That’s Amaury’s News and Commentary: Dwight Clark will be forever remembered for the catch; Can the Warriors sweep or split in Cleveland?

Published on by Sports Radio ServiceLeave a comment

Photo credit: @SBNation

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

*He will forever be remembered for “The Catch” in the 1981 NFC Championship that launched the San Francisco 49ers to the Super Bowl. Dwight Clark, who passed away at age 61, was not only remembered for his great days in football, but also as a family man and friend. Clark’s wife Kelly made the announcement on Monday. Clark was surrounded by friends, family, and many fans, who paid visits to the 49ers superstar.

*The Bay Area is surrounded by many pro and college teams, but a recent survey by many pro teams and college teams that came out Monday, 46% of Bay Area residents said they would like to move because of the high cost of housing and the bad traffic. In the survey, residents said they would move in the next few years.

*Game 3 of the NBA Finals between the Cleveland Cavaliers and Golden State Warriors continues Wednesday. The Warriors are up 2-0. Could Golden State take the next two games in Cleveland or will they split?

* The Oakland A’s, after finishing up on the road on Wednesday, start a 10-game homestand against Kansas City, Houston, and the Los Angeles Angels. They had a rough time last homestand. Can the A’s go above .500 this coming homestand?

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

San Francisco Giants podcast with Michael Duca and Morris Phillips: Giants rolling with 5-game win streak; Bumgarner gets the call tonight against D-Backs

Published on by Sports Radio ServiceLeave a comment

file photo from arizonasports.com: San Francisco Giants pitcher Madison Bumgarner returns tonight for the first start since his injury during spring training in March

On the Giants podcast with Michael and Morris:

We knew that the Giants would be facing some tough opponents of late. Looking back to their road trip in Philadelphia, the Phillies swept the Giants in Philly. They struck 55 Phillies in five games and the Giants didn’t see any of that coming back to AT&T Park and sweeping the Phillies.

Here’s the Arizona Diamondbacks, who are starting at 19-8 and they’re still in that slide. They came into AT&T Park on Monday night with just a one-game lead in first place and they now have lost 13 of their last 14 games. The Diamondbacks re-assumed first place by beating Cincinnati and Miami, winning five out of six in Phoenix. which has been their only response to the huge swoon they went through in May.

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

49ers Legend Dwight Clark Passes Away at 61

Published on by joelamiLeave a comment

Photo credit: @49ers

By: Joe Lami

49ers’ legend wide receiver Dwight Clark passed on Monday, his wife Kelly announced via Twitter.

Fighting ALS since 2015, Clark will be remembered forever for the most famous play in 49ers’ history, otherwise known as “The Catch.”

The Catch is regarded as jump-starting the Niners 80s dynasty, helping the 49ers’ string of Super Bowls. Clark was part of two of them, while also being named a two-time pro bowler.

The 49ers held Dwight Clark Day back on October 22nd of last season, where they, of course, played the Cowboys. Dwight Clark Day was celebrated by a t-shirt giveaway and a team reunion where Dwight was able to his one last goodbye to both fans and teammates.

The day was capped by a halftime celebration and a speech from Dwight that brought tears to everyone in attendance, including those of us that were in the press box at Levi’s.

Clark ranks as one of the best 49er receivers of all-time. He remains third in receiving yards, fourth in catches, and third in touchdown receptions. Dwight will forever remembered for one six-yard touchdown reception in 1982 and he was taken from us way too soon.

June boon: Giants’ 5-game win streak has them breathing down the necks of the first place D’Backs

Published on by moepeaLeave a comment

By Morris Phillips

SAN FRANCISCO–Right now, the NL West has some serious, what comes around, goes around, going down.

The Diamondbacks started it all by winning their first nine series, and lapping the field with their 19-8 start. All four of Arizona divisional opponents got a taste of the D’Backs’ heat, and the Giants and Dodgers dropped three-games sets at home and away to Arizona in April.

