Tag: Hank Aaron

That’s Amaury News and Commentary: 2024 Opening Day – Last Hurrah for the A’s in Oakland?

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Oakland Coliseum memories:

Amaury Pi-González interviewing Hank Aaron in 1976, at the Oakland Coliseum when Aaron was playing with the Milwaukee Brewers of the American League. He had already broken Babe Ruth’s Homerun record wearing the Atlanta Braves uniform in 1974. (photo from the author Amaury Pi Gonzalez)

That’s Amaury News and Commentary

By Amaury Pi-González

OAKLAND–Opening Night is tomorrow, Thursday, March 28, 2024, 7 PM at the Oakland-Alameda-County Coliseum. This could be the last Opening of a Season for the Athletics at Oakland, or maybe not.

Oakland city officials and the Oakland A’s have been meeting to discuss extending their lease at the Oakland Coliseum after this 2024 season for about three years before the team relocates to Sin City. But why worry? This is just like the weather; we cannot control it.

For A’s fans and some of us in the media, memories of the Oakland Coliseum go back for decades. I think many great moments no one could take away from my memory are engraved in what an old friend of mine used to call the Oakland Mausoleum.

This was the first team I broadcast in Spanish, and for one reason or another, I always find my way back to the A’s and the Coliseum, although I have also broadcast for the Giants, Angels, and Mariners throughout the years.

Although for years, since I could not do enough baseball games at Oakland, I broadcast two teams (home games) during the same years it was once the A’s and the Mariners, the Giants and the Mariners, and the A’s and the LA Angels radio and then Fox TV down in Anaheim.

However, the Bay Area has been my home, where I raised my family since I first arrived here in 1969 after serving in the US Army. This is my home, and the Oakland Coliseum is my park, for better or for worse.

Postseason playoffs included World Series, three of them 1989-90-91. I enjoyed broadcasting for the Green and Gold. Also, the 1987 MLB All-Star Game took place here at the Oakland-Alameda-County Coliseum, which I covered. Since 1977, when the owner of the A’s, Charlie O Finley, told me, “You can broadcast the games in Mexican”.

I think Mr. Finley thought that Mexican was a language, not a nationality; I remember telling him and Carl Finley that it is called Spanish (a politically correct language that did not exist back then).

The Coliseum has been my second home for many years. I have met and interviewed many great major league league players, from rookies who became Hall of Famers, like Rickey Henderson, to other players from visiting teams. There are many more memories, too many to list here.

For years, the Oakland Raiders shared the Coliseum with the A’s and the Warriors. The Warriors played next door at the Oakland Arena from 1971 to 2019. I was an employee of the Warriors as their only history Play-by-play announcer in Spanish, doing all games home and road in the 1990s.

Before inter-league became a reality in 1997, many of the greatest players in the American League played against the A’s at the Coliseum, including the great Henry(Hank) Aaron, among many others.

In 1997, I remember calling the first-ever regular-season inter-league game, which took place on June 12, 1977, at The Ballpark in Arlington, Texas, as the Rangers faced the San Francisco Giants.

I wish the A’s continued playing for a few more years here at the Oakland Coliseum until they depart for Las Vegas, but if this is their last year here, so be it. And like the great Bob Hope’s signature song says, “Thanks for the Memories.”

Quote: “Nobody ever said, “Work Ball”. They say, “Play Ball!” To me, that means having fun!” – Willie Stargell

Join Amaury Pi Gonzalez for all the action on the Oakland A’s Spanish radio network at 1010 KIQI San Francisco and 990 KATD Pittsburg and News and Commentary at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

That’s Amaury News and Commentary: Gurriel Jr signs 3 yr $42 million deal with Diamondbacks; Ohtani and Acuna win the Hank Aaron Award; plus more news

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Arizona Diamondbacks Lourdes Gurriel Jr joins the Arizona Diamondbacks agreeing to a three year $42 million deal on Sun Dec 17, 2023 (USA Today photo)

On That’s Amaury News and Commentary:

#1 Lourdes Gurriel Jr will be returning to the Arizona Diamondbacks on a $42 million three year deal. Gurriel gets a fourth year option on his three contract. The deal also includes an opt out on the second year of the contract. Gurriel hit .261, with 144 hits and 24 home runs. How much of a good deal is this for Gurriel and the Diamondbacks.

#2 Shohei Ohtani and Ronald Acuna are both racking up trophies. This time they both win the Hank Aaron Award for most offensive performer. Ohtani hit .304, 151 hits, and 44 home runs. Ohtani will not pitch but be the Los Angeles Dodgers designated hitter for the 2024 season. Acuna hit .337, 217 hits and had 106 RBIs.

#3 Texas Rangers pitcher Max Scherzer who had off season back surgery will not be expected to be back until June or July. Scherzer was suffering back pain and was removed from last season’s World Series. His pain didn’t stop when he got home to Florida and was later diagnosed with a herniated disc.

#4 Over the weekend Amaury, the San Francisco Giants and Boston Red Sox threw their ball caps into the Yoshinobu Yamamoto sweepstakes joining the Mets, Yankees, Dodgers. Yamamoto has met with the Mets twice. These clubs have each put in a starting bid of $300 million for Yamamoto. The pressure is mounting Amaury which team will it be?

