Tag: That’s Amaury’s News and Commentary

That’s Amaury News and Commentary: Welcome to A’s Baseball! Your Seats are Waiting

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Seats at Sutter Health Park at section 105 seat 20 (photo by rateyourseats.com)

That’s Amaury News and Commentary: Welcome to A’s Baseball! Your Seats are Waiting;

Welcome to A’s Baseball! Your Seats are Waiting

That’s Amaury News and Commentary

By Amaury Pi-González

For the first time in their history, the Sacramento A’s hosted the San Francisco Giants at Sacramento for a three-game series on July 4, 5, 6. The Giants won two of the three games, previously on May 16 and 18, and 19, while in San Francisco, the A’s were beaten again by the Giants who won two out of three at Sutter Health Park this past weekend.

That is it for the Northern California rivals (excluding the Bay Area) for the current 2025 season. Many Giants fans drove or took Amtrak to this recent series at Sutter Health Park in Sacramento. Used to attend Oracle Park to see their adored Giants, by the beautiful San Francisco bay, a real Major League Park with all the amenities and great fan experience, they witnessed with their own eyes their team playing in a Triple A Park, ironically the same park where their Triple A team makes his some, the Sacramento Rivercats.

It’s like a wealthy family living in Pacific Heights, in San Francisco, and then visiting a Trailer Park outside Colma. However, for the A’s, such is life during this 2025 season. Many players enjoy playing on the road; some have publicly expressed this sentiment, while others have shared the same opinion with their families and fellow players.

However, in the end, they must adjust to everything. I hate to repeat this, which has been said a zillion times. Baseball is a game of adjustments. In this case, you need to adjust to the specific settings of where you play, including major or minor league parks and cities.

Sacramento is not a Major League City, nor is it home to a Major League Park; that is why the River Cats play at Sutter Health and not at Oracle Park. The two California rivals now go different ways. The Giants return home to San Francisco for a very interesting home-stand, which could define if they are contenders or pretenders, as they will play three against the Philadelphia Phillies and three against the hated Los Angeles Dodgers.

The A’s go on the road to visit two Major League cities; first a three-game series against the Braves in Atlanta, then they cross the border and go north to Canada to play the red-hot first-place Toronto Blue Jays. Good luck to both the A’s and Giants for the rest of the way. One team is trying to be relevant during the second half and advance to the postseason, while the other is “surviving” its first of (at least three) temporary seasons at Sutter Health Park in West Sacramento.

Attention A’s Fans…your seats are still waiting! Quote: Many players express a love for the history and tradition of older parks. For example, Ted Williams, while acknowledging the need for a new park in Boston, also stated, “I won’t shed a tear,” according to redsox.com. Rob Neyer wrote about the special feeling of a walk-off home run in Fenway, stating, “Say what you want, but that moment would not have been the same in a ballpark”.

Amaury Pi-Gonzalez – Cuban-born Pi-González is one of the pioneers of Spanish-language baseball play-by-play in America. Began as Oakland A’s Spanish-language voice in 1977 ending in 2024 (interrupted by stops with the Giants, Mariners and Angels). Voice of the Golden State Warriors from 1992 through 1998. 2010 inducted in the Bay Area Radio Hall of fame

@Central Park Fremont – Fremont CA

http://goaquaadventure.com

That’s Amaury News and Commentary podcast: Ground breaking was more like a funeral for Oakland fans

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 Dignitaries from left: Nevada Assembly Speaker Steve Yeager, Rep. Dina Titus, A’s President Marc Badain, Major League Baseball Commissioner Manfred, A’s owner John Fisher, Nevada Gov. Joe Lombardo, Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority President and CEO Steve Hill and , Clark County Commissioner Jim Gibson break ground during ceremony for the Athletics $1.75 billion Strip ballpark at the site of the former Tropicana Las Vegas Monday, June 23, 2025. (K.M. Cannon/Las Vegas Review-Journal photo)

That’s Amaury News and Commentary podcast:

#1 Amaury, lots of fans in the Bay Area responded about Monday’s ground breaking story and according to Oakland’s last dive bar co-founder Carl Moren saying that their isn’t a wrong way to deal with watching that ground breaking for longtime A’s fans and even recent A’s fans Moren said it was like the loss of a loved one.

#2 Moren, the Last Dive Bar, and fans of the A’s in Oakland feel left behind and the dreams of those shovels in the ground were supposed to happen in Oakland rather than Vegas.

