Tag: That's Amaury News and Commentary

That’s Amaury News and Commentary podcast: Oakland Ballers Pioneer League plays in front of sell out crowd Tonight

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Renderings of Raimondi Park after renovation work at the cost of $1.6 million in West Oakland. The Oakland Ballers played their first home game there on Tue Jun 4, 2024 (renderings from the Oakland Ballers)

On That’s Amaury News and Commentary podcast:

#1 Amaury, today is the home opener for the Oakland Ballers Pioneer League as they open up at Raimondi Park in West Oakland. The game has been announced as a sell out.

#2 Amaury, how surprised are you that the home opener was a sell out and is this a statement by Oakland fans that interest in baseball in the East Bay is still alive in well?

#3 How much do you see the Ballers being a replacement for the void the Oakland A’s will leave as this is their last season in Oakland?

#4 There has been talk that the Ballers wanted to bring back Jose Canseco as a promotional move and as this team is selling out could really raise interest. How clever of a marketing move would this be bringing Canseco back for a couple weeks to join the Ballers?

#5 The Ballers last month released rendering for their future ballpark at the cost of $41.6 million to renovate Raimondi Park. The Ballers are scheduled to play 48 home games and are carrying their games on KTRB 860. On the face of it they look like their very prepared in this inaugural season?

Amaury Pi Gonzalez is the lead play by play voice on the Oakland A’s Spanish radio network at 1010 KIQI San Francisco and 990 KATD Pittsburg and does News and Commentary at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

That’s Amaury News and Commentary podcast: Betting on Baseball Gets MLB Players Big Suspensions

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Oakland A’s pitcher Michael Kelly has been suspended for one year for betting on baseball that equaled to $100 (Getty file)

#1 Tucupita Marcano in the San Diego Padres organization is looking at a lifetime ban for betting on baseball. Marcano placed 387 baseball bets which equaled $150,000 between Oct 16, 2022-Oct 23, 2022 and in Jul 12, 2023-Nov 1, 2023. Marcano betted while he was with the Pittsburgh Pirates 25 times.

#2 Michael Kelly pitcher for the Oakland A’s has been ruled ineligible for one year. Kelly bet on baseball as a minor leaguer ten times. Kelly bet on outcomes, over unders on runs and on pitcher strikeout totals. His bets totaled under $100 and he won $28.30.

#3 Jay Groome was suspended for one year for placing bets on the Boston Red Sox while he was a single A player. Groome bet on 30 MLB games wagering $453.74 losing $433.54 on MLB games.

#4 Jose Rodriguez has been suspended for one year for placing 31 bets on baseball from Sep 2021 to Jul 2022. Rodriguez bet on 28 MLB games and 3 NCAA games. Rodriguez bet on the White Sox seven times totaling $749.09.

#5 Andrew Saalfrank has been suspended for one year he placed 29 bets from Sep 2021 to Mar 2023 on baseball. He bet on baseball while in the Arizona farm system four times. Saalfrank bet $445.87 and lost $272.64 and placed 28 bets and won five of them.

Amaury Pi Gonzalez is the lead play by play voice on the Oakland A’s Spanish radio network at 1010 KIQI San Francisco and 990 KATD Pittsburg and does News and Commentary at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

That’s Amaury News and Commentary: 2024 Final season of the A’s at the Coliseum (Part III) -Pioneers in Promotions

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The Oakland A’s hosted a Hot Pants day at the Oakland Coliseum on Jun 27, 1971 when they hosted the Kansas City Royals. Such promotions today would not be approved in baseball. (photo from Amazin A’s Craze on X)

2024: Final season of the A’s at the Coliseum (Part III) -Pioneers in Promotions

That’s Amaury News and Commentary

By Amaury Pi-González

The Oakland A’s, under owner Charlie O Finley, were pioneers in promotions like very few teams in Major League Baseball during the decade of the 1970’s. Innovation in uniform colors and marketing as they had promotions that today would be considered “prohibited.”

