Tag: Oakland A’s

That’s Amaury’s News and Commentary podcast: Ex-49er Sherman facing domestic violence charges; Oakland City Council to take vote on A’s ballpark plan Tuesday

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Former San Francisco 49ers and Seattle Seahawk cornerback Richard Sherman seen in photo during Super Bowl 54 vs. the Kansas City Chiefs on Feb 2, 2020 at Miami Gardens Fl (AP file photo) 

On That’s Amaury’s podcast:

#1 Former San Francisco 49er cornerback Richard Sherman said he was prepared to fight police after Sherman’s wife called them after he drank two bottles of hard liquor Wednesday morning. Sherman said he was going to kill himself. Sherman tried to leave the house but his wife tried to stop him from leaving.

#2 Sherman left his house and crashed his vehicle and attempted to break into his in laws house and fought police who later used a police dog to arrest Sherman. This is very unusual behavior by Sherman who has never been in any kind of trouble like this before.

#3 Talking about the Oakland A’s situation MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred said the A’s are near the end of being rooted in Oakland as the Oakland City Council votes on Tues Jul 20th. A’s president David Kaval is prepared to fly to Las Vegas after the vote to look for a location for the A’s new stadium.

#4 Shouldn’t Manfred had done what past Commissioners have done and give a buyer a chance to purchase the A’s and keep the team in Oakland before allowing the to move. Owner John Fisher said the team is not for sale but there should be some constitution in the baseball by laws that says the team must be put up for sale before being allowed to move.

#5 If the A’s move out of Oakland they’ll be taking a very rich history with them. Two that come to mind the A’s three straight World Series wins from 1972-74 and the A’s three straight World Series appearances 1988-1990.

Amaury Pi Gonzalez is the vice president of the Major League Baseball Hispanic Heritage Hall of Fame Museum and does News and Commentary at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Oakland A’s report: Build it and they will come

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By Jerry Feitelberg

MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred tries to laugh off being booed after being introduced at the MLB 2021 baseball draft on Sun Jul 11, 2021 in Denver (AP News photo) 

OAKLAND–On Tuesday, MLB’s commissioner, Rob Manfred, announced that time has run out for the City of Oakland to make a final decision to support the A’s very ambitious project at the Howard Terminal.

The City Council meets on July 20th to announce their decision. Failure to join in with the A’s to build the stadium means the A’s probably will be looking elsewhere to build their new stadium. Possible sites include Portland, Oregon, Las Vegas, Nevada, Charlotte, North Carolina, and Montreal, Canada.

The A’s, without question, need a new ballpark. The Oakland Coliseum was built to be the home of two sports: baseball and football. The current configuration for baseball has the fans sitting too far away from the infield.

The Coliseum does not have the intimacy of a ballpark, such as Oracle Park in San Francisco, Camden Yards in Baltimore or Boston’s Fenway Park. Before Mt. Davis was built in 1995, the fans sitting in the bleachers could talk to the A’s outfielders. The outfield fence is much higher, and the fans’ view from the seats is much different now.

When Lew Wolfe was running the team, he wanted to move the team to several sites in the Bay Area. He looked at sites in Fremont and San Jose. The San Francisco Giants, who own territorial rights to San Jose, objected.

The Giants gained those rights when they were on the verge of moving the franchise to Toronto or Tampa Bay. The Giants built their new stadium in San Francisco but were not willing to relinquish their rights.

The A’s new president, Dave Kaval, thought he had a deal to build a stadium on the grounds of Laney College in Oakland. He had egg on his face with that highly-touted deal fell through. Undaunted, the A’s came up with a new plan to build at Howard Terminal, a few blocks north of Jack London Square in Oakland.

The original plan, or so though Oakland’s city council, was to build a baseball-only ballpark to be privately financed. The park would seat about 35,000 people.

They were blindsided when the A’s came to them will a 12 billion dollar project that would include not only the stadium but 3000 units of housing, over a million square feet of office buildings, and 200,000 square feet of retail space.

They informed the city that Oakland would have to invest over 855 million dollars to build the project. The A’s tried to show the council that those costs would be recouped by the new tax revenues generated by the project. They felt the additional jobs, homes, and businesses would greatly benefit the city’s economy.

The A’s and Oakland have to resolve several issues. Who will be paying for infrastructure costs? Access to the park and parking issues will have to be settled. Oakland wants the A’s to stay in town for the next 45 years.

The A’s will commit to 20. If the plan is to be approved by Oakland, it has to be a win-win situation. Both sides have to realize there is more to gain than lose.

