Tag: Oakland

That’s Amaury’s News and Commentary: A’s ownership considering building near Coliseum site

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by Amaury Pi Gonzalez

OAKLAND–The question was put to A’s co-owner and managing partner Lew Wolff where if not for Jack London Square’s Howard Terminal is the best place for the A’s? Wolf mentioned the Coliseum “would be where were at right now on land controlled by (the city and county).” Wolff made it clear that a Jack London Square park would be out of the question after a design of what it would look like on the Oakland Waterfront would look like.

There has been reports that if Wolff ever was to sell the A’s and he reiterated that he was no going to sell the club but if he were executives from Clorox bleech, Dreyer’s Ice Cream, Warrior owners Joe Lacob and Peter Gruber were interested in buying the team. It was the first time since Wolff said he wanted to move the team to Fremont or San Jose that he would consider keeping the team in Oakland but it would not be in downtown Oakland.

The new design that was released on Wednesday is located next to the bay by the containers and the horse shaped cranes and would be in proximenty to Jack London Square which is prime downtown location for hotels and restaurant constructon if a new stadium was ever to be constructed there. The key here is that Wolff and co-owner John Fisher said they are not interested in the downtown location, what are you going to do? “All I care about is getting a new home for the A’s in the best possible circumstances, and under any circumstances Howard Terminal would be as close to impossible as anything.” said Wolff.

Wolff and Fisher for the longest while were not convinced that they could not have a place in Oakland but the Coliseum location seems to be of strong interest. Wolff likes that it’s all city and county property that would be all city and county property to build on the land spending public funds and Wolff would pay almost unheard of low rent. The suitors for buying the A’s Clorox, Dreyers and the Warriors would like to build a waterfront ball park in downtown Oakland and develop Jack London square into a shopping, hotel, and condo meca.

Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig said he was not in favor of getting rid of the team but that he said the A’s could not go to San Jose because of the San Francisco Giants territorial rights. We know the city of Oakland wants to keep the A’s we have to go to the Genises of this and Wolff doesn’t want the team at the waterfront but will consider building the team a new stadium at the Coliseum location.

Wolf says BART goes right to the Coliseum and that the only change would be the A’s would get a new park and be in the same location that they always have been in since 1968 and that’s in east Oakland at the Coliseum. Everytime the city of Oakland comes up with a new plan Wolff says it’s not doable. So that plan is what Wolff wants and he wants to build a new stadium for the A’s on public property at the Coliseum site.

Wolff wants to move the team to San Jose but he finally realizes now that he can’t because of the Giants territorial rights and baseball also would not allow it because the Giants would litagate against baseball and Selig does not want a side show over the A’s moving to San Jose. Right now it’s 50-50 and nobody knows how this is going to end up.

Amaury Pi Gonzalez is the Spanish radio voice for Oakland A’s baseball and does That’s Amaury’s News and Commentary

Commissioner says no to A’s move but owners would approve in a vote

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That’s Amaury’s News and Commentary

OAKLAND–Major Leauge Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig during last regular season denied the A’s move to San Jose if you read between the lines. They were asking about the San Jose financial status and if San Jose can support a big league club. It makes no sense to me because in a recent survey San Jose was declared the wealthiest city with over one million people.

