Tag: That’s Amaury’s News and Commentary

That’s Amaury News and Commentary: ESPN returns 37 Emmys after investigation

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Stephen A Smith who is considered the face of ESPN and is the highest paid talent at the Sports Network. ESPN recently had to return 37 Emmys because of using ineligible on air talent sending in fake names for the awards. (photo from onmilwaukee.com)

ESPN returns 37 Emmys after investigation

That’s Amaury News and Commentary

By Amaury Pi-González

From the department of “Who can you trust today in media”.

According to the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (NATAS) ESPN has returned dozens of Emmys. They (ESPN) were involved for decades in securing trophies for ineligible on-air personalities by submitting fake names for consideration.

It was found that employees at ESPN had been submitting made-up names to the Emmys organization to obtain more than 30 extra trophies and give them to broadcast talent who were not eligible to receive them.

The shocking part of this scheme is that this has happened at ESPN since 2010. The employees at the sports network attached fake names to award entries.

An internal investigation conducted by the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences and ESPN found that employees at the sports network had been submitting made-up names to the Emmys organization to obtain more than 30 extra trophies for broadcast personalities who were ineligible to receive them.

This is according to ESPN who is admitting and now is coming clean with the whole story. More specific details could be revealed in the future.

ESPN began operations and went on the air on September 7, 1979. In 2024, Stephen A. Smith is the most popular on-air talent on ESPN today, making $12 million annually. CBS Judge Judy is the highest paid in all of television, with $47 million per year for her top-rated show.

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

That’s Amaury News and Commentary: A’s 2024 season, Adios Coliseum?

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Aerial view of the Oakland Coliseum Complex which will no longer be in use if the Oakland A’s vacate after the 2024 season and refuse an extension for 2025. (photo by Sky 7 ABC 7 News)

A’s 2024 Season, Adiós Coliseum?

Amaury Pi-González

OAKLAND–According to their lease, this year is the final year for the Oakland A’s to play at the Oakland Coliseum. They will need a home field from 2025 until 2028 when they plan to inaugurate their new ballpark in Las Vegas. Where will the A’s play after 2024, like in 2025?

The options are as follows: their current home, the Oakland Coliseum, Oracle Park San Francisco, home of the Giants, or possibly Las Vegas Ballpark, currently home to the A’s Triple-A affiliate, Last Vegas Aviators.

However, getting the players’ union to vote in favor of playing in a minor league park could present a real dilemma for the A’s and the other teams scheduled to play the A’s in Las Vegas with just 10,000 capacity. If the A’s want to play at Oracle in San Francisco, they know renting out there will not be cheap.

 One fact remains for this season because of all the circumstances and unknowns in the future of this franchise. The 2024 season could be the last for the A’s at Oakland Coliseum, where they have won four World Series.

Depending on how everything develops, like the construction of the new park, the A’s would be one of the most exciting teams to cover in the major leagues. It will attract nationwide and international curiosity.

We might see more media covering the Oakland A’s in 2024 than in the previous four to five seasons. The A’s will still have many young players, and they will not be expected to be in the race for a playoff spot, but all the stories written about 2024 could make the Oakland Coliseum historical Adiós a very special one.

There have been highs and lows for the Oakland A’s. In 1979, only 653 fans showed up at Oakland Alameda County Stadium to watch the A’s beat the Mariners 6-5. In 1979, the A’s total attendance at the Coliseum was 306,763, their lowest. In the last three years, 2021, 701,430, followed by 787,902 in 2022 and the previous season in 2023 the total home attendance was 832,352. The high, 1972,73-74, and  1988-89-90.

Those six years, A’s won four World Series and were the envy of baseball. I do not remember anybody complaining about the Oakland Coliseum because the team was winning, and when you win, who cares where you play? Winning is what brings the fans to the park.

To think the A’s could attract 1 million this next season is the dream of the most optimist among optimists. But because this 2024 could be a historical last season it will make it much more interesting, many memories will be rehashed and some new ones could come to fruition at the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum, the fifth oldest park in the major leagues.

Note: Dodger Stadium, Los Angeles, home of the LA Dodgers, is older than the Oakland Coliseum. It is the third oldest park in the major leagues, but in impeccable condition, it is still one of the best and most beautiful ballparks to watch a game.

The park doesn’t make the team. In the Dodger’s world, they have both the park and the team, and the team that leads the majors in attendance will be jumping again this year with many sellouts and a heck of a team.