The fans will be crushed to lose their team. Life will go on if the A’s leave town, but it will leave a big hole in the hearts of the people that have supported this team since their arrival here in 1968.

Oakland A’s podcast with Jerry Feitelberg: A’s Bassitt and Olson make appearances during All Star game

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Oakland A’s pitcher Chris Bassitt seen here pitching in the first inning against the Texas Rangers on Sun Jul 11, 2021 in Arlington the day before the All Star break. Bassitt pitched for an inning on Tue Jul 13, 2021 against the National League All Stars in Denver (AP file photo)

On the Oakland A’s podcast with Jerry F:

#1 Before we get started with the A’s podcast Jerry do you think that ESPN’s Stephen A Smith has lost credibility with his audience or will has apology regarding his remarks that Los Angeles Angels designated hitter and pitcher Shohei Ohtani can’t speak English and his needing an interpreter is ruining baseball.

#2 American League and Oakland A’s pitcher Chris Bassitt pitched an inning, one hit, and two walks, one strikeout talk about Bassitt’s outing against the National League.

#3 Matt Olson whose been hitting home runs was 0-1 striking out twice playing first base for the American League Olson was eliminated in the first round

#4 Oakland A’s president Dave Kaval acknowledged that the City of Oakland City Council needs to pass the vote for Howard Terminal or the A’s are leaving Oakland for good. The A’s and the City are half a billion dollars apart on infrastructure costs so much so that Kaval is prepared to take a flight to Las Vegas the day after the July 20th vote to explore relocating the A’s to Vegas.

#5 Jerry just to get your impressions on the kind of second half the A’s are expected to have.

Join Jerry for the A’s podcasts each Thursday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Oakland A’s Mid-Season analysis for first half 2021 season

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American League slugger Matt Olson representing the Oakland A’s watches the flight of the ball he hit during the first round of the Home Run Derby at Coors Field on Mon Jul 12, 2021 (AP News photo)

By Jerry Feitelberg

The Oakland A’s are off for the next four days as MLB holds its annual All-star game festivities this week. Monday night’s activities include the annual Home Run Derby. A’s first baseman, Matt Olson, will compete against seven other sluggers for the crown.

He will have to beat the likes of Shohei Ohtani, who leads MLB with 33 dingers, Toronto’s Vladimir Guerrero, Jr, and San Diego’s Fernando Tatis. It will not be easy, but the contest will be fun. The A’s best pitcher, Chris Bassitt, will also be in Denver as part of the American League’s pitching staff.

The rest of the A’s will be at home getting a well-deserved four-day rest. The baseball season, as fans know, is a grueling, grinding marathon for six months. There are not very many off-days throughout the season. The four days give the players to rest their weary bodies.

The A’s season did not start well. They lost the first six games of the season. Fans were concerned the team would not be able to overcome the poor start. A’s manager, Bob Melvin, would have liked the team to get off to a fast start, but that didn’t happen.

What made matters worse was the first four losses were to their main division rivals, the Houston Astros. The A’s then lost two more games to the LA Dodgers.

Things improved when they beat the Dodgers for their first win. The A’s got back on track with an amazing 13-game winning streak. The A’s were able to continue to play winning baseball. They found themselves in first place in the AL Western Division.

After the first 70 games of the year, they owned a two-game advantage over the Astros. However, they were 8-13 since then and now trail the Astros by three and 1/2 games. Their problems started when they went on a 4-6 on a ten-game road trip to New York, Dallas, and San Francisco.

They came home to face the Rangers and the Red Sox for a short six-game homestand. They went 2-4. They placed the next six games on the road against the Astros and Rangers. Houston took two out three and owned a 9-4 record against Oakland with six games left to play late in the season.

The A’s lost the first game of the three-game set to the Rangers last Friday night. They outlasted the Rangers 8-4 in eleven innings on Saturday and beat Texas 4-1 on Sunday to finish with a 50-42 record.

What are the takeaways for the season? At this point, the A’s have to be very pleased with the pitching staff’s performance. Chris Bassitt has been their ace. Bassitt has a record of 1-2 with an ERA of 3.28. He has gone seven innings in several of his last ten starts and leads the A’s with 118 pitched.

Being able to go seven innings has allowed the A’s to keep the bullpen fresh. Sean Manaea has pitched well. The Big lefty’s record is 6-6 and has an ERA of 3.19. Frankie Montas is 8-7, and his ERA is 4.41. Montas has pitched, but a couple of rocky starts has pushed his ERA to over four runs per game.