Silicon Valley is in the South Bay the only reason that this is happening is because of Giants team president Larry Baer is declaring the team’s territorial rights in San Jose and this might be put to a vote and it’s almost positive that the owners would apporve the move by over a quarter of the majority but it’s the Giants who hold the cards here therefore the A’s are stuck in Oakland and they just recently extended their contract at the Coliseum for two more years.
Eventually something will happen, something will give, it might be that A’s owners Lew Wolf and Don Fisher might get tired of this situation and put the A’s up for sale. For right now the A’s have been denied moving from Oakland to San Jose although that’s not written in blood as we speak it’s not a real definite.
Kings and Warriors arena builds: If the Sacramento Kings can’t build their own arena in downtown Sacramento it would be a shame because Sacramento Mayor Ken Johnson jumped through hoops to keep the team in Sacramento and stopping the team from leaving for Seattle.
When you put a vote like this to the voters who knows you could flip a coin most people in this country are not in the mood to spend tax money on new arenas. Most people 99 percent beleive that most owners have the money to build a new arena. These are the guys who sign players for over $200 million and the average fan or citizen would say they would have the money to build it themselves.
So if the public votes on the new Kings arena and I’m not a betting guy but most people in Sacramento would vote no on spending public money on a new arena. The owners have to be ready to pay and build their own arena. Regarding the Warriors we don’t know the history of San Francisco. All you have to do is look at the Giants and see how many times they tried to build a new stadium with some public money.
The voters turned them down several times until they got approved for Pacific Bell Park, the Warriors want to move to the City at piers 30-32 but right now former San Francisco Mayor Art Agnos is working very hard to prevent the Warriors from moving to the piers. In an election to decide to move the Warriors at the piers won’t be easy it won’t be a matter of “were going to put the Warriors at the piers and that’s all”.
Warriors owners Joe Lacob and Peter Gruber they have great attorneys but they don’t understand the political environmental layout of San Francisco. Even if both Lacob and Gruber could pay for the entire project the voters would vote no because they like the views at the piers just fine.
Amaury Pi Gonzalez is the Spanish radio voice for Oakland A’s baseball and does News and Commentary each week for Sportstalk Radio

A’s proposed move to San Jose

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That’s Amaury News and Commentary

 

OAKLAND–Commissioner Bud Selig’s letter denies the A’s move from Oakland to San José, but…But Selig’s June 17 letter addressed only the details of the stadium relocation proposal – not the principle of relocation, the sources say. MLB questioned the feasibility of that project and felt that insufficient financial information and attendance projections had been provided about a downtown San Jose site. Again: “not the principle of relocation”.

 

To question San Jose’s financial and attendance projections is interesting, because at least on the financial side of the equation the South Bay city is listed as the wealthiest metro area in the United States of America in recent surveys. As far as the attendance is concerned? I do not buy it. San José’s weather is much baseball-like (warmer) than most other Bay Area cities; located inland, not close to the ocean or very close to the bay, it provides perfect baseball weather from April to October. During these days of a very bad economy, there is one industry thriving; the high technology industry, Silicon Valley. Are the Giants afraid of Silicon Valley?

 

Income for most of the 366 metropolitan areas measured by the U.S. Census Bureau are flat in the last year, and many are still down significantly compared to 2008. According to the Census Bureau, Brownsville, Texas replaced McAllen, Texas as the country’s poorest metro area. San Jose, Calif. took the top spot as the wealthiest metro area, replacing Washington, D.C. 24/7 Wall St. reviewed the metropolitan areas with the highest and lowest median incomes in the U.S.

Again: “San José, California, took the top spot as the wealthiest metro area, replacing Washington, D.C”.

 

Obviously (and I have said this for years now) the San Francisco Giants opposition is the biggest hurdle. I do not believe that most Major League teams owners would oppose the move of the Athletics from Oakland to San José. Oakland doesn’t have the resources while San José has an abundance of resources. The Athletics need three-quarters approval of the owners for the proposed move to the south bay.

 

Although they do not say it publicly, what counts are actions not words, and the Giants ownership like to see themselves as “The Bay Area’s Baseball Team”. They have not won the big trophy until 2010, when they won the World Series for the first time in San Francisco in 52 years.

 

Are the Giants afraid that the Athletics with a new park in San José would lose at the gate? Are the Giants afraid that some of their great fans in the south bay, just might not travel to San Francisco to see the Giants, if the A’s have a beautiful brand new facility in San José? Are the Giants living these days with that much insecurity?

 

We are within days of 2014. This is not the Bay Area of 1969, this is a completely different Bay Area, in population, demographics and lifestyle. In 1969 San José was a huge tomato field and a truck stop with a sign:  340 miles to Los Angeles. The only thing that remain from those years is the sign.

 

Maybe the Giants are right to worry…

 

Amaury Pi Gonzalez is the Spanish radio voice for the Oakland A’s and does News and Commentary each week for Sports talk radio 

                                                               
 

 

A’s add Alcantara to 40-man roster

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By Charlie O. Mallonee

The Oakland A’s have added RHP Raul Alcantara to the 40-man roster. This move will protect Alcantara from being taken in the Rule 5 Draft at the Winter Meetings in December.