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: Hernandez signs one year deal with Dodgers; Manaea signs with Mets, 2 yrs and $28M; plus more news

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Former Seattle Mariner Teoscar Hernandez signed with the Los Angeles Dodgers on Mon Jan 8, 2024 for a one year deal worth $23.5 million (AP file photo)

On That’s Amaury News and Commentary podcast:

#1 The Los Angeles Dodgers have reached a one year deal with All Star outfielder Teoscar Hernandez worth $23.5 million. Hernandez 31 hit .258, 70 runs, 161 hits and 93 RBIs for Seattle last season. Also this week pitcher Tyler Glasnow joins the Dodgers talk about how Hernandez and Glasnow will be a of a help to the Dodgers.

#2 Former Oakland A’s starter left hander Sean Manaea has signed with the New York Mets. Manaea 7-6 with an ERA 4.44 with his only year with the San Francisco Giants last season. You’ve seen Manaea over the years he’s a eight year veteran how do you see him in the Mets rotation?

#3 This past week the Giants traded for Robbie Ray for outfielder Mitch Haniger and Anthony DeSclafani and six million dollars. Ray won’t be ready until July as he’s recovering from Tommy John surgery did the Giants take a gamble on Ray waiting for him until July and coming back from Tommy John ?

#4 Also this past week the Los Angeles Angels signed Dan Plesac to a one year $1 million dollar deal. Plesac a right hander. In 2023 Plesac five games with a 1-1 record and a 7.59 ERA in 21 1/3 innings of work. Plesac appeared in 19 games and 18 of those were starts.

#5 The investigation continues for Tampa Bay Rays Wander Franco as to if he had a relationship with a 14 year old girl. Franco was released from a Dominican Republic jail. Franco bailed out paying $2 million Dominican pesos ($34,000 US) as a judge ordered his conditional release. Franco had been accused by two other minor girls and did not speak to reporters upon his release on Monday.

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

That’s Amaury News and Commentary: A’s Bumpy Move – A Recall for Oakland’s Mayor

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Rendering of the Oakland/Las Vegas A’s ballpark that is expected to be presented next week. The future park located at the Tropicana Hotel and Casino location in Las Vegas is expected to be completed by 2028 (photo from Schools over Stadiums and Las Vegas Locally)

A’s Bumpy Move – A Recall for Oakland’s Mayor

That’s Amaury News and Commentary

By Amaury Pi-González

OAKLAND–A’s are late submitting their renderings for the new Las Vegas stadium, which is nothing new since they have been late on just about everything in their relocation ordeal from the very beginning; they first selected land at the Rio, Las Vegas, then they changed their minds and moved to buy land at the Tropicana, which is where they have settled to build a 30,000 seat stadium, maybe 33,000 on nine acres.

Not all is well today in the City of Oakland, once called the “City of Champions, “when all three professional teams won league titles, A’s, Raiders, and Warriors. There is a recall of the Mayor of Oakland, Sheng Thao, who was elected last November, but her problems are much bigger than the A’s leaving The Town, as crime is as high as ever, and a group of organized citizens just started a recall.

They will need 25,000 signatures. A professional team leaving Oakland during Mayor Thao’s tenure is a huge loss, but the city’s rise in crime is a bigger issue. A Mayor, of any city, number one responsibility is safety, without safety, a city cannot operate. Some in Oakland are also calling for the city to declare a State of Emergency. That is how bad things are going in The Town.

The great Gertrude Stein was an American novelist, poet, playwright, and art collector, raised in Oakland, California.

The story is told that Gertrude Stein, once said that the problem with Oakland was, ”When you get there, there isn’t any THERE there.” She might be right!

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

That’s Amaury News and Commentary: Boxing A new world in 2024

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Mauricio Sulaiman, President of the WBC agrees that trans sexuals have an advantage over other women boxers (photo by the World Boxing Council file)

Boxing A new world in 2024

That’s Amaury News and Commentary

By Amaury Pi-González

A new boxing rule this year, 2024, by the national governing body for amateur/Olympic-style boxing, just codified a rule permitting male participation in the women’s division in its 2024 rule book. The policy is for a biological man who made “changes” and became a woman-transsexual to be able to fight biological women.