Lefty Cole Irvin has been a pleasant surprise. Irvin is 6-8 with an ERA of 3.65. The A’s hitters failed to give him support in some of the games that he lost. Righty James Kaprielian has been another find. The big righty who pitched his collegiate ball at UCLA is 4-3 with an ERA of 2.90. Kaprielian came to Oakland in the trade that sent Sonny Gray to New York in 2017.

Kaprielian was sidelined with injuries, and he is now showing the A’s why the Yankees made him a number one draft pick several years ago.

Bob Melvin has to be pleased with the A’s bullpen’s performance. The A’s lost their All-Star closer, Liam Hendriks, to free agency last winter. They signed Trevor Rosenthal to a one-year $11 million contract to replace Hendriks. Rosenthal injured his shoulder in spring training and, hopefully, will return in August. Bob Melvin decided to use lefty Jake Diekman and righty Lou Trivino as the closer.

Diekman had a wonderful 2020 season. He was lights out. Not so much this season. He still has done well and has recorded seven saves. Lou Trivino, a sensation in 2018, struggled the last two seasons. Trivino worked to improve, and Sweet Lou has responded to the challenge. Trivino has 14 saves and an ERA of 1.84 for Oakland. Yusmeiro Petit has been good again. J.B. Wendelken, Deolis Guerra, Sergio Romo all have come through for Oakland.

The A’s offense has been a work in progress. The A’s lineup on Sunday had just two players hitting over .250. Matt Olson leads the A’s with a .282 batting average with 23 home runs and 59 RBIs. Jed Lowrie was second on the team with a .263 average.

Lowrie, who hadn’t played in the last two years as a New York Met, returned to Oakland the third time. Jed can still swing the bat. Ramon Laureano and Tony Kemp are hitting about .240. Laureano has some pop in his bat with 13 dingers and 31 RBIs.

Kemp was hitting about.280 a couple of weeks ago, but his bat went cold. Sean Murphy and Matt Chapman are at the .220 mark. Murphy homered in the last two games against Texas.

Chapman missed the last part of last season with a hip injury. He had surgery. Matt struggled early in the season. He has been doing better lately. Elvis Andrus arrived via a trade with the Rangers. The A’s needed to replace Marcus Semien, who left to play second base with the Toronto Blue Jays.

Semien is having a terrific season and made the All-Star team. Andrus struggled early in the season. He has been hitting well the last six weeks, and his average is about .238. Mitch Moreland is currently on the 10-day IL. It is the second time this season for Moreland.

The A’s need his bat back in the lineup. Stephen Piscotty’s average is slightly above the Mendoza line. Piscotty has been injured a couple of times and has not returned to the player that he can be. He did have a huge pinch-hit home run to help win the game last Saturday against Texas.

Billy Beane and David Forst will have to make some decisions regarding the team before the July 30th trade deadline. Rumors are floating around that they are interested in acquiring slugger Nelson Cruz from the Minnesota Twins to fill the DH slot.

Another possibility is trading for Texas Rangers’ outfielder Joey Gallo. Gallo has one year of arbitration left and will be a free agent after the 2022 season. The Rangers are paying him 6.2 million dollars. The A’s could handle his salary easily.

Those two big bats would put a lot more power into the A’s lineup. Right now, the only consistent power hitter in the A’s lineup is Matt Olson. The A’s may also be looking to acquire help either for the starting rotation or the bullpen.

The A’s want to win the division. If the season ended today, the A’s would be the second Wild Card. They would have to travel to St. Petersburg to face the Tampa Bay Rays.

The A’s hitters need to improve if they want to make the playoffs and win the pennant. Right now, the team has not been able to hit with men in scoring position.

The team, as a whole, strikes out too much. They need to put the bat on the ball. In the past few years, the A’s have played better in the second half of the season. Let’s hope the A’s will do well. The fans in the Bay Area would love to see another World Series between the A’s and the San Francisco Giants. It could happen.

Jerry Feitelberg covers Oakland A’s road games for the 2021 season for http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Oakland A’s podcast with Barbara Mason: All Star picks Oakland gets no love; Bassitt lone representative of second place team

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Oakland A’s pitcher Chris Bassitt seen pitching against the Texas Rangers on Wed Jun 30, 2021 will be the A’s lone representative at the 2021 All Star Game in Denver on Tue Jul 13, 2021 (AP file photo)

On the A’s podcast with Barbara:

#1 If your Oakland A’s pitcher Chris Bassitt (10-2 ERA 3.28) you had to work you tail off to get some attention in order to be selected by Tampa Bay and American League manager Kevin Cash as Bassitt is the lone A’s representative at the All Star game.