Alcantara came to Oakland from Boston along with Josh Reddick and Miles Head in the Andrew Bailey – Ryan Sweeney trade. He was signed by the Red Sox in 2009.

Alcantara split the 2013 season between Beloit and Stockton – both Single-A affilates. He posted a combined record of 12-6 with a 3.11 ERA. That win-loss record tied him for second best in the A’s farm system. Alcantara was third in ERA, fourth in innings and fifth in strikeouts.

Alcantara walked just 24 batters (1.38 per nine innings), and gave up just 11 home runs last season.

At just 20 years old and with stats like he has recorded, one can understand why the Athletics want to protect this developing talent.

Bears squeeze past Oakland, 64-60 behind freshman Bird

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By Morris Phillips

Friday night at Haas Pavilion, Oakland was a lot closer to Berkeley than anyone in a blue-and-gold uniform could bear.

The Grizzlies from suburban Detroit are known for their challenging non-conference schedule and armed with prolific three-point shooter Travis Bader, they gave Cal all they could handle in the Bears’ come-from-behind 64-60 victory.

“There was no question that Oakland played harder than we did,” Cal coach Mike Montgomery said.  “We were late to loose balls, we weren’t attentive to details.”

Oakland led by as many as nine points in the first half, and the game was tied with 2:10 remaining as the Grizzlies’ zone defense, hustle and the shooting of Bader, who finished with 21 points, kept Cal on its heels.

Cal managed to keep pace in the second half as freshman Jabari Bird heated up, finishing with a career-best 24 points, including six made three pointers.  Bird’s three with 1:59 remaining broke a 56-all tie and gave the Bears the lead for good.

“Basically, I caught it and was open and had been hitting three’s all night, so if we were going to lose this game, I wanted to lose the game with that… but it went in and we won,” Bird said with all the carefree wisdom of an 18-year old.

Justin Cobbs contributed 13 points and five assists, and Richard Solomon had 11 points and 17 rebounds to aid Cal’s cause.   Bader had assistance from Kahlil Felder and Tommy McCune who had 13 and 11 points respectively for Oakland.

Oakland fell to 0-3 with earlier losses to No. 12 North Carolina and No. 24 UCLA.  The Grizzlies played without second-leading scorer Duke Mondy and forward Dante Williams, who were accused of sexual assault in Southern California earlier this week.  The pair were cleared in an initial police investigation but suspended by the university pending further fact finding.

Cal improved to 3-0 on the season with a matchup with Southern Utah up next at Haas on Monday night.   The Bears improved to 36-6 in non-conference matchups during Montgomery’s five plus years as coach.

The Bears shot just 33 percent in the opening half as Oakland’s zone made Cal’s cumbersome mix of veterans and freshman a bit tentative.  At halftime and then early in the second half, an animated Montgomery did all he could to wake his guys up.

“We had five minutes alone, just sitting there silent, and then he came in and talked to us like it was a regular game,” Bird said of Montgomery’s halftime prodding.  “And then right before we walked out he said get the energy up and play like we know we can.”

Just marvelous, Justin Verlander

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That’s Amaury News and Commentary

OAKLAND–There is a reason the Detroit Tigers gave Justin Verlander a 7-year extension(with an option for the 2020 season) for $180 million this past March.That is twice the total payroll of the Oakland A’s.  On game five of the American League Divisional Series, Verlander gave a pitching exhibition.

The Oakland A’s bats had no chance. Verlander was a master, mixing his over 96 mph four seam fastball, with a slider in the mid 80’s, an unhittable curve ball, (his best pitch last night), and an ocassional change,just to remind A’s hitter that on this night he was the devil, that produced 10 strike outs and zero runs for eight innings. Justin Verlander, has won just about everything a pitcher can win, except a World Series ring.

 He was the Rookie of the Year in 2006, he has two no-hitters, he has won a Cy Young and an MVP Award. Rafael Belliard, an old friend, and first base coach for the Detroit Tigers told me prior to game five at the Oakland Coliseum: “We are confident with Verlander, he is one of the best, and we have been focused on one thing, and one thing only- since Spring Training, going back to the World Series and winning this time”.

