Tag: That’s Amaury’s News and Commentary

Oakland A’s manager Mark Kotsay looks out of the A’s dugout at the Oakland Coliseum the A’s who are in Seattle dropped the first game of a four game series on Mon May 22, 2023. Kotsay he beats himself up everyday about the struggles of the A’s. (San Francisco Chronicle file photo)

On the Oakland A’s podcast:

#1 How practical is it for the Nevada tax payers to front the A’s some $200 million to 75 million to cover the existing gap to cover the $395 million to pay towards the $1.5 billion A’s new ballpark at the Tropicana site in Las Vegas. Some people interviewed in Las Vegas are against paying for a ball club that’s deliberately not trying to win and bringing them to Vegas.

#2 The A’s currently have a $59 million payroll while most of the other MLB clubs have a $100 million which keeps most of them somewhat competitive. If the A’s are in Vegas and fans are only showing up to see Shohei Ohtani or Aaron Judge will the A’s be able to sustain business as usual?

#3 The A’s manager Mark Kotsay said that losing is 100% his responsibility. That Kotsay beats himself up everyday about it and he doesn’t know how to hide it. It’s a constant struggle. It’s not going to change much at this point because A’s Money Ball genius Billy Beane and general manager David Forst are not going on the free agency market anytime soon.

#4 The A’s as it turned out could have pushed during their times of trying to move to San Jose that the San Francisco Giants no longer had territorial rights because those territorial rights that the A’s gave them so they could have moved to San Jose were used so they could try and build a stadium in the South Bay and once they had built their own stadium in the City they should no longer have those territorial rights anymore and the A’s should have had a chance at trying to get a ballpark in San Jose which they are being blocked by the Giants.

#5 Taxpayers in Las Vegas are skeptical about spending the $395 million of public money for the stadium tax credits towards the Tropicana Ballpark when they see how A’s owner John Fisher is not putting any money into trying to be competitive. Most likely Fisher and the A’s will be competitive after they get the new ballpark at Tropicana but on the face of it the taxpayers in Vegas are wondering if the A’s come will they continue compete with a low payroll.

#6 Do you see any outside chance that the A’s Tropicana deal could fail and Fisher would go back to Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao and try to iron out a deal at Howard Terminal?

#7 The NBC Bay Area Sports fired TV broadcaster Glen Kuiper for using the N word on a pre game broadcast during a series in Kansas City. Kuiper joined the A’s broadcast team in the early 90s. Some critics say you don’t use that word unless you use that word.

Amaury Pi Gonzalez is taking this week off and Jerry Feitelberg is filling in for That’s Amaury News and Commentary heard Tuesdays at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

The front of the Tropicana Casino and Hotel entrance in Las Vegas site of the proposed 9 acre new ballpark location of the A’s set to open in 2027 (photo from WJAR 10 Providence)

On That’s Amaury News and Commentary podcast:

#1 The Oakland A’s proposed new ballpark site in Las Vegas at the Tropicana site is facing opposition by casino owners and slowing traffic on the strip.

#2 Amaury, wanted to get your thoughts on the long shot possibility of A’s owner John Fisher selling the team to Bally’s who owns the Tropicana property and Bally’s would run the team from that point.

#3 If the tax credit fails or time runs out for the $396 million that the A’s are seeking for the Tropicana project and it’s not likely that Bally’s would put in their own money for the project unless they have ownership of the team.

#4 State of Nevada residents have sounded off that they don’t want to spend anymore public money on state funded arenas or stadiums. The Tropicana site is a nine acre site that has a reduced price tag from the Wild Wild West location that was $500 million to $395 million but that’s still not sitting well with the local tax payers.

#5 It’s been said with the expiration of last Friday’s deadline to extend the Howard Terminal plan that ship sailed and if the $395 million in tax credits fails if MLB or someone comes up with the $395 million the A’s may not have end up in a homeless situation.

Join Amaury Pi Gonzalez for all the play by play of Oakland A’s baseball on the A’s Spanish radio network at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

October 17, 1989. The third game of the A’s vs Giants World Series. Amaury Pi-González and Evelio Areas Mendoza, at Candlestick Park, San Francisco minutes before the 6.9 Loma Prieta Earthquake shook the Bay Area and postponed it for 10 days. KNTA 1430AM Radio, Santa Clara.  (Photo APG Sports)

Memories of Oakland – The Athletics Last World Series Title

That’s Amaury News and Commentary

By Amaury Pi-González

Some things in life are truly unpredictable, like an earthquake during a World Series. And that was the story in 1989. The first and only time in history.

That year the Oakland A’s won 99 games and their division by seven games over the Kansas City Royals. The San Francisco Giants also won their division with 92 wins by three games over the San Diego Padres. In October they both had a date for the 1989 World Series.

Game One: October 14 at the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum, Dave Stewart threw a gem as he pitched a complete game blanking the Giants on 5 hits as the A’s won 5-0 in front of 49,385 fans. In 1989 Stew ended with a 21-9 record, a 3.32 ERA during his penultimate season of 4 years in a row of 20-plus wins.

