Tag: That’s Amaury’s News and Commentary

Former Washington Senator pitcher Pedro Ramos in his first uniform in 1955 now 85 years old who pitched for six Major Leagues teams between 1955-1970 is part of Amaury’s Commentary today (photo from en.wikipedia.org)

1961 When Professional Baseball Died in Cuba(Memories)

That’s Amaury News and Commentary

By Amaury Pi-González

I remember 1961 as I was arriving in the United States leaving behind Cuba. It was precisely that year for the first time that the Cuban-Communist government banned professional baseball, as well as all pro-sports.

The last year that there was professional baseball in the largest island in the Caribbean was the 1960-61 season, the old Cuban-Winter Professional League. The Cienfuegos (Elephants) won the season with a 48-24 record and finished 12 games ahead of the Tigres (Tigers) of Marianao.

Right hander pitcher Pedro Ramos won the MVP that year with Cienfuegos. Ramos threw side-arm had a nasty sinking fastball; he was a very popular player in Cuba as well as in the Major Leagues with the Washington Senators and Minnesota Twins.

Pedro Ramos (Pete) many called him Cuban Pete or the Cuban Cowboy was a colorful man that loved to wear cowboy boots. After one season I remember seen him in front of Union Radio a famous radio station next to Havana’s Central Park signing autographs and driving a shining brand new Cadillac with a pair of Longhorns at the front of the hood.

In the US Pedro Ramos was called a ‘hot dog’ something like another Cuban-born player today in MLB, Yasiel Puig. I always said and written about, there is nothing wrong if you are a ‘hot dog’ as long as you can play.

Ramos was a great athlete with great speed. There is a story that he once challenged Mickey Mantle in a sprint race in the outfield, prior to a game at Yankee Stadium when the Senators visited which he beat a young and very fast Mantle.

But I remember Pedro Ramos pitching next to another great Cuban pitcher, Camilo Pascual with a great curveball on those Cienfuegos teams of the old and famous league, considered one of the strongest outside the Major Leagues in the US.

Numerous American players participated in that Cuban winter league. I remember players like Wilmer (Vinegar Bend) Mizell, Bob Allison, Al Cicotte, Bob Shaw, Jackie Brandt, Bobby DelGreco, Forest Jacobs, Bill Werle, Al Spangler, Rocky Nelson, Jim Bunning; my favorite US-born player in Cuba was Brooks Robinson, and many others. They will be scattered on rosters of the four teams that made that league: Cienfuegos, Havana, Marianao and Almendares with some great Cuban players like Minnie Miñoso saw him with Marianao Tigers, Luis Tiant with the Havana Lions, Chico Fernandez, shortstop with the Scorpions of Almendares, and I am just mentioning a few.

Cuba until Castro killed professional baseball was the #1 country sending talent to the Major Leagues. Baseball has always been the top sport in Cuba, after many decades of the actual Cuban dictatorship many Cubans have escaped the island in small man-made crafts, or defected with their teams when they were playing tournaments outside the island. As of today’s rosters there are approximately 20 to 25 Cuban players in the Major Leagues.

Bill Werle who pitched with Marianao, was born and lived here in the Bay Area was pitching last time that club won the Cuban title in 1956. He was a popular major league scout. I had many conversations with him when he was scouting here and he would tell me “during those years the best league outside the major leagues was that Cuban league and many of us players were lucky to be able to go and play winter ball there, where they also paid the best”. Bill Werle was born in Oakland, California (1920-2010) pitched for the Pittsburgh Pirates, St Louis Cardinals and Boston Red Sox.

The memories of baseball from Cuba to the US are precious to me and my family and no matter what happens in baseball, today or in the future, those 1950’s and 1960’s years are some of the best in the history of the game. The Castro governments took my family’s property and change our way of life, but the memories that I have from those years, nobody can take away from me.

Stay well and stay tuned.