The Detroit Tigers were the favorites during last year’s World Series, but the Giants surprised everybody and swept them. After Miguel Cabrera hit his first home run of this postseason in the fourth inning, you knew the game was over. I made a remark on the broadcast that the way Verlander was pitching those 2 runs he had of support, seemed like 8 runs. Verlander did not allowed a runner until he walked Josh Reddick with one out in the sixth.

 He had a no-hitter with two outs in the seventh, until Yoenis Céspedes got a clean line shot for a base hit into center field. The best player this year for the A’s was Josh Donaldson, their third baseman, but the best athlete and best ballplayer is Yoenis Céspedes, and by-the-way he was their best hitter again in the postseason, establishing records for Oakland A’S in postseason.

But back to Justin. In two games, during this five game Divisional Series, Justin Verlander did not allowed a run and struck out 21 Athletics. Going back to the 2012 postseason, Verlander has pitched 30 consecutive scoreless innings against Oakland.

A crowd of 46,959 was rocking all night (not a sellout) traditionally games that start at 5PM at the Oakland Coliseum do not sell out, it is not a “comfortable”hour, and then to increase the traffic stress, there was a “Pink”concert next door at the Oracle Arena, which got starter around 7PM.

It was a good season for the Oakland A’s, they won their division for the second time in a row, but last night the best team won. Tigers third baseman Miguel Cabrera playing with one leg, is better than 40% of the regular players on the field that are 100%.

Congratulations Tigers, good luck the rest of the way. The Red Sox should not be easy, they never are, specially at Fenway.

Amaury Pi Gonzalez is the Spanish radio voice for the Oakland A’s and does News and Commentary weekly for Sportstalk Radio

                                                      

Verlander again, and even more devastating

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By Morris Phillips

Justin Verlander was so good Thursday, it didn’t matter that he repeatedly challenged Oakland hitters with fastballs that they normally salivate over.   The A’s were so concerned with Verlander’s other pitches—particularly his curve which baffled them in Game 2–they were mental messes, guessing, wailing but ultimately whiffing.

The team that built their late-season surge on big swings, big results was well on their way to the off-season in great part due to managing just one base hit in the first seven innings against their nemesis reborn in Verlander.

How good was Verlander?  Historically good.

Verlander stopped the A’s dead in their tracks in last year’s Game 5, throwing 122 pitches, striking out 11 and pitching a complete game shutout.  On Saturday night, in Game 2, he was dazzling again, shutting the A’s down for seven innings while surrendering just four disjointed base hits.

But on Thursday, he was even better, commanding four pitches and making the A’s look foolish.  The big righthander saw the A’s swing and miss 24 times, as the stubborn Oakland hitters refused to jump out of character, hoping to catch one of the heaters and send it a long way.

But the long balls never materialized.   Hits were hard enough to come by and trying to figure out Verlander was next was impossible.  Detroit manager Jim Leyland described it succinctly.

“He was locked in tonight,” Leyland said.  “He used the fastball a lot tonight and when you got that fastball, he’s got three well-above average Major League pitches and another one that’s at least average and maybe a little bit better.  When you’ve got four pitches above average and a couple of them really above average, you can shut down a lot of teams.”

Verlander’s pitched 30 innings against the A’s in post-season now and not surrendered a run.  That’s a new Major League record, one that hasn’t been messed with since 1911.  Christy Mathewson threw 28 scoreless, post-season innings against the A’s back then over a period of seven seasons.

“We weren’t getting very good swings on him,” A’s manager Bob Melvin admitted.  “I thought maybe when it started to get darker, we would get better swings, but he kept throwing fastballs.  I haven’t seen the video to see if he was on the corners all night.”

If Verlander wasn’t on the corners, he was conveniently off the corners.  Throughout his command was flawless and his location as well.  That the A’s had to wait nearly seven innings just to get a hit says it all.  Once all that’s digested, it’s nearly impossible to comprehend that the six-time All-Star had an off-season, struggling with his command and his velocity while his ERA hit nearly 5.00 from May through August.

All the problems ceased in September.  Verlander finished the season with a 2.27 ERA over his final six starts and his confidence soared.

“I’m pitching the way I’m supposed to,” Verlander said.  “I worked my butt off all year to try to get consistent and get myself where I needed to be.  I feel like it finally paid off at the end of the year.”