Here is the “hook”(to use a boxing term): Male boxers who transition to female are eligible to compete in the female category. These are the conditions. (1) To qualify for the female division, a man must declare his gender identity as female. (2) He must have undergone gender reassignment. (3) Done hormone resting for a minimum of four years after these procedures, and finally, (4) Must have met testosterone limits set by USA Boxing.

Controversial, to say the least, this could revolutionize boxing as we know it. However, not everybody agrees.

Mauricio Sulaiman, President of the WBC, acknowledged that trans athletes, identifying as women, have overwhelming male physical advantages that can overpower and threaten women.“In boxing, a man fighting a woman must never be accepted regardless of gender change,” he said. “There should be no gray area around this, and we want to go into it with transparency and the correct decisions. Woman to man or man to woman transgender change will never be allowed to fight a different gender by birth.”

Biological men who became transsexual are already competing in sports like swimming, whereas trans-athletes as Lia Thomas excel in swimming competitions against biological women; Thomas usually dominates and wins by large margins. But that is swimming, which is not a contact sport, but boxing presents a new dilemma. Because unlike swimming, in boxing, people can get seriously hurt.

The uncharted territory we are in when it comes to this topic it is way above my pay grade, as the saying goes, but it shows that, in this case, the boundaries of humanity are being seriously tested.

Happy New Year!

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

That’s Amaury News and Commentary podcast: Rays Franco fails to show up for inappropriate relationship hearing in the Dominican; Braves acquire Sale from Red Sox for Grissom; plus more news

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Tampa Bay Rays infielder Wander Franco sits in the dugout during a game at the Tropicana in St Petersburg on Aug 13, 2023 during a MLB game. Franco was arrested on Sun Jan 1, 2024 and is under investigation allegation of having a inappropriate relationship with a minor in the Dominican Republic (AP News file photo)

On That’s Amaury News and Commentary podcast:

#1 Former Tampa Bay Rays shortstop Wander Franco 22, appeared at a prosecutor’s office with his two attorneys Teodosio Jáquez Encarnación and Juan Francisco Rodríguez Consoró, to answer to accusations of inappropriate relationships with minors. Details of the meeting was not forthcoming. He has been accused by two people and a third person came forward and that investigation is forthcoming. Franco was placed on leave last season. Franco signed an 11 year $182 million contract in Nov 2021 with the Rays.

#2 It’s the big deal that everybody in MLB is talking about the Atlanta Braves acquired pitcher Chris Sale and cash for infielder Vaughn Grissom who goes to the Boston Red Sox. Sale last season for the Sox was 6-5, ERA 4.30 with 125 strike outs. Grissom last season for the Braves hit .280, 21 hits, no home runs and 9 RBIs.

#3 The Red Sox picked up pitcher Lucas Giolito who pitched for the Cleveland Guardians last season. Giolito joins the Sox in a two year $38.5 million deal. Giolito a left hander will join the Sox starting rotation. Giolito went 8-15 with 4.88 ERA.

#4 Two Detroit Tigers scouts Gary Pellant 68 and Randall Johnson 67 have filed a law suit against the Tigers for age discrimination. Both Pellant and Johnson were fired by the Tigers after the 2020 season because of the false stereotype that older scouts lacked the scouting tools regarding analytics. There have been 51 of 83 older scouts of other MLB scouts who filed age discrimination suits against MLB for age discrimination over the same charges. The lawsuit mentioned that after Rob Manfred became Commissioner in 2015 there has been of recruiting younger scouts and doing away with the older scouts who were 60 and over.

#5 Last Friday Amuary you wrote about Cuban native and Oakland A’s pitching prospect Luis Morales who signed for $3 million last season. Morales from Cuba throws a fast ball that is in the triple digits. In Cuba he had been making $40-200 a month pitching. Morales defected and was caught by Cuban authorities in Guantanamo in the process of escaping the island, but he finally defected two years ago and here he is now with the A’s.

Join Amaury Pi Gonzalez for News and Commentary podcasts Tuesdays at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

That’s Amaury News and Commentary A’s prospect: Escaped Cuba in 2021 figures in the team’s future

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Oakland A’s future prospect Luis Danys Morales (left) shakes hands with A’s assistant general manager Dan Feinstein during the signing of Morales (photo by the Oakland A’s)

A’s top prospect Escaped Cuba in 2021 figures in the team’s future

That’s Amaury News and Commentary

By Amaury Pi-González

OAKLAND–Luis Danys Morales defected from the Cuban National Sub-23 team in México in 2021. According to MLB, in 2023, the Cuban right-handed pitcher was considered the best young international prospect—the Oakland A’s signed Morales for $3 million.