During the 1970s, among what became popular were Disco music and Hot Pants (initially started by a women’s magazine). The Oakland A’s marketing was limited to very few popular promotions, like “ladies wearing hot pants to a game come in for free,” which was popular at the Oakland Coliseum. No team will dare to do such promotions today for obvious reasons.

During the next decade, the 1980s, the Oakland A’s continued their promotions tradition and became much more dynamic under the ownership of Walter Haas and with the great marketing guru Andy Dolich, who changed the face of sports team advertising through the Clio Award-winning “Billy Ball” campaign, which increases the A’s attendance from 800,000 to 2.9 million.

Dolich also created the business and marketing efforts in three consecutive World Series, 1988-89-90. The season attendance was also improved, and the season ticket base increased from 326 to 16,000.

Although Charlie O Finley was the first A’s owner with many innovations and promotions, not only the “Hot Pants Day at the Coliseum” but all his ideas to transform the game, the Finley front office was small. It was constrained, and attendance was challenging, even when the A’s won championships.

When 1980 came around, Walter Haas of Levi Strauss, one of the great American corporations founded in San Francisco in 1853, promoted the game and any team in Major League Baseball with a marketing strategy from Andy Dolich that made history in the Bay Area.

Promotions have always been in the DNA of the Oakland A’s, especially from the 1970s to the end of the 1980s. Since then, and with various others, it has become much more like a “survival in Oakland thing” to keep fans coming to the park.

We who have lived during these few decades, the story of the Oakland A’s, from the 1970s until today, understand much better. In my book I believe the #1 promotion is winning, that will always bring people to the park, however, you also need a new facility in the case of the A’s and owners who understand and care about the Bay Area market.

Historical Note: The St Louis Browns (today the Cardinals) were among the first teams with “Ladies Days” promotions. As early as 1883, the team designated games where women were allowed to attend for free with a male escort. That was 36 years before June 4, 1919, when Congress passed the 19th Amendment, giving women the right to vote. Even though in 1883, women did not have the right to vote in the United States, the St Louis Browns did have a special day for ladies at the park.

Amaury Pi Gonzalez is the lead play by play announcer on the Oakland A’s Spanish radio network at 1010 KIQI San Francisco and 990 KATD Pittsburg and does News and Commentary at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

That’s Amaury News and Commentary: It’s only Business -Why Aaron Judge decided to stay a Yankee

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New York Yankees Juan Soto (left) and Aaron Judge (right) celebrate Judge’s top of the first inning home run off of San Francisco Giants starter Logan Webb at Oracle Park in San Francisco on Sat Jun 1, 2024 (AP News photo)

It’s only Business -Why Aaron Judge decided to stay a Yankee

That’s Amaury News and Commentary

By Amaury Pi Gonzalez

In 2022 Aaron Judge ended the season with the Yankees and broke the American League record for home runs in a season, a record of 61 in 1961 by Yankee Roger Maris. A record that lasted for 63 years. A couple of months after the season ended the Yankees signed Judge to a nine-year, $360 million deal breaking the record for the largest free agent deal in Major League Baseball at that time.

Next, Shohei Ohtani, after 6 years with the LA Angels, signed an incredible 10-year deal as a free agent worth $700 million with the Los Angeles Dodgers, and that by far is the largest ever. But back to Aaron Judge.

The Giants were reported to have offered Judge the same amount as he signed with his original team the New York Yankees for $360 million, around the same time that Judge was still searching for a new contract. But why did Aaron Judge signed with the Yankees and not the Giants?

This was a “pipe dream” for Giants to have signed a young man that followed the Giants as a kid, traveling with his parents from Linden to San Francisco (95 miles) to watch the Giants and his favorite player (not Barry Bonds) but shortstop Rich Aurilia, as he recently said.