#3 A’s owner John Fisher and former team president David Kaval said that it was necessary for the A’s to move out of Oakland when it was announced June 2023 because of a lack of fan support as the A’s were drawing below 7,000 for home games. Moren and other Oakland fans would argued that Fisher didn’t put a product on the field that would draw 30,000 fans and it was time to go.

#4 Amaury, Moren said that he’s not a fan of the team and doesn’t care what the team does on the field do many Oakland fans share that same sentiment by no longer following the team anymore?

#5 Amaury, How frustrating is it that the city of Oakland didn’t get it together and make it happen as it looked like it was closing in a deal with the A’s in building a park at Howard Terminal. The money fell short and later MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred would announce “there was no deal in Oakland” in what turned out to be one of the most bitter baseball relocations in recent memory?

Amaury Pi-Gonzalez – Cuban-born Pi-González is one of the pioneers of Spanish-language baseball play-by-play in America. Began as Oakland A’s Spanish-language voice in 1977 ending in 2024 (interrupted by stops with the Giants, Mariners and Angels). Voice of the Golden State Warriors from 1992 through 1998. 2010 inducted in the Bay Area Radio Hall of fame.

@Central Park Fremont – Fremont CA

http://goaquaadventure.com

That’s Amaury News and Commentary: The Bambino in Cuba in 1920 – Meeting Professor González-Echevarría

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(Adolfo Luque Cuban Pioneer 1920’s Cincinnati Reds photo from the author Amaury Pi Gonzalez)

The Bambino in Cuba in 1920 – Meeting Professor González-Echevarría —

That’s Amaury News and Commentary-

Amaury Pi-González

Babe Ruth visited and played baseball in Havana, Cuba, in October 1920. He played a series of games with the New York Giants against Cuban teams Habana and Almendares, earning $20,000 (equivalent to $260,280 in 2020) for the appearance.

His first game was on October 30, 1920, where he played center field. They played two games in Santiago de Cuba, Cuba’s second largest city, at the Cuban Park. Ruth loves to gamble and visited El Hipódromo Oriental Park, also Jai Alai, staying at the Hotel Plaza in room #216. According to reports from the Cuban media, he spent almost all the money he made playing in Cuba and lost it in the casinos.

At the end of the series, he ended with a .345 average, two home runs, a triple, and a double. As Babe Ruth is part of the great history of baseball, his trip to Cuba during the 1920s brought to my mind a friend and professor who was also born in Cuba, as we met in New York.

During the 1998 baseball season, as I was working as a play-by-play announcer in Spanish for the San Francisco Giants, I had the pleasure of meeting. Professor Roberto González-Echevarría, a Cuban-born critic of Latin American literature and culture and Sterling Professor of Hispanic and Comparative Literature at Yale University.

A man whom I had always admired. In the typical tradition of Cuban baseball writers, he is a remarkable man, a teacher at Yale University. We share many memories of Cuba from past years; speaking with him is always a pleasure and to me he is a treasure.

Professor Roberto González Echevarría and I met in the  Press Box at the Shea Stadium, home of the New York Mets. He asked me if I could introduce him to Giants manager Dusty Baker. We went to the Giants’ dressing room and Dusty’s manager’s office, where I introduced the professor to Dusty.

It was an enlightening conversation among the three of us, with González-Echevarría doing most of the questioning for a project the author was working on. I always enjoyed my friendship with the professor, and my favorite of his books, “The Pride of Havana,” A History of Cuban Baseball.

In that book, he documented the great Adolfo Luque’s career, who pitched in the 1920s in the Major Leagues and had a sensational season in 1923 with the Cincinnati Reds when he finished with a record of 27-8 and a 1.93 ERA, started 41 games, and completed 37 games. Towards the end of his baseball career, I remember attending the games in Cuba with my father when Luque managed the Leones del Habana of the old Cuban Professional League..

González-Echevarría’s books, from Cuba’s José Martí to Cervantes’ Don Quixote to books about baseball in the United States and Cuba, are great reads for everybody. My favorite is”The Pride of Havana: A History of Cuban Baseball,” where he highlights Adolfo Luque, a historical Cuban pitcher.