But the D’Backs went from hot to cold seemingly overnight, losing 13 of 14. Colorado jumped up first, and briefly assumed first place. The Rockies made their run on the outside, sweeping the Mets and Cubs on the road to start May. Then the Dodgers got hot, winning a pair of series against the Rockies in their surge.

Now Giants have returned home, winning the first four of a six-game home stand, and their 10-3 series-opening win seemingly indicates that it’s the D’Backs’ time to pay.

Zach Godley allowed back-to-back home runs to Andrew McCutchen and Brandon Crawford, the opening blows in the Giants’ seven-run fourth that turned a 2-0 deficit into a laugher in one, swift act. In all, the Giants hit four solo shots with Pablo Sandoval and Nick Hundley putting the finishing touches on the important win.

“We took advantage in that inning. McCutchen hit that home run and after that Crawford, and then we’re working and working every pitch to score more,” Sandoval recounted.

Key in the rally was manager Bruce Bochy’s decision to lift starter Derek Holland with the bases loaded and one out in favor of pinch-hitter Alen Hanson. All Hanson did was foul off four of the five, normally confounding curveballs thrown by Godley, before sending his hardest offering down the left field line for a double, and a 4-2 Giants’ lead.

Godley lasted just four more pitches, leaving when replay revealed that Joe Panik was hit by his curveball that veered too far inside.

When the Giants last saw Godley in April, he was the pitcher of the moment, shutting down the Dodgers (in a matchup with Clayton Kershaw) and Giants in his first, two starts of the season. After striking out nine and beating the Giants 2-1, Godley confidently stated that he used the Giants’ aggressiveness against them with great success.

But opponents soon found out that Godley’s signature knuckle curve doesn’t always finish in the strike zone, and they began laying off it in droves.

In Godley’s third start, he walked six batters and was done after four innings, trailing 5-0 to the Dodgers. Then the grizzly-bear like hurler won his next two starts without wowing either opponent. In those appearances he beat the Padres and Nationals, but allowed a combined 16 hits in 10 innings of work.

And Godley after that? One win in seven starts with only one of those lasting into the seventh inning.

“I throw my curveball a lot,” he said. “If guys can see it, they’re going to lay off of it as much as they can until I can prove that I can throw for it strikes.”

After the win Monday–and the season-best, five-game win streak–the Giants are back at .500 for the 12th time this season, and the first time since May 20 (24-24). So what’s different this time?

Two things: the Giants are just 1 1/2 games out of first place, as close as they’ve been to the top of the NL West since they were 4-3 on April 7. And Madison Bumgarner is scheduled to pitch Tuesday, the World Series MVP’s season debut after the Giants somehow survived 60 games without him.

Patrick Corbin, who was roughed up in his previous start at home against the lowly Reds, opposes Bum in the 7:15pm start.

FIRST-YEAR PLAYER DRAFT: The Giants selected catcher Joey Bart with the second overall pick in the 2018 draft on Monday. The 6’3″, 225 lbs. prospect is considered to be a plus defender and a skilled pitch caller, possessing a power bat. A skill set that not surprisingly mirrors that of 31-year old Buster Posey.

Could change be in the wind?

“When you have what I believe is the best catcher in the game with us, he’s our guy. So I don’t even think about that until it’s time to think about it,” Bochy said of any changing of the guard within the next two seasons.

 

 

San Francisco Giants Feature With Tony the Tiger Hayes: Forgotten Giants Player Dick Groat in 1967; He Was a Giant?

Published on by Sports Radio ServiceLeave a comment

Photo credit: 1960sbaseballblog.blogspot.com

By: Tony “Le Tigre” Hayes

Forgotten Giants Player
Dick Groat – SS – 1967 – # 20

He Was a Giant?
The understated Dick Groat wasn’t blessed with the panache of Deion Sanders, the Madison Avenue push of Bo Jackson or the Gold Medal winning cache of Jim Thorpe.