Bay Area sportscaster Matt Steinmetz recently said that Judge not coming to the Giants was because he doesn’t want to have the pressure that Barry Bonds endured in San Francisco and that Judge was “gutless”.

Never in this world a player would feel more pressure playing in San Francisco than in Yankee Stadium. West Coast pressure is not remotely close to New York. In cities like New York, Boston, Philadelphia a player who hit three home runs in one game but strikes out on his last at bat, will get booed.

That, mis amigos, you do not see in San Francisco, Oakland, Los Angeles, Anaheim or San Diego. My take on why the slugger from Linden (15 miles from Stockton) Aaron Judge signed with his original team the Yankees and not the Giants is very simple.

With all respect to the Giants, Aaron Judge plays for the #1 MLB franchise, the most historic, (27 World Series titles) the highest exposure level for an athlete is in New York, like Sinatra’s “New York New York” which has become the theme song for that city, “If you can make it there, you can make it anywhere”.

So Judge (probably his family and advisors) and in his wisdom figured that New York is where he made his fame, most recently with the new American League home run record, the potential for endorsements is greater in New York than in San Francisco, and probably believes that with the Yankees he also has more opportunities of postseason play. I do not believe it was a difficult decision for Aaron Judge.

It is understandable for Giants fans to be upset at Judge, when he went with the Yankees instead of the Giants. After I left the US Army I lived in New York City for a few years, prior to moving to California and I know the Yankee fans are not surprised he stayed in New York.

California is laid back, New York is cut throat, edge-of-your-seat stuff, super passion and pressure all the time. A totally different lifestyle. It is also understandable why the Giants made a serious attempt to sign the slugger, this is the type of player they still need in San Francisco, a real superstar, something they lack since the days of Barry Bonds and most recently Buster Posey.

The Giants need that type of star and presence in their lineup there is no doubt about it. Giants improved the team this off season,signing very good players, like Matt Chapman, Jorge Soler and Blake Snell, but there is no hitter like Aaron Judge.

It is the type of player that baseball fans will pay just to see take a swing Aaron Judge sells tickets, and what team doesn’t like to sell tickets? Of course Shohei Ohtani is the face of baseball today, but Judge is the “swing to see in baseball”. At the end, the truth remains, Aaron Judge still a Giant, he is 6’7 !

Amaury Pi Gonzalez is the lead play by play voice on the Oakland A’s Spanish Network at 1010 KIQI San Francisco and 990 KATD Pittsburg and does News and Commentary at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

That’s Amaury News and Commentary: 2024The Final Season at the Oakland Coliseum -(Part II)

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The author Amaury Pi Gonzalez (left) and New York Yankees pitcher Jim Catfish Hunter in 1975 at the Oakland Coliseum (photo from Amaury Pi Gonzalez)

That’s Amaury News and Commentary: 2024

The Final Season at the Oakland Coliseum -(Part II)

By Amaury Pi Gonzalez

One of the many great moments in the history of the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum happened in 1975 when ex-A’s Hall of Fame pitcher Jim “Catfish” Hunter visited the Coliseum, this time wearing his New York Yankee uniform.

A year before this visit, he traded his bright yellow A’s uniform for Yankee pinstripes after a dispute over a technicality in his contract with A’s owner Charles O. Finley. His last year with the Oakland A’s (1974), Hunter ended with a record of 25-12 and a 2.49 earned run average, starting 41 games and winning the American League Cy Young Award.

Then Hunter signed a five-year contract estimated at $3.75 million, ending American sports history’s most celebrated bidding war. The total value of the pact sets a record for baseball. January 1, 1975. At the end of that 1975 season, Jim “Catfish” Hunter had a record of 23-14 with a 2.58 earned run average in 30 starts. Jim “Catfish” Hunter owns the All-Time pitching record in wins at the Oakland Coliseum (including with A’s and visiting team) a total of 80 games won at the Coliseum.