As published in 1999 and winning the Dave Moore Award in 2000. It is an excellent contribution to Cuban baseball history and culture. Cuban players (not black) were some of the first Latino pioneers to make it to the Big Leagues, Like Adolfo Luque, who pitched for 20 years (1913-1935)

A Piece of History: Bullfights and Baseball are deeply rooted in Cuban history. Cuba’s independence from Spain came in 1902. The Spanish colonizers of the island wanted Cubans to master Bullfighting, but after Cuba gained its independence, the Americans taught Cubans the game of baseball. Cubans were enamored with the great baseball game (“la pelota,” as we call it in Cuba) and forgot about bullfighting. Cuba was a pioneer of baseball in Latin America.

Amaury Pi-Gonzalez – Cuban-born Pi-González is one of the pioneers of Spanish-language baseball play-by-play in America. Began as Oakland A’s Spanish-language voice in 1977 ending in 2024 (interrupted by stops with the Giants, Mariners and Angels). Voice of the Golden State Warriors from 1992 through 1998. 2010 inducted in the Bay Area Radio Hall of fame.

That’s Amaury News and Commentary: 50 years since the First Tommy John surgery

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Tommy John of the Los Angeles Dodgers getting looking over by the Dodgers physician Dr. Frank Jobe in 1974. This season marks the 50th anniversary of Tommy John’s surgery which took place in 1974. It was know as Tommy John surgery due it’s huge success for pitcher to return from shoulder or arm tears (photo by the Los Angeles Dodgers)

50 years since the First Tommy John surgery

That’s Amaury News and Commentary

By Amaury Pi-González

Tommy John pitched for 26 years from 1963 to 1985, including with the Oakland A’s in 1985. His name has been mentioned thousands of times since he had the first ever surgery with his name in 1974. This season marks the half-century anniversary of the once controversial surgery, now, like going to the dentist for a root canal type of surgery.

I was at the press conference at the Oakland Coliseum when the A’s introduced Tommy John, who was wearing an athletics jersey. 1985 was a damaging season for the A’s, winning only 77 games, but there was a rookie by the name of José Canseco making his debut, he was the only hope for the A’s at that time.

José won Rookie of the Year the following season, Monday, August 12. At Oracle Park, the first game of a series between the Atlanta Braves and the San Francisco Giants, two-time Cy Young winner Blake Snell pitched for the Giants, and this year’s #1 candidate for the Cy Young in the National League, Chris Sale, pitched for the Braves.

Blake went 6 1/3 and struck out 11, and Sale completed seven innings and struck out 12. Braves won 1-0 in ten innings. Even though it is rare to see this type of pitching, it is considered by many a “pitcher’s duel”. But pitcher duels belonged to pitchers that went the distance, which is (9) nine innings. In 1999, while broadcasting SF Giants radio en Español at Candlestick Park, the great Juan Marichal dropped into our booth as a visitor and sat to talk about pitching.

I remember asking him, Juan, “What would you have said to your manager or pitching coach if he told you, “Juan, give me six good innings.” Juan smiled and responded, “I would have laughed at his face.” What do you mean by six good innings?

Juan Marichal pitched for 16 years and completed 244 games, winning 243 of those and ‘for good measure’ the Dominican Dandy tjhrew 52 shutouts. Tommy John pitched a total of 4,710 1/3 innings won 288 games lost 231 with a 3.34 ERA.

Joe Roegele, who tracks Tommy John surgeries as an injury analyst for MLB, says the surgery has increased by 29 percent by pitchers who throw at the highest level since 2016. In 2023, 35% of all MLB pitchers have had the surgery.

Roegele added, “I don’t want to say it’s inevitable, but when you throw it overhand, it’s an unnatural motion. (About this surgery) Tommy John Surgery, more formally known as ulnar collateral ligament (UCL) reconstruction, is used to repair a torn ulnar collateral ligament inside the elbow.

A UCL is a ligament on the inner side of your elbow that helps secure your elbow joint. Some people, typically athletes who play throwing sports, may experience UCL tears. For the last time in history the San Francisco Giants will face the Oakland A’s this Saturday and Sunday at the Oakland Alameda County Coliseum for two. afternoon games. KIQI 1010AM/990 covering the Bay Area and Sacramento will have all the live action.