A few years earlier, when he was 18 years old, Morales was caught by Cuban authorities in Guantanamo in the process of escaping the island, but he finally defected two years ago. Libertad!

Suppose you wonder why all the talented baseball players from Cuba have been defecting for decades to come to the US. They are not treated well, as they make an equivalent of $40 to 200 dollars per month in salary in Cuban pesos.

It is important to remember that because Cuba’s communist government abolished all professional sports in the country in the 1960s, today’s players only play for the pleasure of the country, and the entity that reigns over baseball evaluates “patriotism” as crucial as their baseball skills.

They have to play under the harassment of the government. One Cuban player who defected and who is not in the major leagues told me years ago “if we do not stand for the Cuban National Anthem before the game, in Cuba or abroad, we are in dire trouble.”

Morales is 6’3″and 190 pounds, with a 99 mph fastball and good stuff in his other pitches. Scouts consider he could be a future starter in the major leagues. Born in Antilla, Cuba (in the eastern part of the country) on September 24, 2002.

In 2023, pitched for the Lansing Lug Nuts of the Midwest League High-A affiliate of the Oakland A’s. He pitched 44 innings, struck out 55 in 14 games, 13 games as a starter, and ended with a 2.86 earned run average.

The A’s have a very young and inexperienced pitching staff; they recently signed Trevor Gott for one year and $1.5 million, plus other bonuses, including if he gets traded. Trevor Gott has become the most experienced pitcher on the A’s roster, although others might be signed in the future.

Gott has pitched in the AL West with the Mariners and the Angels and in the NL West with the Giants. “We are looking to add some experience to our pitching staff and our bullpen,” A’s general manager David Forst said to the AP. “Trevor has pitched well in our division and wanted to return to the Bay Area.”“We are looking to add some experience to our pitching staff and our bullpen,” A’s general manager David Forst said to the AP. “Trevor has pitched well in our division and wanted to return to the Bay Area.”

Happy New Year!

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: 2023 Asian Winter in Baseball

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Ichiro Suzuki the former Seattle Mariners star started a huge following for Asian players in MLB. Ichiro is on the cusp of being voted in the MLB Hall of Fame. Here is Ichiro addressing the media on Fri Aug 26, 2022 the day before he was inducted into the Seattle Mariners Hall of Fame. Ichiro will be eligible for the Hall of Fame in 2025 (AP News file photo)

2023 Asian Winter in Baseball

That’s Amaury News and Commentary

By Amaury Pi-González

Since the 2022 World Series ended and until today, some of the most coveted and expensive free agents in the game are players like Shohei Ohtani and Yoshiubo Yamamoto, both Japanese, who signed with the Dodgers and shelled 1 Billion dollars total for both players. ($1 Billion US dollars is equal to 141,613,142,860 Japanese Yen)

Also, Jung Hoo Lee, a South Korean outfielder who signed with the San Francisco Giants; Masataka Yoshida with the Boston Red Sox; and Yuki Matsui, who signed with the San Diego Padres from the Japanese professional leagues.

Not signed yet: From Japan, the two free agents are Shota Imanaga, a lefty-control pitcher, and Naoyuki Uwasawa, a right-handed pitcher. Uwasaka was not even posted yet.

-The West Coast a Pioneer to Asian players:

-Japan: The first Japanese player was pitcher Masanori Murakami, who was with the San Francisco Giants. However, after just 2 years, the connection of players from Japan to the major leagues was closed

-South Korea: In 1994, Chan Ho Park, a pitcher, became the first Korean-born player to p[play in the major leagues.

The most impactful player from Asia?  Ichiro Suzuki played from 2001 to 2019 with the Seattle Mariners: a lead-off hitter-outfielder, great contact hitter, and tremendous throwing arm from right field. Ichiro had 200 or more hits in ten consecutive seasons with the Mariners from 2001 to 2010.

Ended his career with 3,089 hits and .311 average. He will be the first Asian player inducted into the MLB Hall of Fame at Cooperstown, New York. No other Asian baseball player has played for this long and enjoyed this much success.

During my years calling Mariners games for Spanish radio in Seattle, I met Ichiro when he first came into the major leagues from Japan; a hard worker and eccentric player, he would carry his favorite bats inside a particular case like a great violinist carries a Stradivarius.