In 1987 and with the Oakland A’s uniform, Jim “Catfish”Hunter was inducted in the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York. Jim “Catfish”Hunter pitched from 1965 to 1979 (15 years) with Kansas City and Oakland A’s then with the New York Yankees.

Hunter’s Record: 224-166, 3.26 earned run average, 181 complete games over 3,449 1/3 innings pitched. PERFECTO: On May 8, 1968, Jim “Catfish” Hunter of the Oakland Athletics pitched the ninth perfect game in Major League Baseball history, defeating the Minnesota Twins …

Amaury Pi Gonzalez is the lead play by play voice on the Oakland A’s Spanish radio network at 1010 KIQI and 990 KATD Pittsburgh and does News and Commentary at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

That’s Amaury News and Commentary podcast: Acuna out for season with blown ACL; Umpire Angel Hernandez has retired; plus more news

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Atlanta Braves Ronald Acuna Jr grimaces while being assisted by the Braves George C Poulis while walking off the field after blowing out his ACL and will be out for the rest of the season on Sun May 26, 2024 (photo from ESPN)

That’s Amaury News and Commentary podcast:

#1 How much of an impact for the Atlanta Braves losing Ronald Acuna Jr for the rest of the season after running between second and third base and blew out his ACL taking a bad turn on the base pathes.

#2 Umpire Angel Hernandez who was accused of blowing calls in the ALDS which resulted in his not being selected to umpire in the World Series and lost a racial bias suit has retired from ever umpiring an MLB game again. His retirement is effect today. Hernandez was the center of the ire from the players and fans on social media. Hernandez said this was all stemmed from racial bias. Hernandez umpired in the Majors since 1991.

#3 Los Angeles Dodgers two way player Shohei Ohtani is not giving up on the possibility of pitching again. Ohtani was put on the shelf from pitching and left with the hitting duties as designated hitter. Ohtani is recovery from his second Tommy John surgery. Ohtani threw from 60 feet on Monday at Citi Field tracking at 80 MPH. Ohtani was said to possibly to return to pitching in August.

#4 Former Milwaukee Brewers manager Craig Counsell was unceremoniously booed upon his return at American Family Field as manager of the Chicago Cubs on Monday. Counsell took the booing in stride saying, “The fans are here to enjoy the day, enjoy a baseball game,” Counsell said “They get to do what they want. Hopefully they had a good time.” The Cubs lost to the Brewers 5-1.

#5 The San Francisco Giants LaMonte Wade Jr who returned to the line up after being on the IL. Wade reinjured himself on a hard slide on a double and ended up straining his hamstring. The Giants said that Wade is on the way back to the IL.

Amaury Pi Gonzalez is the lead play by play announcer on the Oakland A’s Spanish radio network at 1010 KIQI San Francisco and 990 KATD Pittsburg and does News and Commentary at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

That’s Amaury News and Commentary: Sell – City of Oakland to Sell Coliseum stake

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Photo of the Oakland Coliseum in the shadows. The Coliseum property has been sold at 50% to Oakland A’s owner John Fisher and the other 50% to the African American Sports and Entertainment Group (AP News file photo)

Sell – City of Oakland to Sell Coliseum stake

That’s Amaury News and Commentary

By Amaury Pi-González

Oakland is a city in crisis, and when it comes to the A’s, the word “sell” is trendy among many Oakland A’s fans; however, it is the City of Oakland, not the A’s, who is doing the selling these days.

They are about to sell their stake of the Oakland Alameda County Coliseum to a group of African-American developers. These developers want to transform the East Oakland part of the city into a hub that would positively impact the city.

The city of Oakland will sell its stake in the Coliseum for at least $105 million. This is done to pay salaries and save the city from making more budget cuts. Voters have gathered the required signatures to recall current Mayor Shen Thao and Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Rice. A new chief of Police was sworn in recently after the city had been operating without a Police chief for over a year.