Amaury Pi Gonzalez does the live play by play with Manolo Hernandez Douen 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: Dodgers win with a vengeance Saturday after losing 3 straight games beat A’s 10-0

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Oakland A’s right fielder Lawrence Butler (4) takes a sliding catch on a fly ball hit by the Los Angeles Dodgers Cavan Biggio in the top of the sixth inning at the Oakland Coliseum on Sat Aug 3, 2024 (AP News photo)

On That’s Amaury News and Commentary podcast:

#1 Los Angeles Dodgers starter Jack Flaherty was razor sharp in his outing against the Oakland A’s keeping a hot hitting line up off balance as the Dodgers and Flaherty threw a shutout for a 10-0 win on Saturday night.

#2 The win helped snapped the Dodgers three game losing streak. The Dodgers had lost Friday’s game against the A’s 6-5 and the that they lost to a last place club and have been struggling fired them up for their big Saturday victory.

#3 The Dodgers Shohei Ohtani is having quite a series against the A’s with a three run ninth inning home run on Friday and three stolen bases on Saturday night. Ohtani now has 31 stolen bases and 33 home runs.

#4 Flaherty who was just acquired last Tuesday had his biggest outing for the Dodgers pitching six innings, allowing five hits and no runs. Flaherty struck out seven hitters.

#5 The A’s hope to salvage this three game series Sunday at the Oakland Coliseum as they will face Dodgers starter RHP River Ryan (1-0, 0.82) and the A’s will start Osvaldo Bido (2-2, ERA 5.00) for a 1:05pm PT first pitch.

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: A’s wanted to move to Canada; Today’s A’s are in legal trouble

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At one time former Oakland A’s owner Charlie O Finley after moving the A’s from Kansas City to Oakland in 1967 considered moving the team again from Oakland to Toronto in 1970. Finley and the A’s later won three straight World Series from 1972-74 (photo from Instagram)

A’s wanted to move to Canada. Today A’s are in a Legal battle

By Amaury Pi Gonzalez

If you think that under owner John Fisher, this is the first time the A’s planned to move out of Oakland, you are mistaken; in 1970, two years after moving the A’s from Kansas City to Oakland, owner Charlie O Finley talked to Toronto representatives about moving the team to Canada.

A few years later, Finley’s team won three consecutive World Series in Oakland, 1972-73 and 74, a feat only accomplished by only one other franchise in history, the New York Yankees, who are well known for several dynasties on the way to winning an unprecedented 27 World Series today, it seems both sides, the one against the A’s moving out of Oakland and the one in favor of the A’s moving to Las Vegas, are now fighting inside the legal system arena.

Many people would say that this arena usually moves at a much slower pace than the actual game of baseball. Some cases take many years to get to court and then a decision. Schools over Stadiums is not an A’s fanbase group, it’s not made up of Oakland residents, but a political group with grassroots in Nevada that has filed a second legal effort to block Nevada from spending taxpayer funds to build a stadium at the current site of the Tropicana resort on the Las Vegas Strip.

Months ago, the State of Nevada legislature passed the bill, which authorized them to use $380 million in funds towards the A’s new stadium in Las Vegas. Local Oakland fan-based groups have supported Schools Over Stadiums, which they see as an ally in the fight to keep the team in Oakland.

Most recently, the Oakland A’s filed a motion to intervene in this case, aiming to halt Schools Over Stadiums’ efforts. The A’s attorney’s job is to propel the A’s entirely out of Oakland (with a temporary 3-year residence in Sacramento) and to set shop permanently in Las Vegas, Nevada, by 2028. Luckily for everybody, the A’s case has no statute of Limitations. You might say so.

However, for those cynical fans who consider moving the team out of Oakland a “crime.” Here is some ‘Law talk’: The statute of limitations sets a deadline for initiating legal proceedings in a dispute. The length of time allowed varies depending on the severity of the offense and the jurisdiction where it is being disputed. Cases involving severe crimes, like murder, typically have no time limit.

Under international law, crimes against humanity, war crimes, and genocide have no statute of limitations. Two Proponents of statutes of limitations believe they are needed because, with time, substantial evidence may be lost, and witnesses’ memories can grow foggy.

Let’s stretch our collective memories and imagine if today MLB had a Commissioner like Judge Kenesaw Mountain Landis, who was elected Baseball’s first Commissioner in 1921.

What would Judge Landis rule on the Athletics relocation? We will never know.

Here is one of Judge Landis’s famous quotes:” Baseball is something more than a game to an American boy; it is his training field for life’s work. Destroy his faith in its squareness and honesty, and you have destroyed something more; you have planted suspicion of all things in his heart”.