#2 Bassitt has had such a outstanding year losing only two games and winning ten he’s had some strong outings this season.

#3 Although he’s has a 3.28 ERA in the last seven games he’s got a 12.46 ERA so his earned run production has been elevated a little.

#4 In Bassitt’s last loss turned out to be against the Houston Astros 9-6 on Tue Jul 6th at Minute Maid Field. Bassitt doesn’t want to have a second half where his ERA get too inflated.

#5 Oakland A’s slugger Matt Olson will be representing the A’s in the home run derby on Monday. Olson is hitting .282, 23 home runs and 59 RBIs it should be a competitive contest for Olson.

Join Barbara for the A’s podcasts each Monday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

That’s Amaury’s News and Commentary: A’s New Ballpark July 20 might Not be the Day you Expect

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An artist rendering of the Oakland A’s gondola that is expected to take fans from the 12th Street BART station in downtown Oakland to Howard Terminal (photo from Athletics Nation)

A’s New Ballpark July 20 might Not be the Day you Expect

That’s Amaury News and Commentary

By Amaury Pi-Gonzalez

OAKLAND–The Oakland Athletics last champions of the American League Western Division go into the All Star Break with a winning record for the third consecutive season and in second place 3 1/2 games behind the Houston Astros. July 20 will mark an important vote by the Oakland City Council to open the way for the construction of the Howard Terminal park.

Here are some key points:

1-The A’s committed to $450 million construction for the ballpark. However, the overall project on the table is in the billions.

2- The A’s will commit to a 20-year non-relocation agreement, but the City of Oakland wants a deal that will keep the team in Oakland for 45 years.

s3-City of Oakland, under the law, requires developers include affordable housing in projects, the A’s want an exemption. The team want future taxes to take care of that, Oakland City Council has a big problem with that.

4-Oakland taxpayers are still ‘not over’ on past leases/deals with the Raiders and Warriors and they are on the hook for millions of dollars after both teams left. This has nothing to do with the City or the A’s, but figures greatly in the minds of residents and voters.

5-Chinatown is less than one mile from the proposed site of the Howard Terminal Park. Traffic and parking will present a challenge. The amount of parking spaces (the team proposed 2,000 parking spaces) at the ballpark for the 35,000 seat ballpark and would affect the Chinatown neighborhood and their financial future.

It is more than just the building of the new baseball park. There are many moving pieces here that the City of Oakland and the Oakland A’s still will have to agree on. The Jack London Square/Port of Oakland area where the Howard Terminal is to be built is a busy place. Amtrak trains go-by right there in the streets of Oakland and that could be problematic during game-day crowds, walking from BART station at 12th street, as fans will have to cross train tracks.

Other modes of transportation for the one-mile walk, like Gondolas have been proposed, but more than likely bridges for people crossing would have to be build, infrastructure is key for safety of the people attending a baseball game.

In conclusion: This July 20 the Oakland City Council vote might not be the last one or decisive that many believe it will be; they already have said they might need more time to analyze the financial impact and we might have to wait at least until September. In the meantime Las Vegas looms as A’s officials have already made a few “scouting” trips to Sin City.

The Oakland City Council has a full plate these days and some issues that believe it or not, are more important than keeping the A’s in Oakland. Amid a recent spike in homicides and crime in general, the Oakland City Council voted to defund the police as they diverted $18 million from the police department into community prevention programs, prompting Oakland Police Chief LeRonne Armstrong to strongly voice his displeasure with such policy as he said “This will make it tougher having less officers on the field, particularly for marginalized communities like deep East Oakland” and added “We see clearly that crime is out of control in the City of Oakland, and our response was for less police resources”. According to all official stats, homicides, shootings, robberies and carjackings are up at alarming pace in Oakland.

I want the Athletics to stay in Oakland, where they belong. but Las Vegas doesn’t present any of the hurdles the team encounters at the proposed site in the City of Oakland. The construction of Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, home of the Raiders took less than three years to be built. The Athletics and the City of Oakland cannot stop time, the clock keeps ticking.

The best option still remains. If there was a plan to keep the A’s and build in the current location, that would be an asset. I challenge anybody to tell me another pro-sports facility in the Bay Area with better access than the Oakland Coliseum.