The Oakland A’s own the other half of the Coliseum, and as they plan their move, first and temporarily to Sacramento for the next three to four years before inaugurating new digs in Las Vegas, they could sell their stake in the future. There is little doubt that the A’s and the City of Oakland are done as far as any business dealings are concerned.

For years, I have maintained the idea of the A’s building their new baseball park at the same place they play today, the Oakland Coliseum. No sports facility in the Bay Area has better traffic access. The Oakland Coliseum can be reached via BART to the east, Highway 880 to the west, and the Oakland Airport just minutes away not to mention Amtrak from the north starting in Sacramento.

That is not going to happen because the A’s are leaving Oakland. However, I still believe that it would have worked if, along with the new stadium, the stadium was surrounded by an entertainment village of hotels, a movie theater, restaurants, and everything a family would enjoy when attending a baseball game. It would have been a place to visit, with the baseball park as the anchor.

Amaury Pi Gonzalez is the lead play by play voice on the Oakland A’s Spanish radio network at 1010 KIQI San Francisco and 990 KATD Pittsburg and does News and Commentary at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

That’s Amaury News and Commentary podcast: Raiders rank #1 in ticket sales can the A’s do the same in Vegas?

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Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas home of the Las Vegas Raiders who are number one in tickets sold in the NFL. The Oakland A’s hope to duplicate that if and when they move into the Tropicana Hotel and Resort location in Las Vegas as planned in 2028 (USA Today file photo)

On That’s Amaury News and Commentary podcast:

#1 The Las Vegas Raiders moved up three spots in the NFL rankings in ticket sales to number one for the second year. The Raiders do sell a lot of tickets to fans from the visiting teams but none the less they are at the number position at tickets sold is this something that the Oakland A’s are looking at in terms of possible tickets sold.

#2 Baseball could be different in ticket sales as less fans travel with their teams like they do in the NFL and Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday baseball has been noted for small crowds. The A’s are depending on sellouts to make their payments for the Vegas ballpark how much pressure does that put on them?

#3 Once again owner John Fisher and the A’s are depending on the Los Angeles investor to find investors to buy shares into the team and turn around and put money into the construction costs for the ballpark at the Tropicana without it the A’s could look elsewhere. Would you agree the situation at hand things are very much still up in the air?

#4 In some on line interviews with fans they say this is the last time they’ll be coming to see MLB and they will leave the game once the A’s leave Oakland do you find the sentiment has pretty much been echoed throughout the fan base?

#5 The A’s are setting their sights for the interim for Sacramento for 2025-2027 they will play in a park that seats 14,014 and will be the smallest facility in MLB. The A’s once again the Tropicana is built will continue to play in the smallest venue in MLB at 30,000.

Amaury Pi Gonzalez is the lead play by play announcer on the Oakland A’s Spanish radio network on 1010 KIQI San Francisco and 990 KATD Pittsburg and does News and Commentary at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

That’s Amaury News and Commentary podcast: Schools over Stadiums turned down in Nevada Supreme Court; A’s $1.5 billion Vegas ballpark funding murkier

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The locked, closed and unused Tropicana Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas which was closed on Apr 2, 2024 and is the proposed site for the Oakland A’s new ballpark. photo by Sports Radio Service on Apr 8, 2024.

On That’s Amaury podcast:

#1 Amaury, the Nevada Supreme Court rejected Schools over Stadium ballot referendum that would have approved petition language that would reject SB1 the use of public funds at the tune of $380 million for the November 2024 election.

#2 The A’s who hired a Los Angeles investor to help them find minority partners to invest shares into the team and help pay for the construction costs for the Las Vegas ballpark has so far not panned out any new news in finding partners.

#3 Also Bally’s where the Tropicana Hotel waits to be imploded in April 2025 needs to determine where they want to put the nine acre park on the 36 acre location at Tropicana and Las Vegas Blvd. At first it was thought the park would be location on the back corner from the strip but now Bally’s or the A’s are not really sure where their going to put the ballpark.