Amaury Pi Gonzalez is the Spanish radio voice for Oakland A’s baseball on 1010 KIQI San Francisco and does News and Commentary each week at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

San Francisco Giants’ pitcher Juan Marichal, in uniform without cap, acknowledges his teammates’ congratulations as he marches off the playing field, June 15, 1963, after throwing a no-hitter against the Houston Colts. Teammates and man in suit are unidentified. (AP Photo/Robert H. Houston)

On That’s Amaury’s pod:

#1 Fourth of July is coming and that is the one day that you could always count on working an MLB game now that the season has been rescheduled for July 23rd it’s an awkward time of the year to open the season.

#2 Amongst some of the changes coming into the 2020 60 game season one of them is the Universal Designated Hitter where the National League will longer allow the pitcher to hit. Will this be a big adjustment for the pitchers and will the NL miss allowing all fielders to hit?

#3 Amaury how much will the Universal DH be a departure from the culture of the game and how much impact will it have as a change in the rules of the game.

#4 On June 15, 1963 a high kick wind up of Hall of Famer and San Francisco Giant pitcher Juan Marichal was all that the visiting Houston 45’s saw all afternoon as Marichal threw a no hitter at Candlestick Park in San Francisco.

#5 The Oakland A’s English broadcasters are considering going back to last season’s flagship station and carry all 60 games on KTRB 860. The A’s left the station last year that there was just too much right wing programming. 860 tried to appeal to the A’s and now the team might reconsider and come back.

Join Amaury for That’s Amaury’s podcasts each Tuesday morning at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

wagerbop.com image: New York Mets slugger Pete Alonso has a few games less to work with in a 60 game season to beat his home run total of 53 from last season

2020 Season: A Big Asterisk Year (Stats)

That’s Amaury News and Commentary

By Amaury Pi-González

No season has been shorter than the one that is scheduled to begin this 24th of July, since 1878. We might get some wild season-ending stats for the length of the 2020 season. Of course all stats will display asterisks.

Here are some of the most interesting: Somebody could end the season with a .400 or more batting average. If that happens, Ted Williams (Bos) last to hit .406(1941) would be turning over in his grave.

The pitchers that win the Cy Young might win it with 8-2 and a 2.90-something ERA. A pitcher could be the strike-out king with 70-75 K’S, and a possibility for an extra-ordinary season if any hurler ends with 100 strikeouts, which is like the equivalent to 300 or more. In 2019 Gerrit Cole (NYY) served 326 strike outs while Justin Verlander (HOU) distributed 300. The incredible duo that were the best one-two at Houston.

The RBI leaders could end with 50 runs-batted-in. The leader in hits might end with 80 hits, the sexy home run leader, in a power game like today, could possibly win it with 15 home runs. Last season Pete Alonso (NY Mets) hit 53 and led the National League and the underrated Jorge Soler (KC) who led the American League with 48 home runs. A player could lead his league in stolen bases with 15. Last season Mallex Smith (SEA) stole 46 to lead the American League and Ronald Acuña Jr. (ATL) the National League with 37 steals. The forgotten bunt these days?

This season a player could get 3-4 bunt-hits and lead his league, and it would be an excellent bunter with great speed. Sacrifice bunts will be less because the NL is using the Designated Hitter. Most of the SAC-Bunts are from starting pitchers in the National League. The only bunts you might see these days are in old films at Cooperstown. Occasionally when ESPN or MLB Net. Open their vaults to bring us the 1952 World Series between the NY Yankees and the Brooklyn Dodgers, the bunt was part of the game.

This year if a team ends with a record of 41-19 that is a .683 percentage, and should be more than enough to win and advance to the playoffs. Last season, Yankees, Dodgers, Astros and Twins who won their respective divisions were the only teams to finish with an over .600 winning percentage.

One Safe Record: Joe DiMaggio’s 56 game hitting streaks in 1941.This season a player that plays all 60 games would not have much wiggle room to accomplish such feat. Image if it happens? Just like Ted Williams .406 in 1941, The Yankee Clipper will also be turning-over in his grave.

Another safe record this season. Barry Bonds (SF) 2001 season when he hit 73 home runs. If that happens in 60 games, then the year 2020 has really “Jumped the Shark”.

For broadcasters? With an empty stadium, we do not have to talk much louder. It would be interesting especially in such spacious places as the Oakland Coliseum.

Have a great weekend. Stay well and stay tuned.