Highway 880 to the west and BART station a 10-15 minute walk from the Coliseum, to the east. Plus an Amtrak, Capitol Corridor train, with scheduled stop at the Coliseum, those trains travel between San José and Sacranmento. where fans also come to watch A’s baseball.

There is plenty of land to re-develop that area, around the Coliseum. Mr. Rob Manfred, Commissioner of Baseball doesn’t support that idea and that is why he told the A’s to look for another location, or say Adiós to the Bay Area.

And so it goes. The Athletics return home for their first home-stand post-All Star Break on Friday July 16 for the first of 3 games against the Cleveland Indians then a quick 2-game set vs. the divisional rivals Los Angeles Angels.

Amaury Pi Gonzalez is the lead Spanish play by play announcer for the Oakland A’s on flagship station 1010 KIQI LeGrande San Francisco and does News and Commentary at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Derby Prep: Olson goes deep twice in All-Star Break finale win over the Rangers

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By Morris Phillips

Matt Olson got into the swing of things–Home Run Derby style–by homering twice in the A’s 4-1 win over the Rangers on Sunday. But Olson wasn’t the only one swinging for the fences.

Jed Lowrie and Sean Murphy homered back-to-back in the second inning.

With Chris Bassitt on a career-best roll, winning his 10th consecutive decision with seven innings of near flawless pitching, the A’s finished the first half of the season with a pair of wins after dropping 13 of their previous 19 contests.

Not surprisingly, Olson slumped as the team did: the slugging first baseman had just one homer in his previous 18 games coming into Sunday. Now he settles into his role as an All-Star and Home Run Derby participant with 23 bombs on the season.

“In the past we’ve been a home run-hitting team,” Olson said. “It was good to get back and see some leave the yard.”

The A’s have hit 115 home runs in their 92 games thus far, putting them well above the league average of 106, and among the top ten home run hitting clubs in MLB. Still, their offense has been spotty, surprisingly more so at home in the Coliseum, but the starting pitching has been exemplary, and the bullpen has been above average despite the absence of closer Trevor Rosenthal.

“Obviously we’d like to be in first place in the division and we’re not, but hopefully we come out and whatever that second half magic is we’ve had in the past, we keep it going,” Olson said.

The A’s trail the division-leading Astros by 3 1/2 games heading into the break after leading the division for 60 days, and now trailing the Astros for 20 days.

Bassitt improved to 10-2 on the season by pitching far better than he did in his start at Houston, in which he allowed six runs but somehow avoided a loss in a game the team lost 9-6. This time, Bassitt allowed an RBI double to Nick Solak and only four hits in total.

Rangers starter Koby Allard not only needs a break, he needs a break from the A’s specifically as he lost to Oakland for the third time in the last 18 days, and has dropped five, consecutive starts to the A’s. Allard allowed all four A’s home runs, and three of the four traveled over 400 feet.

The A’s open the second half at home against Cleveland and the Angels, but the homestand only spans five games before the team hits the road for a three-city, 10-game trip.

A’s rally for four runs in 11th to beat Rangers 8-4

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Oakland A’s Stephen Piscotty (left) and Jed Lowrie (right) forearm bash after Piscotty’s two run home run in the top of the 11th at Globe Life Park in Arlington Sat Jul 10, 2021 (AP News photo)

A’s Win Marathon Against Rangers 8-4

By Barbara Mason

Saturday afternoon the Oakland A’s took on the Texas Rangers in game two of their series. In game one the A’s suffered a meltdown in the sixth inning after leading 2-0 failing to score again in the game losing 3-2.

They will attempt to get back on the winning track in this second game with James Kaprielian on the mound. The Rangers started Mike Foltynewicz.

The A’s came up empty in the first inning of this game but such was not the case for the Rangers. They hit two solo home runs, one by Gallo and a second by Garcia for a 2-0 lead.

The A’s answered in the second inning with two home runs of their own. Sean Murphy hit a solo homer and Seth Brown hit a second home run to tie up the game at 2-2. It was a sight for sore eyes to see those long shots once agains.

Oakland’s Deolis Guerra came into the sixth inning to relieve Kaprielien with the A’s still in the lead 3-2. James had completed six innings to qualify for the win. The seventh inning for Oakland was a 7 pitch appearance by Yusmeiro Petit and it was on to the eighth inning.

The eighth inning was a tough one for Diekman who allowed a Jonas Heim single and two walks. The Heim single brought in White to tie up the game 3-3. Lou Trivino would close out the inning keeping the damage to a minimum.