#4 Schools over Stadiums who were rejected for the second time to get language to reject the public funding of the ballpark will attempt to appeal again. Schools over Stadiums released a statement after the Supreme Court denied the application for petition language, “Schools Over Stadiums remains committed to stopping Nevada tax dollars from paying for a stadium for a California billionaire, and we are disappointed Nevada voters will not have their say in 2024. With this guidance, Schools Over Stadiums plans to refile our petition next year and win in 2026. Nevada voters deserve the opportunity to decide where their money goes.”

#5 Meanwhile the A’s who will be playing their 2025-27 seasons at Sutter Health Ballpark in Sacramento are working with Sacramento Rivercats owner Vivek Ranadive. Ranadive who is anticipating that the Las Vegas deal will fall through and will get on board with John Fisher and the A’s to help build a ballpark and keep the A’s in Sacramento permanently that has yet to be determined.

#6 African American Sports and Entertainment wanted to join forces with the A’s at one time to keep the A’s in Oakland and help buy a share in the team and buy the Oakland Coliseum location and turn it into a sports and entertainment complex. John Fisher has been very silent on all these moving parts.

Amaury Pi Gonzalez is the lead play by play voice on the Oakland A’s Spanish radio network at 1010 KIQI San Francisco and 990 KATD Pittsburg and does News and Commentary at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

#1

That’s Amaury News and Commentary: WNBA Season Opener May 14 -Caitlan Clark Revolutionizes the league

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Indiana Fever’s Caitlin Clark (22) drives on the Atlanta Dreams’ Nia Coffey (12) and Aerial Powers (23) during the second half of this WNBA pre season game in Indianapolis (AP News photo)

WNBA Season Opener May 14 – Caitlan Clark Revolutionizes the league

That’s Amaury News and Commentary

By Amaury Pi-González

All it took was Indiana Fever guard and mega-star Caitlin Clark to bring the WNBA to the big time. However, it never rivaled the NBA, which recognized the need for a professional women’s league years ago by subsidizing the women.

In February 2022, the WNBA raised an impressive $75 million from investors, including NBA and WNBA franchises. Things are changing quickly in the WNBA; for the following two seasons, teams will begin traveling to away games on chartered flights; this is after they primarily rely on commercial planes since the league’s inception almost 30 years ago.

The WNBA kicks its 2024 season this May 14. Eight of the league’s 12 teams will play a game on opening night. The remaining four play on Wednesday, May 15.

The league is also looking for larger-capacity arenas to accommodate the fans it has recruited since the sensational Caitlin Clark was known worldwide. Caitlan has the most 3-pointers scored in WNBA or NBA history, scoring 163 in the 2023-24 season, breaking Stephen Curry’s 162 in the 2007-08 season.

Although the Indiana Fever superstar’s salary is only $76,000, Nike recently endorsed Clark for a $28 million deal, including her signature shoes. Caitlan Clark has become the Michael Jordan of the WNBA. Clark is the all-time leading scorer in NCAA basketball, surpassing Pete Maravich. (Pistol Pete) record of 3,667 points and later became the #1 overall pick in the 2024 WNBA draft, selected by the Indiana Fever.

Last October, the WNBA announced its first expansion team since 2008 by awarding the Golden State Warriors franchise that will begin play in the 2025 WNBA season. The teams will be headquartered in Oakland but play home games at Chase Center in San Francisco.

This means that in this case, Oakland could not put an “airport-like move” on San Francisco. Officials in Oakland recently approved modifying the name of the city’s airport to include “San Francisco. Now, there is a trademark lawsuit from the city of San Francisco over the name change dispute.

I wish the 2024-25 WNBA season lots of success; they are a league going places!

Amaury Pi Gonzalez does That’s Amaury News and Commentaries at http://www.sportsradioservice.com