Game 2 is back at the Coliseum. A’s won 5 to 1 and took a two games lead. Mike Moore “took his time” and dominated the Giants lineup for seven innings and the bullpen did its usual job the rest of the way. That year Moore ended with 19-11 and a 2.62 earned run average pitching 241 2/3 innings

Game Three: October 17 it was a very warm day with temperatures between 80 and 90 degrees around the Bay Area. A temperature of 81 was registered in downtown San Francisco, hours before the first pitch of the game, a very muggy day. What people call here in California “Earthquake Weather”. I left earlier than usual from Fremont, to Candlestick Park, about a 40 mile drive. Since it was the World Series between the two bay area teams, I knew there was going to be traffic and there was. An hour plus drive time.

As I arrived at Candlestick, I first went to check the A’s Spanish broadcast booth. It was an auxiliary booth just a few feet away under the roof of the stadium. My broadcast partner was Evelio Areas Mendoza, who lived near San Francisco. Our engineer Erwin Higueros was working our broadcast.

After checking our booth, I went down to the field to conduct “The Tony LaRussa Show”, a short three minute pregame show and then returned to my booth. In 1989 we needed broadcast lines, and a couple of telephones in case we went off the air, which little I knew at that time, were going to be the case a few minutes after 5 PM.

The hectic moment was about to happen. Our pregame show was usually 15 minutes, but because these were World Series games, we got 30 minutes of pregame air time. The General Manager at KNTA 1430AM in Santa Clara was Gene Hogan, one of the real good guys running radio stations those years, he loved sports. We played the Tony La Russa pregame segment, which this time was a little longer than the usual three minutes on regular season games.

I remember Evelio Medoza and yours truly were talking about the difference between A’s and Giants fans and other topics, like the history of both teams since their arrival in the Bay Area, and regular baseball stuff. At that same time, when we were on the air that little auxiliary booth shook like somebody had pushed us up to the roof, I honestly thought I was “buying the farm” we kept talking but we have lost the broadcast lines.

We were lucky the telephone line was still “alive” so we chatted for a few minutes and sent it back to the studios via the telephone. I was surprised the radio station never went off the air, although some others in the bay area did lose their signal.

The earthquake happened at 5:04 PM take or give a minute or so, and before the game was scheduled to start at 5:35 our time, 8:35 PM east coast time. Later as I went down to the regular press box, I watched KPIX CH 5 on a monitor as Ana Chávez, Anchor, was showing a video of the Bay Bridge, the tremors caused a portion of the Bay Bridge to collapse onto the lower deck, also ragging fires of various homes in the Marina District in San Francisco. It was a 6.9 Earthquake, called Loma Prieta Earthquake, and also acquired the name The World Series Earthquake.

A couple of hours later when it was quiet, I drove out of Candlestick Park parking lot, but the Bay Bridge was closed as well as other bridges and I had to drive all the way down south on Hwy 101, around the bay. I was taking Erwin back to his place in Oakland and later Evelio in San Francisco.

At a service station maybe a quarter mile from Candlestick Park, José Canseco wearing his A’s uniform at a gas station filling gasoline in his car. I also stopped to check on my mom. She was fine, however scared and shaken like many others. However there were others in the Bay Area were not that lucky.

That was one of the longest days of my life. I got home before midnight. The Fall Classic was postponed for 10 days, they played again on October 27, and the Athletics won the last two games and took the trophy via sweep. A’s #1 pitcher Dave Stewart won the MVP.

Because the game was at 5:00 PM, it has been attributed to saving lots of lives. Everybody was either home, watching the game, or left earlier to get to “The Stick” on time, for the game.

I recommend “Goodbye Oakland” a great book by Andy Dolich and Dave Newhouse. A fascinating tour of Oakland sports history and a look toward the future of professional sports in the East Bay. Oakland is a sports city like no other.

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

Las Vegas Aviators Field could be the Oakland A’s interim home while their stadium is being built on the Las Vegas Strip with a ready date of 2027 (photo from lasvegassun.com)

Difficult to build Sports stadiums in Bay Area

That’s Amaury News and Commentary

By Amaury Pi-González

Is it just a “coincidence” that Oakland has lost three professional teams in the last 5 years? Or does anybody here question Oakland’s politicians’ leadership?

Oakland is on its way to losing their third professional league team in the last five years, Raiders, Warriors, Athletics. The Bay Area has always been a difficult place for teams to build stadiums/arenas. Many factors, like very expensive to build anything here, also the lack of land/location availability, plus a very sensitive area for environmental issues which always take preference in the Bay Area.

In 1992 Bob Lurie, owner of the San Francisco Giants agreed to sell the Giants to a Florida group that would relocate the team to Tampa Bay. That same year, the A’s ownership under Walter Haas, gave the San José territorial rights to the Giants, who were thinking of building a stadium in San José, they never did. Years later after failed elections, the Giants build their own park (inaugurated in 2020) mostly with private money.