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: Warriors – Thanks for the Memories

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The Golden State Warriors bench looked tired and ready for the end of the 2023-24 season as they dropped their Play In Game to the Sacramento Kings at Golden 1 Center in Sacramento on Tue Apr 16, 2024 (AP News photo)

Warriors – Thanks for the Memories

That’s Amaury News and Commentary

By Amaury Pi-González

The dynasty of NBA titles in 2015, 2017, 2018, and 2022 has ended as we move into a period of uncertainty, huge decisions, and big changes for the team. In the NBA, there is a trend of the ‘no 10th seeded team advancing to the playoffs from the Play-In’.

The Golden State Warriors were eliminated when they lost 118-94 in Sacramento to the Sacramento Kings; the score shocked many. Suddenly, Sacramento has become sort of a villain when it comes to Bay Area sports.

Oakland groups opposing Oakland A’s owner John Fisher from selling the team and moving them to Sacramento (and ultimately to Las Vegas) beginning next year and at least from 2025 to 2027 have pledged they will also travel to Sacramento to continue what they have called “the summer of SELL” some more more radical A’s fans are calling it “The Summer of Hell”. I do not think Mr.Fisher will sell, not yet, but once and if the team moves to Las Vegas, then (about selling) like they say in Vegas “all bets are off”.

Although the Warriors have nothing to do with the world of the A’s, it is interesting that California’s Capital is now focused on major league sports. But, as far as the Golden State Warriors, in the 2024-25 season, they have lost some of that “Shine” they used to enjoy.

But they know nothing will last forever. What is very active and present in Sacramento is Mr.Vivek Ranadivé, owner of the Sacramento Kings and the Sacramento River Cats, and he was a thrilled man last night. As far as the Warriors? Fans should thank them for the Memories, as they might have a different team next season. Some huge decisions must be made in the “not too far” future.

Warriors superstar Stephen Curry had an honest quote after his team’s defeat in Sacramento. “We all got to look at ourselves in the mirror and figure out what we individually can do better. In those deciding moments of a game, better decisions, better discipline to not foul, all the little things that we know impact winning. That’s the only way we’re going to get out of this little funk where you’re playing hard, and you have nothing to show for it.”

Curry is an honest man who, this month said he is thinking of running for President of the United States. This is quite a statement since honesty is not abundant in today’s political world. As the famous quote goes, “We know a politician is lying when his lips are moving.”

I can appreciate the Warrior’s success; I was a witness as a broadcaster in the 1990s for the Warriors, broadcasting all their games in Spanish home and away with the team (by the way, I was the only Spanish broadcaster they ever had).

Although they had inspiring players, like Chirs Mullin and good teams, they never enjoyed such a championship run as the 2000s Warriors. So, congratulations to owners Joe Lacob and Peter Guber for their success; they deserve it. Unlike other owners, I have never heard one Bay Area fan complaining about the Warrior’s current ownership. How could you?

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

That’s Amaury News and Commentary: Sacramento is the place for the A’s?

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Aerial view of the Oakland Alameda County Sports Complex as the Oakland A’s and the Oakland Coliseum Joint Authority meet on Tue Apr 2, 2024 to negotiate a lease extension for the A’s (photo by NBC Bay Area News)

Sacramento is the place for the A’s? That’s Amaury News and Commentary Amaury Pi-González

Like it or not, TODAY, all the signs point to the Oakland A’s playing in Sacramento from 2025 until they complete the new stadium in Las Vegas. In the business world, friendships and connections are paramount. Many might not have known that A’s owner, John Fisher, is good friends with Mr. Vivek Ranadivé, who happens to own the Sacramento River Cats and also the NBA Sacramento Kings.

Sports business owners run in a different lane than many other billionaires who are not in the sports world. nonetheless, they do business with each other in many circumstances, they support each other and even invest in each other’s teams. This could be the key to why they are moving to Sacramento. I will be speculating, but, I am not the first or the last to speculate in this long-moving A’s saga.

On Tuesday, the A’s will meet again with the City of Oakland after the city submitted a proposal to the team to stay in Oakland for five more years (3 years while they build in Las Vegas), which is supposed to be inaugurated in 2028, and the other two years in case there are constructions delays, or in case the whole Las Vegas move falls through. It could very well be that the City of Oakland’s proposal strikes out, and the A’s then would be temporarily moving to the State Capital.