But Groat–briefly a Giant in 1967–was on par with any other multi-sport star American has produced.

He earned MVP honors in MLB (Pirates) and Player of the Year and All-American honors in College Basketball (Duke), yet he rarely gets included among the top players who flittered between sports depending on the seasonal calendar.

Why Was He a Giant?
As a Phillie, Groat collected his career hit 2,000 in 1966, but by 1996, he was literally on his last legs.

The years of constant running and jumping finally caught up to Groat and he would spend two weeks that spring hospitalized after his ankles swelled to three times their normal size.

But even this severe case of cellulitis could not spoil Groat’s competitive spirit and he was game when acquired by San Francisco in mid-1967 to back up the infield and pinch hit.

Before & After
One of the best athletes ever out of the Pittsburgh area, Groat accepted a dual baseball/basketball scholarship to Duke University. Under the guidance of Coach Red Auerbach, Groat was an immediate success in the hardwood.

Twice, he was selected as an All-American and was named National Player of the Year in 1952 when he averaged 25.2 points per game for the Blue Devils. Twice, he also garnered All-American honors for Duke’s baseball team.

Initially, Groat pursued pro careers in both sports and played the 1952-53 season as a sharpshooting guard with the NBA’s Ft. Wayne Pistons, averaging 12 points per game.

Groat opted to focus on baseball for his hometown Pirates and batted .284 as a rookie in 1952 without spending a day in the minors.

In 1960, Groat–a shortstop by trade–was named NL MVP, after winning the batting crown and leading the Bucs to their first World Series title in 35 years.

Later, Groat was dealt to the Cardinals and was a key contributor to their 1964 World Championship club.

He Wasn’t Hal Lanier. But…
The crew-cutted Groat arrived in San Francisco in the midst of the Summer of Love.

Playing time was scant for the 36 -year -old but, he had his moments in the Fog.

In back-to-back wins vs. the visiting Phillies (7/28/67-7/29/67), Groat poked a pair of hits as starting shortstop in each contest.

In 34 games with SF, Groat would bat .171 with four RBIs.

He retired following the 1967 campaign.

Giant Footprint
As a member of the Pirates in 1957, Groat combined to record the last putout of the New York Giants’ final home game–and last game ever–before the club’s move to San Francisco (9/29/57).

After Don Mueller flew out and Willie Mays grounded out for the first two outs of the bottom of the ninth, Dusty Rhodes punched a ground ball to Groat, who in turn fired to first baseman Frank Thomas to conclude the 9-1 Pittsburgh win and 74 seasons of New York Giants baseball.

NHL Stanley Cup Finals podcast with Len Shapiro: It could be over quickly for Knights, who are down 2-1 to Caps with Game 4 tonight

Published on by Sports Radio ServiceLeave a comment

a57.foxnews.com photo: The Vegas Golden Knights Alex Tuch (89) looked for a sure fire goal, but the outstretched stick of Washington Capitals goalie Braden Holtby (70) stopped the puck in front of the crease to save the game for the Caps in Game 2.

On the NHL Stanley Cup Finals podcast with Len:

If  you had to ask if the shot that Vegas Golden Knights’ Alex Tuch took in Game 2 that was stopped with the goalie stick paddle of Washington Capitals goaltender Braden Holtby that Holtby outstretched with the stick to save the puck from going into the mouth of the net that would have taken the first-year expansion team to a 2-0 series lead.

Now after three games played in these NHL Finals and the Capitals with home ice, it’s looking grim for the Knights, who are down 2-1 and desperately need to tie up the series in Game 4 on Monday night and bring it back to Vegas for Game 5.

The Knights goalie Marc Andre-Fleury, who has been superb throughout the playoffs with a low goals against, has been tamed through the first three games of these finals surrendering four goals in Game 1, three goals in a loss to Washington in Game 2 and another loss surrendering another three goals in Game 3.

Len takes a look at what to expect in tonight’s Game 4 at Capital One Center for the NHL Stanley Cup Finals.