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

KDKA CBS 2 Pittsburgh file photo: Pittsburgh Pirates catcher Manny Sanguillen (left) and rightfielder Roberto Clemente (right) pose for a photo in the glory days of the 1970s their best years in Pittsburgh

Exclusive Interview with Manny Sanguillen

That’s Amaury News and Commentary

By Amaury Pi-González

Back in the 1970’s when he was catching for the Pittsburgh Pirates, Manny Sanguillen, Roberto Clemente and Willie Stargell walked into a Howard Johnson and could not get service, They were a couple of hours late to Spring Training that day in Ft Myers, Florida.

This is one of the many stories told to me by a man born in Colón, Panamá, an excellent catcher for 12 seasons in the major leagues, 11 of those with the Pirates and one, in 1977 with the Oakland Athletics. He ended his excellent career with a solid .296 batting average (something not common these days) especially for a catcher,  Sanguillen was selected to three All Star games and won the 1971 World Series when the Pirates defeated the Baltimore Orioles.

Sanguillen was one of the best catchers in major league baseball during the 1970’s his lifetime average was higher that Hall of Fame catcher Johnny Bench. The Pirates catcher was a contact hitter and an integral part of the success by the Pittsburgh teams of that time.

As a contemporary of Manny Sanguillen, I remember interviewing him when he played for the Athletics in 1977, he always had a kind smile great attitude and very proud of his Panamanian roots. Living now in Boynton Beach, Florida, he was very gracious and courteous when I called to talk to him. “I had my friends in Oakland when I played there, like Vida Blue and Billy North” he said. My friends in the media that also covered Sanguillen, all tell me he was very good with the media in the bay area.

Sanguillen, like many other Latino players suffered discrimination and humiliation, when I asked him about the years in Pittsburgh where Clemente and the media did not get along, as he would complain of being misquoted by newspapers, Sanguillen told me “Yes, that was true, they just didn’t like him because some were racist” The 76-year old catcher told me about himself and his career in Pittsburgh “they wanted me fired, there were always rumors that I was going to be traded, at that time there were very few Latino catchers”. (He paused) other catchers like Eliseo Rodríguez and Paul Casanova”

About the story that he was going to Managua, Nicaragua, with Roberto Clemente on that DC-3 chartered plane Clemente was taking a loaded plane with help for the victims of that earthquake, he said that was not true. But he did talk to Roberto before he left from San Juan, Puerto Rico, but Sanguillen tells me he was not planning to go, Clemente had a lot of friends with him, he was always surrounded by people. He learned about the plane crash from Luis Mayoral, a veteran sports journalist and broadcaster born in Puerto Rico.

Manny Sanguillen “Clemente told me once, if we make it to a World Series, I will take care of everything”. He did, in 1971 Clemente hit .411 won the World Series MVP like Bill Blass, who pitched a complete game seven to clinch it for the Pirates said after the game about Roberto: “Clemente did it all”.

He talks about his three All Star Games, like the one in Atlanta in 1972 when he was hitting behind Billy Williams: “I got a single to centerfield against pitcher Wilbur Wood advancing Williams to third.” His memory is sharp as a tack. He has not played since the late 70’s but he remembers stuff like it was last year.

Like many Latino players he had to handle the discrimination that did not go away after Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier in 1947. He played in the 1970’s and still, like former A’s outfielder Tony Armas once told me “for us Latino players, we have to be twice as good as a white player to prove ourselves here.”

I asked Sanguillen about what Armas told me back then and he told me Armas was correct. Orlando Cepeda once told me that when he arrived in the major leagues, there was a pecking order; the White players, then the African-American players and then the Latino players, we were at the bottom of the totem pole, not only because of skin color, but also the language barrier”.

Born in Panamá, he is friends with three of the most famous athletes in that country – three institutions. “I talk to Rod Carew with frequency, saw him in Miami, as far as Mariano Rivera he lives in Panamá and I do not see him as often, Roberto Durán, yes I see him”

Manny Sanguillen is part of the great tradition of Latin American ballplayers in the major leagues. Manny is an Evangelical Christian and although he only played with the A’s for one season he left many good memories and friends here in the Bay Area, during a time where the number of Latino players was not as it is today, which is close 30 percent of all players.