After a non-productive ninth inning the game would go into extra innings and a marathon would ensue. The A’s would take the lead in the tenth inning 4-3 when Sean Murphy scored and Oakland would try to hang onto the slim lead. The Rangers were stubborn and tied the game once again 4-4.

The eleventh inning was golden for Oakland. The hits started coming. Olson walked, Lowrie singled and Andrus scored. Olson scored on a wild pitch, the score now 6-4. The A’s sealed the deal with a Stephen Piscotti home run bringing in Lowrie and extending their lead 8-4. Oakland fought hard in this game and it paid off handsomely. The highlights of this game were the four home runs by Murphy, Brown, Lowrie and Piscotti.

While kudos to the team for staying in this game there were still some disappointing performances. The defense as always was solid but Andrus, Olson, Chapman, Bolt and Kemp did not have a single hit all day. Hopefully they will show up for tomorrow’s game to win the series. While it is not uncommon for players to have a slow game, it is curious that all five of these guys couldn’t manage a single hit. Tomorrow is a new day and a chance for another win.

First pitch in tomorrow’s game is scheduled for 11:35.

A’s lose to Texas despite early lead 3-2

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Oakland A’s pitcher Cole Irvin gives up the ball to A’s manager Bob Melvin in the sixth inning at Globe Life Park in Arlington on Fri Jul 9, 2021 (AP News photo)

A’s Lose to Texas Despite Early Lead 3-2

By Barbara Mason

Once again we saw the Oakland A’s build an early lead only to watch it disappear into a losing effort. It is happening far too often resulting in losing series. They had early leads in their series against the Houston Astros losing two of the three games. This team is really struggling right now.

Tonight the A’s seemed to have the game in hand. Cole Irvin had a nice start through five innings but it was the sixth inning that was his undoing. The Rangers Adolis Garcia hit a two-run single pushing Texas past Oakland 3-2. The early hits that the A’s had shut down after the sixth inning. What is even worse is the fact that the Astros lost to the Yankees. A lost opportunity to gain ground in the standings.

Where have the bats gone for Oakland? It has gone back to the same old pattern with a hit here, a hit there. There were no home runs for Oakland in this game and so that has gone stale. There just seems to be something about the Texas Rangers that has the A’s stymied. The Rangers have had their number all season and show no signs of letting up.

The beautiful start that Cole Irvin had through five innings crashed and burned when he allowed three runs in the sixth inning. That was all that the Rangers would need to secure this game. The A’s had the bases loaded in the seventh inning but could not take advantage of it.

The eighth and ninth innings were three up and three down for the Rangers The A’s just could not get a thing going. They will be taking on the Rangers tomorrow in game two hoping to turn this thing around. If they hope to get back into contention something has to change. The defense had a nice game with a number of double plays but ti was the offense that let the team down once agains.

First pitch in Texas will be 1:05 tomorrow afternoon.

Oakland A’s podcast with Jeremiah Salmonson: Montas’ pitching sets tone for A’s going into Texas; Irvin gets the start for A’s against Rangers tonight

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Oakland A’s starter Cole Irvin will start for the A’s in Texas against the Rangers at Globe Life Park in Arlington on Fri Jul 9, 2021 (file photo from Athletics Nation)

On the A’s podcast with Jeremiah:

#1 Oakland A’s pitcher Frankie Montas pitched 6.2 innings five hits and one run quite a line against one of the best hitting line ups in the American League the Houston Astros.

#2 Jeremiah, Montas picked up his seventh win of the season against seven loses this one was a gem he really had good command and it set the tone for the team coming out of a tough place like Houston.

#3 Jeremiah, let’s talk about Montas’ strike outs he struck out ten hitters and when you strike out ten Astro hitters he got the right signals and had his velocity working.

#4 Jeremiah, real quickly on the new ball park issue side of things it was reported that the Oakland City Council was presented the entire Howard Terminal ballpark package one of the sticking points of the package was when it came to infrastructure of the tune of a $12 billion neighborhood redo the city council didn’t see any affordable housing in the A’s new residential or condos could that be a sticking point for city council vote or will David Kaval and the A’s work something out with that regard.

#5 Starting pitchers for Friday night’s game in Texas for the A’s Cole Irvin (6-7 ERA 3.56) for the Rangers Jordan Lyles (4-5 ERA 4.98) a 5:05 pm (PDT) first pitch

Join Jeremiah for the A’s podcasts each Friday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com