A’s end road trip with short two-game series with Rangers in Arlington

Published on by rxsluggerLeave a comment

chicagotribune.com file photo: Oakland A’s pitcher Sean Manaea celebrates after pitching a no-hitter in May against the Boston Red Sox. He will get the call Tuesday night in Arlington against the Texas Rangers at the Ball Park.

By Jerry Feitelberg

The Oakland Athletics meet the Texas Rangers in Arlington for two games starting Tuesday. The A’s and Rangers have played seven games this season, and the A’s have won four games and lost three. The A’s are currently in fourth place in the American League West with a record of 31-29. The A’s won two out of three from the Kansas City Royals over the weekend and are 5-5 in their last 10 games. The A’s are 15-15 at home and 16-14 on the road. The Rangers are 25-37 and trail the first-place Seattle Mariners by 12 1/2 games. They are seven games behind the A’s for the fourth spot in the division.

The A’s will send Sean Manaea to the mound Tuesday night. Manaea, who pitched a no-hitter against Boston in April and was the AL Pitcher of the Month, did not have a good month of May. His record has dropped to 5-6, and his ERA is currently at 3.60. The A’s are hoping the big lefty can get back to the form that he exhibited in April. He will be opposed by the Rangers’ left-hander Matt Moore. Moore, who had a terrible year in 2017 with the San Francisco Giants, is not doing well with Texas. Moore is 1-5 and has an ERA of 7.89. Moore came off the DL last Wednesday and allowed five runs in 5 1/3rd innings of work. Moore is 1-2 lifetime against Oakland in six career starts.

On Wednesday, Daniel Mengden will go for Oakland. Mengden has been pitching well. In his last start against the Tampa Bay Rays, Mengden went 8 plus innings and gave up six hits and three runs. The ageless veteran, Bartolo Colon (2-3, 4.21 ERA), will be seeking his 243rd win to tie him with the great Juan Marichal for most wins by a pitcher from the Dominican Republic.

The A’s hitters have shown that they love to play on the road. The team has guys up and down the lineup that can hit the ball into the stands. Marcus Semien, Matt Chapman, Jed Lowrie, and Matt Olson will be in the infield positions. Lowrie leads the team in hitting, and Olson has found the stroke that got him 24 homers in 59 games last year. Olson had four homers in his last four games. Mark Canha, MattJoyce, Dustin Powell, and Stephen Piscotty play solid defense in the outfield, and all have produced.

The Rangers’ pitching has been less than stellar this season. Their ace, Cole Hamels, is 3-5 with an ERA of 3.63. Hamels wants out of Texas and wants to be traded to a contender. He’s hoping the Yankees will trade for him, but the Rangers may demand more than the Yankees want to give up. Colon, Matt Moore. Doug Fister and Mike Minor are not going to have opposing teams quaking in their boots.

The Rangers’ veteran third baseman, Adrian Beltre, has been on the DL a couple of times this season and he is hitting .304 but has just one home run and 13 RBIs. Big Joey Gallo hits a lot of home runs, but he also strikes out a lot and is hitting just .205. Shortstop Elvis Andrus is still on the DL with a fractured elbow, but he could return soon. Jurickson Profar and Rougned Odor fill in at short and second baseman. Odor is having an off-year, and Isiah Kiner-Falefa will see time playing second base.

Shin-Soo Choo, Delino DeShields, and Nomar Mazara will be the outfielders.

After the two-game set with Texas the A’s return home to play four with the Kansas City Royals, three with Houston, and three with the LA Angels.

San Francisco Giants podcast with Morris Phillips: Rodriguez with fantastic rookie start; Holland goes after fifth straight win tonight

Published on by Sports Radio ServiceLeave a comment

Photo credit: @NBCSGiants

On the San Francisco Giants podcast with Morris Phillips:

Son of Hall of Fame catcher Ivan Rodriguez, San Francisco Giants starter Dereck Rodriguez, might have punched his ticket to the big leagues with a Major League win in his debut in a 6-1 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies.