Ichiro was very reserved as a player, some say, shy; I did interview him a few times with one of his interpreters. I would answer the question in English to his interpreter, who would then ask him in Japanese, and he (the interpreter) would return the answer in English to me.

Later, I would take the tape upstairs to my broadcast booth to edit for my pre-game show. It was exciting. One of the most curious answers he ever gave me was when I asked him if he learned any words in Spanish, and it was ‘peligroso’, which means ‘dangerous’. I later learned that he was ‘miked’ during a  live game that was nationally televised and said a word that he did not mean to say.

On October 1, 2004, Ichiro Suzuki broke George Sisler’s single-season record with a  258th hit. I called that game; it was one of Ichiro’s greatest accomplishments. That season Ichiro ended with 262 hits.

Quote: If I’m in a slump, I ask myself for advice  -Ichiro Suzuki

Ichiro will not be eligible for the Hall of Fame until 2025.

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

That’s Amaury News and Commentary podcast: Will Ohtani and Yamamoto be worth the $1 Billion spent; Dodger’s Ohtani gifts Kelly’s wife with new Porsche

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Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Shohei Ohtani (left) showed his appreciation to Dodgers pitcher Joe Kelly’s (right) wife Ashley (center) as Ohtani got Kelly’s jersey 17. This was actually a gift from both Ohtani and Kelly to Kelly’s wife for the numeral change on the jersey. (Getty photo)

On That’s Amaury News and Commentary podcast:

#1 It was the two signings by the Los Angeles Dodgers this week with designated hitter Shohei Ohtani and pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto for a combined $1 billion are these deals going to be worth all that money?

#2 The Seattle Mariners and catcher Mitch Garver have reached a two year $24 million agreement. Garver hit .270, 19 home runs and 50 RBIs. Tell us how Garver will have give the M’s boost in their line up.

#3 Got to ask you about Dodgers pitcher Joe Kelly selling his uniform number 17 in exchange for a brand new Porsche from Ohtani for his wife Ashley Kelly. The new car was parked in front of Kelly’s home and his wife answered the door to see the new silver Porsche as the delivery driver told her “it’s yours.”

#4 The San Diego Padres signed Yuki Matsui for a five year $28 million contract. This was the Padres biggest splurge since last spring training. Matsui was the top reliever in Japan where he saved 236 games and had an 2.40 ERA. The Padres are expecting Matsui to be the core of the pitching staff.

#5 ESPN’s Tim Kurkjian said that it doesn’t seem right that the Cleveland Guardians got the number one draft pick and the Oakland A’s end up with the fourth lottery pick. Amaury despite the A’s coming in fourth in the lottery can you see the A’s getting talent for their future in spite of not getting the number one draft pick?

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

That’s Amaury News and Commentary: A’s Work of Art

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Photo of art gallery containing Donald Fisher and Doris Fisher’s art collection who are the parents of Oakland A’s owner John Fisher (photo from Artsy)

A’s Work of Art

That’s Amaury News and Commentary

By Amaury Pi-González

Las Vegas most famous museums are The Mob Museum, The Neon Museum, the Atomic Museum, and the Discovery Children’s Museum. Now, the Oakland Athletics, planning to be the Las Vegas A’s in 2028, have a museum in mind for their new 30,000-seat stadium on the Las Vegas Strip.

According to the Las Vegas Business Journal, Athletics owner John Fisher plans to display a selection from his family’s acclaimed collection at the A’s stadium on the strip. For months, multiple sources familiar with Fisher’s design plan have included talks about developing an art program in Las Vegas.

The museum will display the art at the team’s new home at the Tropicana Hotel-Casino site. The A’s owner plans to exhibit these pieces of art in the team’s new house at the Tropicana Hotel-Casino site.

The Doris and Donald Fisher Collection, parents of John Fisher, is among the world’s most significant collections of contemporary art. This is according to SFMOMA website. The founders of the Gap apparel company began buying art pieces in 1969 in San Francisco after they opened their first big store.

Later, it was located in Burlingame, 20 miles south of San Francisco. Allan Schwartzman, a veteran Manhattan curator, told the New York Times the Fishers Collection is one of the great collections assembled in our time.

This A’s Art has nothing to do with Art Howe who managed the Oakland A’s from 1996 to 2002.

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