jed Lowrie’s blast off Phil Hughes to make it a 10-1 game. The Padres used a position player, Cory Spangenberg, to pitch the ninth. The A’s tallied two more to lead 12-1 in the middle of the ninth. The Padres plated three in their half of the ninth, but it was not enough as the A’s won the going away 12-4.

Notes: The A’s leading home run hitter, Khris Davis, was not in the lineup due to a stomach ailment. Davis was available for pinch-hitting duties, but there was no need for him at all.

Frankie Montas improved to 4-1. He went 6 2/3 inning and allowed one run and five hits. Montas threw 105 pitches. Joey Lucchesi took the loss, and his record is now 3-3.

The A’s have now homered in 21 consecutive road games with at least one or more home runs. The A’s have won four games in a row and are 38-36 for the year. The Padres are 34-42.

Up Next: The A’s begin a four-game series with the Chicago White Sox Thursday night in the Windy City. Chris Bassitt (0-2, 2.45 ERA) will go for Oakland, and righty Lucas Giolito (4-7, 7.19 ERA) will pitch for Chicago. Game time will be at 5:05 pm PDT.

Hunter Strickland is in good company right now

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Photo credit: @NBCSGiants

By: Ana Kieu

SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. — It’s safe to say that San Francisco Giants pitcher Hunter Strickland is in good company because he’s not going to leave the team anytime soon.

The Giants concluded the first three games of a 10-game homestand against the Miami Marlins on Wednesday afternoon at AT&T Park. This comes less than 24 hours after various sources reported that Strickland would be out for six to eight weeks following a pitching hand injury after punching a door. That being said, Strickland was the second Giant to suffer an injury this week as the most recent injury occurred to infielder Alen Hanson, who left Wednesday’s game with a left knee contusion.

I’m not saying that Strickland should be let go due to his recent injury, but for his seemingly anger-filled past of detrimental incidents like his brawl with Washington Nationals star Bryce Harper, which apparently ended former MLBer Mike Morse’s career, and his shouting match with Kansas City Royals catcher Salvador Perez, which cleared both benches at the 2014 World Series.

Of course, that’s not going to happen because Strickland does have potential and I can see why Giants head coach Bruce Bochy and company wants to keep him around. Well, at least for the time being. The Giants could win some games to make the playoffs, but they have to fix a couple of things.

Perhaps the Giants could get a head start by considering a release of Strickland because he seems to be a bit too emotional for reasons that seem to be unnecessary at least 50% of the time. Not only that, Strickland appears to be more of a liability for the Giants, a team that has been struggling this season.

In my opinion, there’s a chance that Strickland could find himself wearing another team’s uniform next season, especially if the Giants decide to go with a younger group of prospects in hopes of replenishing their farm system.

San Jose Earthquakes podcast with Ana Kieu: Latest news on the Black and Blue

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On the SJ Earthquakes podcast with Ana:

1. A man with a red t-shirt, Quakes tank top, navy blue basketball shorts, and a red wig stood out as the “Best Dressed” viewer on Day 1 of Avaya Stadium’s FIFA World Cup viewing party.

2. There’s so much soccer going on in the West Coast this summer!

3. Danny Hoesen’s two goals from the Quakes vs. Revolution match brought the Wells Fargo Goals for Education total to $12,000.

4. Speaking of Hoesen, do you think he’ll keep up with his rapid pace in Salt Lake City this Saturday?

5. Eric Santiago is probably the Quakes’ most dedicated fan.