Rodriguez is the first Giants rookie to pitch for win in his big league debut since Ryan Sadowski did it in August 2009 against the Houston Astros at Minute Maid Field. Rodriguez said that the Giants offense helped battle back the Phillies when they rallied for five runs in the sixth inning.

After 159 at-bats since his last homer, the Giants’ Andrew McCutchen tagged a homer to right field–a very difficult place to hit one out at AT&T Park. The last right-handed batter to get a big fly out over the right field fence was Nick Hundley on May 2nd.

Tonight, the Giants will start Derek Holland, whose on a four-game win streak and will open the series at AT&T against the visiting Arizona Diamondbacks with a 7:15 PDT first pitch.

Morris Phillips does the Giants podcasts each Monday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

 

Olson provides the big blow in A’s 5-1 win over the Royals

Published on by moepeaLeave a comment

By Morris Phillips

The Royals had a guy who normally settles for singles, hit a long home run. The A’s had a guy who needs to prove that he can navigate big league hitters without allowing home runs, give up that long home run.

But late in the ballgame with the outcome in the balance, the A’s had another guy who’s being groomed to hit big home runs, hit one, and off they went to a 5-1 win on getaway day in Kansas City.

Matt Olson’s three-run shot highlighted an eighth inning rally and stood as the difference maker as the A’s captured a series on the road, after dropping their previous series against the Rays at home.

“3-0 any chance you get is one of the best fastball counts nowadays. He threw one over the plate and I was ready for it,” Olson said of reliever Burch Smith’s offering which traveled an estimated 454 feet off the A’s first baseman’s bat.

Olson’s home run was his fourth in the last four games, and proof that the A’s patience in the young slugger is paying off. Olson hit 24 home runs in an abbreviated 2017, and now he’s hit 12 this season, which ranks him behind only Khris Davis on the A’s. Despite a rough 20-game stretch beginning in April, and finishing in May, Olson is settling into his roles as a slugger and an everyday first baseman.

“You look at his numbers right now, he’s on a pretty good pace even though he might’ve got off to a little bit of a slower start than maybe he would’ve imagined,” manager Bob Melvin said of Olson.

While Jed Lowrie was credited with knocking in the game-winning run with his RBI single ahead of Olson’s blast, the first baseman drew all the attention. Like the team, Olson’s heating up.

The A’s scored 24 runs in three games in Kansas City, after they scored just 15 runs in the first nine games of the just completed home stand. Attribute the better play on the road to warmer weather, bigger crowds, increased focus, or none of the above, the A’s have won six of seven away from the Coliseum.

A’s starter Daniel Gossett went five innings, allowing two hits and a run. But after he exhibited some discomfort on the mound in the fifth, the decision was made to lift the right-handed due to elbow tightness. Gossett threw just 63 pitches, but that’s still an impressive outing for a guy who was 4-11 in 2017, and 0-3 this season.

The rail-thin Gossett allowed three, consecutive home runs in his previous start at the Coliseum against Tampa Bay. In his big league career now spanning 115 innings, he’s allowed 26 round-trippers while striking out just 84. So while Gossett can rush the ball to the plate at 92 mph on the average, he needs to prove that he can thrive in today’s MLB heavily weighted on limiting home runs and piling up strikeouts.

So how did Gossett do in that regard on Sunday?

Despite allowing just two hits, Kansas City’s John Jay took Gossett yard, the blast traveling 414 feet in the third to tie the game, 1-1. With that homer, Jay snapped a streak of 442 at-bats without a home run, the lengthiest such streak among all major leaguers who aren’t pitchers.

Not quite a good sign for Gossett. Or Jay. The former Cardinal leads the struggling Royals with a .305 batting average, and his 58 singles ranks second among major leaguers this season. But while Jay put up player-of the-month numbers in May, hitting .368 with 43 hits, the power was missing, and the Royals went 12-15.