Sutter Health Plan stadium in downtown Sacramento, if you drive, is a couple of blocks after the bridge and by the river; it was once the home of the Oakland A’s Triple-A team, the Rivercats (2000-2014) later from 2015 to the present They became affiliated with the San Francisco Giants.

According to published reports. Tuesday, the 2nd of April, the city of Oakland will present Athletics ownership with an offer to extend the team’s lease that includes a five-year contract with an opt-out after three years, as well as a requirement the team pays a $97 million “extension fee,” according to a document obtained by ESPN and KGO in San Francisco, plus other stuff to be negotiated.

Recently, the city withdrew the request for the A’s name colors and insignia to remain in Oakland when they leave for Las Vegas, as well as the possibility that Oakland be granted some preference for a new expansion team. Both are off the table. Oakland also wants the A’s to run the cost to fix the field for the Oakland Roots FC when they play at the Coliseum; the Roots are members of the USL. Also, this proposal suggests that A’s sell its 50% stake in the Coliseum ownership.

This Tuesday meeting could be just an exercise in futility for Oakland, who (if the A’s chose Sacramento) can claim to their citizens that “we tried to keep the team and still want the team to stay in Oakland, willing to work with them.”

Considering that MLB and the Commissioner want the A’s to make a decision soon, Commissioner Manfred has said he wants the A’s to play in California while they are building in Nevada, which takes Salt Lake City out of the equation. Time is of the essence now, and MLB needs a schedule for 2025, pronto!

We will have the answer by mid-week when the series between Oakland and Boston ends. I am biased; as a Bay Area resident, I would like the Oakland A’s to stay in Oakland, period, and would like these two Bay Area entities to work together. However, like many of you, I have no say. We are all spectators. Is the City of Oakland coming a day late and a dollar short with this proposal? Or are the A’s following In-and-Out?

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

That’s Amaury News and Commentary podcast: Ohtani says interpreter stole money to pay off gambling debts; Interpreter never graduated or worked at Sox or Yanks; plus more news

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Will Ireton Los Angeles Dodgers manager of performance operations (left) interprets for Dodgers designated hitter Shohei Ohtani (right) at a pre game press conference at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles on Mon Mar 25, 2024 (AP News photo)

On That’s Amaury News and Commentary podcast:

#1 A look into Los Angeles Dodger’s designated hitter Shohei Ohtani’s personal trainer Ippei Mizuhara stole the money from Ohtani to pay off his gambling debts. It was learned that Ohtani did not pay for Mizuhara’s gambling debt Ohtani said the $4.5 million to pay the debt was stolen by Mizuhara. Ohtani made it clear he did not know about Mizurhara using the stolen money to pay an illegal bookie.

#2 Mizuhara’s background was found to be suspicious as well it was discovered he never attended UC Riverside and never graduated there in 2007, Mizuhara never was an interpreter for the Boston Red Sox pitcher Hideki Okajima from 2007-2011. The Red Sox released a statement saying that Mizuhara never worked for the Red Sox. It was also reported that Mizuhara was an interpreter for the New York Yankees in 2022 but the Yankees said that Mizuhara never was an interpreter for them in 2022.

#3 Los Angeles Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said that it was good that Ohtani addressed the media before Monday night’s game at Dodger Stadium. It gave Ohtani a forum to clear the air and address some of the questions about his knowledge that money was going to an illegal bookie to pay Mizuhara’s debts.

#4 Although no one will admit it in the Dodgers clubhouse that this whole thing is a distraction but has to be the largest paid athlete of all time tied to a gambling scandal and it’s turned into a federal investigation and questions where is this going to end up?

#5 Turning to the Oakland A’s the A’s have announced that they have cut the time in half on Thursday opening night and will open the gates at the Oakland Coliseum parking lot from four hours to two hours early. The A’s have said they did that because there was no sense opening up the lot when they are expecting a low paid attendance to show up. Two large A’s fan groups the Oakland 68s and the Last Dive Bar said that cutting the parking lot times from two to four hours will cut their boycott time down to just two hours and they also planned to have tailgates before the game now that time has been cut in half. The 68’s said the A’s are playing mind games.