“He’s getting downhill now,” Leyland chimed in.  “He’s gotten mechanically back in sync, got all his pitches.”

And once Verlander steadied, the A’s presented themselves as Detroit’s first playoff opponent.  It was a match made in historical heaven.

The A’s struck out 57 times in the series, which set a new LDS record, breaking the record established by the Rangers in 2010 when they struck out 55 times against the Rays.   Verlander accounted for 21 of the 57, all at the Coliseum, the biggest enthusiasm and rally killer imaginable.

Give Verlander the ball in a series clincher?  That’s an obvious.  The 6’5” starter joined Sandy Koufax as the only starters to throw consecutive, 10 strikeout, shut out performances in the post-season.   Koufax—arguably the greatest pitcher ever—built his reputation in 1965 when he accomplished the feat by shutting down the Dodgers in Game 5, and then again in Game 7.

The A’s established a more dubious record for getting stopped cold in the ALDS for the second straight season.   Oakland’s 0-6 in the Divison series when it goes the full five games and that’s something they can’t do anything about for a long time, at least not before next October.

A’s play most important elimination game in 25 years

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That’s Amaury’s News and Commentary

OAKLAND–Tonight(5:07PM) the Oakland Athletics will face the Detroit Tigers in an elimination game. The winner travels to Boston to open the American League Championship Series against the Red Sox, the other team goes home.

But why is tonight the most important game in the past quarter century for the A’s?

–For starters, they will face again the same pitcher that eliminated them last year, Justin Verlander on the fifth and final game of the Divisional Series.

–For over 25 years the Oakland Athletics have not been able to go “deep into the postseason”, under three different ownerships.

–I was there for those great championship seasons, the five pennant and three consecutive trips to the World Series in 1988, 1989 and 1990. Those were the days when the Oakland A’s rocked the bay. The Walter Haas ownership was without a doubt the best ever for the A’s and one of the best ever in the history of professional sports in the bay area.

–One year prior to that great run (1987) the Athletics hosted the Major League All Star Game, Oakland was the talk of the Bay Area. I remember as a part of the Oakland A’s All Star Committee, appointed by the A’S, we met with then Mayor of Oakland Lionel Wilson. Oakland was a city on the move. Good things were happening in Oakland, and the Oakland A’s greatly helped into that great civic pride.

–Today the Oakland Coliseum is an antiquated place to play baseball in a time in history were every other team seems to have a brand new and fan friendly park. A victory tonight, puts the A’S in the American League Championship Series and just four more wins from a fifth World Series title.

–An A’s team than wins a World Series this year could be extremely important for the future of this franchise, where they are going to play, and if they will be able to move to San José, per owners Wolff and Fisher desires. The Athletics in the World Series this year, would put the baseball park issue ‘front and center’, no way Commissioner Selig could hide from that. His blue ribbon commission has spent over 4 years trying to make a decision on the move of the A’s to San José, four years and no decision(World War II lasted around six years).

–But most important a win tonight for Bob Melvin’s A’s is a huge step in returning the prestige the luster back,of this franchise, after the last few years of the “party”across the bay at a truly beautiful stadium.

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One of these teams will win the 2013 World Series, in alphabetical order: Athletics, Cardinals, Dodgers, Red Sox and Tigers,  that’s it – it will be reduced tonight by one more team leaving and going home. They are all traditional franchises that have been operating in one same town for over a century, except the Athletics and Dodgers)

A’s, Tigers down to the wire in Oakland

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By George Devine, Sr.

The A’s and Tigers have both undertaken the return trip to Oakland for the final and decisive game of the ALDS, after the series was tied by Detroit’s 8-6 win over the Athletics at Comerica Field on Tuesday. The fifth game will begin at 5:07 p.m. PDT, simultaneous with an event at neighboring Oracle Arena and a few hours before a BART strike deadline, as rush-hour traffic clogs the Nimitz Freeway alongside the venue. In other words, for A’s personnel and fans, it will be home, sweet home, and that may be just what Oakland needs to win.