So in regards to the newfangled, power game, Sunday was thumbs up for Olson, and thumbs down for Jay and Gossett. Funny how that works.

On Tuesday, the A’s resume their trip in Texas with Sean Manaea (1-4 in his last five starts) facing former Giant Matt Moore (1-5 in 10 appearances).

 

 

That’s Amaury’s News and Commentary: World Cup Russia 2018 and USA 1994

Published on by Sports Radio ServiceLeave a comment

Photo credit: @DailyMirror

By: Amaury Pi Gonzalez

The United States did not qualify for this upcoming World Cup. However, I did have the privilege of covering the 1994 USA World Cup for Telemundo Bay Area–the only World Cup ever in the USA–and had great memories of that event.

Like, for example, my exclusive one-on-one interview with the great Edson Arantes do Nascimiento, who’s better known as Pelé. The Brazilian forward is also known as the greatest fútbol player of all time. He came to the USA as an ambassador to FIFA and I recall that he was wearing a sports jacket with the MasterCard logo, one of the biggest worldwide sponsors at that time. I have a photo with him and he even autographed his photo for me. You could not ask for a better person to represent his country of Brazil or the sport in general. I was lucky and privileged to cover the Brazilian team that won the 1994 US World Cup since their plane arrived at San José International Airport. That year (1994), Brazil had the great Bora Milutinovic as their head coach. Milutinovic was born in Serbia and previously coached México, Costa Rica, USA, Nigeria and China.

Brazil also had great players, whom I interviewed as a sports anchor for CH 48 San José, like Bebeto and Romario. It was truly a pleasure to cover that 1994 World Cup in person. A truly unforgettable experience.

The World Cup is arguably the greatest sporting event in the world. Billions of people watch on television and listen on radio all around the world. This World Cup in Russia is just around the corner as it starts on 14 June and ends on 15 July.

From our continent, these are the teams that qualified for the event: Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, México, Panamá, Perú and Uruguay.

Brazil has won the World Cup five times in 1958, 1962, 1970, 1994 and 2002. Argentina has won two in 1978 and 1986. Uruguay has won two in 1930 and 1950. Colombia, Costa Rica,México,Panamá and Perú have never won. The official languages of the World Cup are English and French.

How come the USA did not qualify? Back in October 2017, the US men’s national team was embarrassed as they lost 2-1 to Trinidad and Tobago. The USA only needed a win or a tie, to qualify for the World Cup. Trinidad and Tobago is a small island in the Caribbean with a population of 1.3 million people. It’s incredible to believe that a small island with very limited resources would beat the USA with all the money and resources in the world. But it happened.

But FIFA is not free of scandals. In November 2017, they were found guilty of millions of dollars in “inducements” to secure contracts to televise matches in a New York City courtroom. This includes the bribes sought by FIFA executives with the power to determine World Cup hosts. There were a number of death threats for cooperating with investigators. Also, dozens of individuals along with two corporations have been indicted, including nine FIFA officials and five businessmen. Anyway, the corruption has been well-documented around the world in many courts of law.

In less than two weeks, Russia will host the 64 matches that spread over 1,800 miles in 12 stadiums in the 2018 World Cup. Their largest venue, Luzhniki Stadium (Moscow), is one of the newest ones with a 81,000 capacity. The stadium reopened this year and it is here that the first game on June 14 will take place as well as the last game and final 31 days later.

Luzhniki Stadium was also the main venue for the 1980 Summer Olympic Games and had a capacity of 103,000 at that time. In 1992, the stadium was renamed Luzhniki Stadium. In 1996, extensive renovation saw the construction of a roof over the stands, and the refurbishment of the seating areas, which resulted in a decrease in a capacity to 81,000.

Germany was the last World Cup Champion. I do not have a favorite on this World Cup, but I wish you all the very best and may the best team win.

In the United States, FOX and Telemundo have the rights for this World Cup.