Amaury Pi Gonzalez is the lead play by play announcer for 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

Giants bolster rotation and add Blake Snell on 2-year deal

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San Francisco Giants pitcher Blake Snell and agent Scott Boras address the media on Wed Mar 20, 2024 at Scottsdale AZ (AP News photo)

By Stephen Ruderman

The Giants have strengthened their rotation, as they have agreed to sign 2023 National League Cy Young Award Winner Blake Snell to a two-year, $62 million contract, according to MLB Network Insider Jon Heyman

The deal caps off a strong off-season for the Giants, which started off with them adding Bob Melvin as manager, and continued with the signings of Jung-hoo Lee, Robbie Ray, Jordan Hicks and Tom Murphy. Jorge Soler and Matt Chapman were signed during Spring Training, and Snell could be set to join them in the final week of camp.

Blake Snell came up with the Tampa Bay Rays in 2016, and was their ace through the COVID-shortened 60-game sprint season of 2020. He won the American League Cy Young Award in 2018; struggled, but helped lead the Rays to the Postseason in 2019; and led them to the World Series in 2020.

Snell was infamously pulled by Rays Manager Kevin Cash in Game 6 of the 2020 World Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers in the bottom of the sixth inning, despite throwing a shutout. After Snell was pulled, the Dodgers scored two runs to take a 2-1 lead, and won the game 3-1 to win their first world championship since 1988.

Following Cash’s controversial move, Snell was traded to the San Diego Padres that off-season. Snell struggled in a 2021 campaign that saw the Padres collapse down the stretch. He then bounced back, and helped lead the Padres to the National League Championship Series in 2022. Snell then won his second cy young award in an otherwise disappointing 2023 season for the Padres.

Snell’s cy young season was believed to be a massive booster for him as he entered free agency. However, Snell, along with Chapman, Cody Bellinger and Jordan Montgomery, who were all represented by prominent agent Scott Boras, all remained on the market as teams reported to Spring Training in February. Snell, along with Chapman and Bellinger were signed after games got underway, and Montgomery remains a free agent.

Snell now joins Logan Webb, who finished second in cy young voting last season. Snell also joins what is set to be a strong rotation for the Giants. Along with Webb and Snell, Kyle Harrison, the young left-handed phenom, who saw time late in 2023, will be bumped from the second spot to the third spot in the rotation.

The rotation could also be further fortified by the experiment of turning the flamethrower Jordan Hicks from a reliever to a starter; the return of Alex Cobb and the newly-signed Ray off the Injured List; and the potential of right-handed Carson Whisenhunt making his major league debut later this season.

Snell will still need to pass a physical. Once he was done so, it could be assumed that Snell will join the Giants in their final week of camp in Scottsdale, and will get a start or two prior to the Giants’ opener in San Diego on March 28. It is most likely that Snell will begin the Regular Season in the minor leagues, and be ready to join the Giants in the middle of April.

Other Notes:

The Giants and Longtime Public Address Announcer Renel Brooks-Moon mutually parted ways on Monday.

Brooks-Moon, who had served as the Giants’ PA announcer for 24 years since then-Pacific Bell Park’s opening in 2000, has enshrined herself into Giants Lore. She was behind the microphone for the Giants’ run to the National League Pennant in 2002, and their three world championships in 2010, 2012 and 2014.

Brooks-Moon was at Barry Bonds’ breaking of the single-season record on Oct. 5, 2001 against the Dodgers, and his breaking of the all-time home run record on Aug. 7, 2007 against the Washington Nationals.

She was also there for Matt Cain’s Perfect Game against the Houston Astros on June 13, 2012, as well as Tim Lincecum’s two no-hitters, which were thrown on July 9, 2009 and June 25, 2014 respectively, both against the Padres.

Brooks-Moon has become a beloved and outspoken figure not just with the Giants, but with San Francisco and the Bay Area. She was the voice of the Cathedral of 3rd and King, and for so many younger fans, they do not know Giants Baseball without her.

There has yet to be word on who Brooks-Moon’s replacement will be, or how the process will play out.

Brooks-Moon was the second woman to be an MLB PA announcer. She succeeded Sherry Davis, who was the first.

J.D. Davis signed a one-year deal with the Oakland Athletics on Saturday, following his release from the Giants on March 11.

Davis was encouraged to come to Oakland by Alex Wood, who had been a member of the Giants’ rotation from 2021 to 2023. They are also joined by Ross Strippling, who the Giants traded to Oakland on Feb. 2.