Sanguillen was inducted into The Hispanic Heritage Baseball Museum and Hall of Fame/ His good friend Roberto Clemente not only has a statue at PNC Park, but also a bridge in Pittsburgh named the Roberto Clemente bridge. Not many superstars have a bridge with his name on it.

Muchas gracias a Manny Sanguillen por la entrevista, espero que siga bien con su buen humor, muy positivo con esa gran sonrisa tan contagiosa.

Thanks to Manny Sanguillen for the interview, hope he stays well, with his good humor his positivism and that great contagious smile.

Stay well and stay tuned.

Amaury Pi Gonzalez is the vice president of the Major League Baseball Hispanic Heritage Museum and does News and Commentary each week at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Statement from the Players Association saying their prepared to get back to work July 24th. The players will be getting their full prorated pay. The season will last for two months and a week prior to the post season starting in October (MLB Players Association image)

MLB: Final Score – Both sides Lost; Opener set for July 24

That’s Amaury’s News and Commentary

By Amaury Pi Gonzalez

There will be baseball. An abbreviated regular-season starting by the end of July and ending by the end of September. The only hurdle left is the unpredictability of this Covid-19 virus. Because of the history of the two protagonists, you could have predicted the final result. And there is no winner here. If you believe there was a winner then you are a great candidate to buy beach front property in Tennessee.

Anybody that loves this game, now feels like when you wake-up the morning after with a terrible hangover after a party, that was not really what you where hoping for. Unlike other sports, a game that ends in a tie is not part of the game of baseball (for now anyway) and after three months of negotiations just regurgitated all the distrust between both sides, we are going to play for about two months and a few days, plus playoffs.

In a season of this kind, teams like the Seattle Mariners, who have never won a World Series since their franchise was born in 1977, have the best chance. Ironically the Mariners last year had a 13-2 start; something very rare in baseball history, they were the 17th team since 1900 to win at least 13 of their first 15 games. If they repeat such start during a season of some 60 games, they might just do it.

Hopefully the two month and a week season will go without a hitch, since the navigation would be a virus that is still without a vaccine.

Nobody won. At the end, there was an even bigger loser than the owners, players, and the fans.

Stay well and stay tuned.

Amaury Pi Gonzalez is the vice president of the Major League Baseball Hispanic Heritage Museum at the Oakland Coliseum and does News and Commentary at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

MLB logo image from wamc.com

MLB Two Month Season or No Season

That’s Amaury News and Commentary

By Amaury Pi-González

The clock has ran out.

Today MLBPA voted against the 60-game season proposed by the owners, by a vote of 33-5. Now the Final, REAL FINAL decision rest in Commissioner’s Manfred’s next announcement. By fiat he can set the schedule for a season, which will be around 50 games, basically two months of baseball. Or he can opt on cancelling this Soap Opera and saying, No season, for reasons he will then explain. There are owners that are fine with no season at all, it is a minority, but now that the players rejected the last pitch by the owners, others might join in the cry to cancel 2020.

The wild card continues to be Covid-19. Is it going to comeback in the fall or not? There are many opinions on that, depends who you listen to, but even the “experts” in science who study this stuff for decades have already contradicted themselves. This is no secret and is for everybody to see. But, in this subject both sides agree. There is a possibility the season begins and then has to be stopped because the cases of Covid would continue to rise and players will have contracted the virus.

If Manfred announces the shortened season, he must guarantee the security and well-being of the players. If he makes the decision to play this year, then the Players Union have the right to file grievance, mostly alleging that the owners did not negotiated in good faith.

I am sure there will be re-runs of this very sad exercise between owners and players, from the time MLB stopped Spring Training to the day and time Mr. Manfred makes his final decision. It would be documented and recorded in history as not one of the great moments for the National Pastime.

Season or no season, baseball has hurt themselves like never before. The old saying “timing is everything” could have not been more accurate in 2020 as MLB and MLPBA battle for two months and will come down to one of two very sad decisions.

Stay well and stay tuned.

Amaury Pi Gonzalez is the vice president of the Major League Baseball Heritage Museum located at the Oakland Coliseum and does News and Commentary each week at http://www.sportsradioservice.com