#5 It didn’t take long after being acquired by the Atlanta Braves from the San Diego Padres Matt Carpenter was released after one week. The Braves will lose around $4 million on the deal in 2022 Carpenter hit .305, with 15 home runs and 37 RBIs. Carpenter played for the Yankees from May 26 to Aug 8th. Carpenter he broke his foot on a foul ball and got back into post season on going 1 for 12 with nine strikeouts.

Join Amaury for News and Commentary podcasts Tuesdays at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

No players selected to be in Baseball’s Hall of Fame this year

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Former Boston Red Sox Curt Schilling who failed election in to the MLB Hall of Fame on Tue Jan 26, 2021 namely because of his controversial political views requested to be taken off next year’s ballot and will try and get in in front of the Veteran Committee in 2022 (MassLive.com file photo)

By Jerry Feitelberg

The eligible members of the BBWAA (baseball writers association of America) did not select any player to the Hall of Fame this year. It was the first time since 1960 that they did not select a player. A player needs 75% of the vote to make it to the Hall. Players have ten years of eligibility. They can gain entrance later if selected by a committee of former players.

There were three players on the ballot that had the best chance of getting selected. They are pitchers Curt Schilling and Roger Clemens. The other player is Barry Bonds. All three are in the ninth year of eligibility.

Schilling received 71% of the vote. He has asked the people at the Hall of Fame to remove him from the ballot next year. He claims that he is willing to take his chances with the players’ committee. The Hall is considering his request. Many people think that Schilling didn’t get the 75% required for entrance due to his political views.

Schilling holds extreme right-wing positions. Many people were shocked that he allegedly made remarks supporting the people who attacked and vandalized the Capitol on January 6th, 2021.

The Hall of Fame vote took place before the attack but might affect the vote later this year. The Hall of Fame is a museum. Many people in the Hall have character less than sterling. The Hall voters have to vote on the players’ performance. Is Schilling worthy enough to be in the Hall? He won 219 games in his career.

Schilling is a three-time World Champion. He won one with the Arizona Diamondbacks and two with the Boston Red Sox. His courage and fortitude on the mound can not be questioned. His performance in game six of the 2004 AL Championship series is legendary. He beat the Yankees to send the series to game seven. The Red Sox won that game and then beat the St Louis Cardinal to win the World Series for the first time in 86 years.

Roger Clemens won over 350 games with the Red Sox, Toronto Blue Jays, New York Yankees, and Houston Astros. He won seven Cy Young Awards as the best pitcher in the American League. His numbers should mean induction into the Hall.

The fly in the ointment is the claim that he, allegedly, used performance enhancing drugs. Clemens never failed a drug test. He received about 61 % of the vote last year and about the same this year. His chances of getting in next year are slim. He will have to wait until later.

Barry Bonds was one of the best hitters ever to put on a uniform to play baseball. Bonds won the National League’s Most Valuable Player Award seven times. No other player in Major League history has won it more than three times.

Bonds holds the single-season record for most home runs with 73. He broke Henry Aaron’s record of 755 homers in a career in 2007. He finished his career with 762. Bonds, like Clemens, never failed a drug test. He, too, had to deal with accusations that he used performance-enhancing drugs.

There may be people in the Hall that used steroids to help them hit or pitch. Many voters are not willing to vote for players that “cheated.” Some voters are willing to say that Clemens and Bonds using steroids during those years was not illegal.

Attendance at baseball games dropped after the player’s strike in 1994. The teams’ owners looked the other way when Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa sent balls flying out of the parks in 1998. McGwire finished with 70, and Sosa had 66. Clemens and Bonds will have to wait. They have the numbers for entrance. Many people believe they should be included. Only time will tell.

Jerry Feitelberg is an Oakland A’s beat writer for http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Headline Sports podcast with Barbara Mason: Will Kawhi say goodbye to Toronto?; Giants’ Pomeranz throws heat, strikes out 11 Rockies Monday night; plus more

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Photo credit: @ChrisBHaynes

On Headline Sports podcast with Barbara:

#1 Will Kawhi Leonard bolt from the Toronto Raptors? It looks like Leonard will decline the $21.3 million player option and will consider becoming a free agent. There is talk that Leonard is considering signing on with the Raptors and Leonard said he love playing in Toronto so much last season why ruin an opportunity and re-up with the Raptors again.

#2 San Francisco Giant starter Drew Pomeranz, who had some very rough outings this season, has also had some successful games. Monday night against the Colorado Rockies was one of them throwing for 11 strikeouts at Oracle Park after throwing 93 pitches was lifted in the bottom of the fifth inning.

#3 The New York Mets are going through some rough times. There is talk that the Mets general manager Brodie Van Wagenen has been making in game moves and over ruling Mets manager Mickey Callaway. What’s so bizarre about it is Callaway has followed Van Wagenen’s decisions resulting in the Mets finding themselves nine games out of first fourth in the NL East.

#4 The biggest baseball name was Aaron like in Hank Aaron famous for the home run, then there is the New York Yankees’ Aaron Judge, who had a lights out season last season, then there’s the Yankees’ Aaron Hicks, whose home run on Monday night help extend and tie the Major League mark for the most consecutive home runs by a team at 27.

#5 After a young girl Katlin Salazar was hit in the face by a Cody Bellinger bullet, the Los Angeles Dodgers have decided to extend the netting from the dugouts to the foul poles at Dodger Stadium. The bullet hit the girl who was seated four rows just up from the dugout. She had to leave some 15 minutes after being hit and was also paid a visit by Bellinger between innings.

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