• 49ers could not build in San Francisco: The San Francisco 49ers with a great history and tradition, with five Super Bowl titles, could never build a new park in San Francisco. In 2014 they packed their helmets and move to Santa Clara, where they build their current home, Levi Stadium. So, the San Francisco 49ers play in Santa Clara, but that is “small potatoes” because the Warriors have played since 1971 at Oakland and now San Francisco and they are still The “Golden State” Warriors, so if they win another NBA title I suppose it will be a State win?
• Oakland A’s could not build in Oakland for 20 years. The A’s proposed Howard Terminal Park is a very nice plan, next to the water in Oakland, 35,000 seats in what was going to be a revitalization of the city of Oakland, a $12 billion project. But now, that plan looks like a thing of the past, and a trivia question for future generations after last week A’s announced they have a binding agreement to buy 49 acres of land a mile from the Strip in Vegas where they hope to build their $1.5 billion half-dome stadium. Las Vegas is a growing city now looking to its third pro-league sports team, NHL Golden Knights and NFL Las Vegas Raiders. With time, they will probably welcome the NBA and MLS teams to their gambling town, with time, it will happen. In Las Vegas, the A’s are being promised half a billion dollars from the state of Nevada for their new ballpark.

Who is to blame for the Oakland A’s leaving the Bay Area, the owners of the Oakland A’s, the City of Oakland politics, climate change? Whatever your opinion there are facts to be presented to the jury; as the City of Oakland precedent is not a good one when it comes to sports franchises, that (and the jury) must take into consideration.

Oakland is not a city ran with great competence and good results for its citizens, all you have to do is watch the news every day.

The Verdict: What comes first, the chicken or the egg? 2022 A’s attendance was the lowest in all of major league baseball. Why fans are not attending? The owners do not put any money on the field to keep their stars, they rebuild every few years and it is a vicious cycle, very tough for any fan to keep involved with the team, plus it has been 34 years since the last time the team won a World Series.

Oakland A’s fans are good loyal fans. Fans do not attend? Well, they can only take so much and the City of Oakland Mayor said they wanted to keep negotiating with the A’s, until when, the year 2500? This could be a hung jury because there is enough guilt on both sides, seems the City of Oakland and the Oakland Athletics deserved each other. In this case, the perfect divorce. Case dismissed.

Note: A question often asked: Where will the A’s play while their new ballpark is build in Las Vegas? A’s President Dave Kaval said last week that the team has an option with the Howard Hughes Corporation, which own the Aviators, to play at Las Vegas ballpark for the 2025 and 2026 seasons with 2027 the target date to inaugurate their new ballpark a mile from the strip.

What this means, is that more than likely the 2024 season for the A’s could be played at the Oakland Coliseum. 2024 is the last year of the lease with the Coliseum. However, that could also change since the A’s are 50% owners of the Oakland Coliseum.

The NHL California Golden Seals Seals ended up playing nine seasons in California before relocating to Cleveland in the mid-1970s, but their beginnings go all the way back to the early 1960s when they were a minor league team in the now defunct Western Hockey League known as the San Francisco Seals.

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

A map which outlines who and where businesses and where the Oakland A’s Tropicana ball park would be located on the Las Vegas Strip. The Oakland A’s have announced that they have a binding agreement with the state of Nevada to move to Vegas and their new ball park in 2027. (Las Vegas Review-Journal photo)

Adiós Atléticos – Oakland Lost in Sports World–

That’s Amaury News and Commentary

By Amaury Pi-González

OAKLAND–While the Mayor of Oakland Sheng Thao was attending a film screening at the Grand Lake Theater in Oakland to watch the new documentary “Stephen Curry: Underrated” on the opening night of the San Francisco Film Festival and Oakland police was investigating a number of car burglaries in that area, one of which was the car of Mayor Sheng Thao, about 560 miles east in Las Vegas, the Oakland A’s were closing in on a binding agreement to construct a $1 billion baseball stadium north of the Allegiant Stadium (home of the Raiders) with the support of Nevada Governor.

Nevada Gov Joe Lombardo and top lawmakers in a deal that will not involve new taxes, as it was reported by multiple sources. Stadium is planned to be ready for the 2027 season.

It remains how history will judge all protagonists, who are to blame, and all the details, but the fact remains that the city of Oakland has lost the Raiders to Las Vegas, the Warriors to San Francisco and now the Athletics to Las Vegas, completing the Trifecta in Sports (hard to do) and leaving the city of Oakland lost in Sports land.

Southern Nevada would be the fourth home for the franchise that started in Philadelphia in 1901 as the Philadelphia Athletics, later Kansas City A’s, and then since 1968 Oakland A’s that has captured nine World Series titles, leading the way in Bay Area baseball with four World Series titles in Oakland.

Although the move was expected, is sad news for Bay Area baseball fans, especially A’s fans who since they moved to Oakland in 1968 had supported the team. The City of Oakland was named the “City of Champions” during the 1970s as their three professional sports team, A’s, Raiders, and Warriors all captured titles during that period.

“We understand that it’s a difficult message for our fans in Oakland,” Kaval said. “We want to thank Oakland and express a tremendous amount of gratitude for all the years it has hosted us as a franchise. We’ve loved our time there. Incredible memories and championships.”

More to come.

Amaury Pi Gonzalez does News and Commentary at http://www.sportsradioservice.com