Due to Thursday night’s concert at Oracle Arena, A’s fans who purchased tickets to Game 5 of the American League Division Series at O.co Coliseum are strongly encouraged to arrive early or take public transportation to the ballpark.
All lots are expected to fill very early as various parking spaces will be reserved for the concert at Oracle Arena. Parking will be $25 for cars until lots are full or 6 p.m., space permitting, when it will change to the concert price of $35. Direct parking will be in effect to maximize the use of available parking spaces.

Parking will open Thursday at noon. Stadium gates will be open at 3 p.m.

1989 World Series Most Valuable Player Dave Stewart will throw out the ceremonial first pitch on Thursday before the deciding game. Stewart was 21-9 with a 3.32 ERA in 36 starts with the A’s during their championship season in 1989 and was named an AL All-Star. It was the third of four consecutive seasons in which he won 20 games or more. He was 2-0 with a shutout and 1.69 ERA in two starts against the Giants in the 1989 World Series. In his career, Stewart was 168-129 with a 3.95 ERA in 16 Major League seasons with the Dodgers, Rangers, Phillies, A’s and Blue Jays. A native of Oakland, Calif., he finished in the top five in the AL Cy Young voting four times (1987-90), led the league in complete games and innings pitched twice (1988, 1990) and wins once (1987).

But the larger question is: who will be the starting pitchers for the Tigers and Athletics? In the visitors’ case, the decision was made early on: Justin Verlander, who pitched seven scoreless innings in Game 2, and won last year’s Game 5. His being chosen seemed a foregone conclusion once fellow starter Max Scherzer appeared in relief for two innings, earning the win in Tuesday’s Game 4. For the Athletics, two choices were considered: Bartolo Colon and Sonny Gray, until it was announced late Wednesday that Gray would be the starter.

Gray, who has come upon the Tigers as an unknown quantity, posted a 5-3 record and 2.67 ERA in 14 games (12 starts) during the regular season, pitched eight shutout innings in Game 2 last Saturday. He received a no-decision in Oakland’s 1-0 win over the Tigers, striking out nine batters, walking two and allowing only four hits.
The 24-year-old Nashville, Tenn. native was selected by the Athletics in the first round of the 2011 First-Year Player Draft out of Vanderbilt University.

The Boy with the drums and the flags in the outfield

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That’s Amaury’s News and Commentary

OAKLAND–Actually the faithful that attend A’s games go for the baseball, they have to, that is what happens there, ‘the boys with the drums and flags in the outfield’ – there is no pretty park like across the bay, there are no home runs balls going into the bay waters, with fans with fancy kayaks waiting for them, there are no expensive souvenirs and corporate luxury boxes.

I am not crying for A’s owners Lew Wolff/John Fisher, according to Forbes Magazine, they are the fourth richest owners in Major League Baseball. But there is a great contrast between the two teams by the bay.

In AT&T it is a: “we’re here for the party dude” atmosphere,even when the team finishes a disappointing third place after winning the previous World Series, they can’t wait for the last game of the season to cheer Barry Zito. While at the O.CO, a.k.a Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum, there is not much in the form of outside the field of entertainment, players are not marketed, caricatured to the limit, there is no gourmet food in the stands, there is no quiche, or salads, but your basic hot dog and beer and hamburger and fries and an occasional bar-b-q. and yes, the Athletics play in a place were three times this season, plumbing has made the news, as an old antiquated plumbing system needs repair and acts up in an embarrassing fashion.

And no, the A’S have not won two World Series during the past three years, but they still have won four World Series since 1968. And three in a row, and how many teams have done that? For starters nobody in the American League Western Division can say that.

I know, it is not recent, but baseball is part of our history, it is a day to day grind, it is not a quarterback controversy every Monday and then you wait six days to see what happens.

Friday, for the first game of the American League Divisional Series against the Detroit Tigers, the Oakland Coliseum will be rocking, like PNC Park in Pittsburgh, a few days ago when the Pirates took the field, and then again Saturday, in Oakland, ‘the boys with the drums and the flags in the outfield’ will be there supporting their baseball team. They will have to fight the Tigers again…It’s simple, not complicated.

It’s A’s baseball.

Amaury Pi Gonzalez is the Spanish radio voice for Oakland A’s baseball and does News and Commentary each week for Sportstalk Radio