Tag: That’s Amaury’s News and Commentary

That’s Amaury’s News and Commentary: Roberto Clemente Award Nominees and Where to Vote

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By: Amaury Pi-González

It was once called the Commissioner’s Award when it was first given in 1971, but it eventually became the Roberto Clemente Award in 1973 — a year after the great Pirates outfielder died when a chartered plane he was taking to Nicaragua to help the people of that country suffering from a terrible earthquake crashed after leaving San Juan, Puerto Rico. Every major league team nominates a player. Fans and media can vote by going to this site: https://www.mlb.com/mlb/community/roberto-clemente-award

Here are the nominees:

Arizona Diamondbacks – Eduardo Escobar
Atlanta Braves – Charlie Culberson
Baltimore Orioles – Chris Davis
Boston Red Sox – Brock Holt
Chicago Cubs – Jon Lester
Chicago White Sox – Tim Anderson
Cincinnati Reds – Michael Lorenzen
Cleveland Indians – Carlos Carrasco
Colorado Rockies – Ian Desmond
Detroit Tigers – Miguel Cabrera
Houston Astros – Alex Bregman
Kansas City Royals – Alex Gordon
Los Angeles Angels – Andrew Heaney
Los Angeles Dodgers – Kenley Jansen
Miami Marlins – Martín Prado
Milwaukee Brewers – Chase Anderson
Minnesota Twins – Kyle Gibson
New York Mets – Steven Matz
New York Yankees – CC Sabathia
Oakland Athletics – Liam Hendriks
Philadelphia Phillies – Rhys Hoskins
Pittsburgh Pirates – Trevor Williams
San Diego Padres – Hunter Renfroe
San Francisco Giants – Pablo Sandoval
Seattle Mariners – Dee Gordon
St. Louis Cardinals – Adam Wainwright
Tampa Bay Rays – Kevin Kiermaier
Texas Rangers – Elvis Andrus
Toronto Blue Jays – Randal Grichuk
Washington Nationals – Anthony Rendon

No city loved a player more like Pittsburgh loved Roberto Clemente. He has a statue and a bridge named after him.

That’s Amaury’s News and Commentary: Lifelong Bay Area Baseball Man, Charlie Silvera, Dies at 94

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By: Amaury Pi-González

Charlie Silvera was born in San Francisco, California on October 13,1924 and passed away in Millbrae, California on September 7, 2019. An original Bay Area baseball man, he attended St. Ignatius College Preparatory High School. In 1942, he signed with the Yankees and played the outfield for the Wellsville Yankees at 17 years old. He didn’t play from 1943 to 1945 as he served in World War II.

In 1946, Silvera was converted to catcher with Kansas City Blues (AAA team). Three years later, he was playing for the New York Yankees.

Silvera was a catcher, a coach and a scout for most of his life. He won six World Series rings with the Yankees during their title runs in 1949, 1950, 1951, 1952, 1953 and 1956. He played with Yogi Berra (as his back-up), Tommy Henrich, Jerry Coleman, Phil Rizzuto, Hank Bauer, Joe DiMaggio, Johnny Mike, Ralph Houk and many others.

As a back-up catcher to Berra, Silvera had many great baseball stories because he was a storyteller. Many times, he would show up at the Giants or A’s press boxes and we would just sit there and listen to endless stories about his playing years. My favorite was about his last year with the Yankees in 1956. It was October 8, 1956 when Yankee pitcher Don Larsen threw a perfect game in Game 5 of the World Series against the Brooklyn Dodgers, the only perfecto to date in a World Series.

That was the way it went, according to Silvera, who said: “I warmed-up Don Larsen prior to that game. After the game, I told Yogi if he could give me a souvenir of that game. Yogi told me, he will see what he could do. Next day after the game, Yogi came to me with a brown bag on his hands, as I opened it was a jockstrap, Larsen’s cup! I said, is that all? Yogi told, me the ball used on that last out went to the Yankee Museum, his Uniform to the Hall of Fame and there was not much left besides that. To this day,I have that jockstrap on the mantle of my house in San Mateo.”

That was one of the many great and funny stories about Silvera’s years as part of the Yankees dynasty. He loved the Bay Area. He was a treasure, and while he was not a famous player by any means, he was part of our baseball world. I got to know him as a scout when he came to the park or at functions or events related to baseball.

Silvera was one of the greatest characters of the game, and a man that lived a long life in and out of baseball. I will never forget him.

Rest in peace, Charlie.

Amaury Pi-González is a pioneer in establishing Spanish baseball play by play in the Bay Area and began his long broadcasting career during the late 1970’s when Charlie O Finley was the team’s owner.

That’s Amaury’s News and Commentary podcast: Beane and Forst made the right decisions staying at the A’s

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On That’s Amaury’s News and Commentary podcast:

#1 The Boston Red Sox fired their general manager David Dombrowski citing reasons why the Oakland A’s Billy Beane and David Forst declined to work for the Sox.

#2 Dombrowski led the Sox to a World Series last year. The Sox beat the Dodgers. Dombrowski will have no problem getting another front office job.

#3 A’s pitcher Sean Manaea has had such a great comeback his last outing. He beat Detroit with ten strikeouts for a 3-1 win. Manaea will be a huge plus for the A’s rotation.

#4 The A’s are close to calling up Jesus Luzardo from Las Vegas. Luzardo is ranked #3 as a left-handed pitching prospect.

#5 The A’s are in Houston facing their toughest American League opponent and the road to the World Series goes through Houston in the postseason.

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

That’s Amaury’s News and Commentary: A Coup D’état in Boston, Dombrowski Is Out

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By: Amaury Pi-González

It has not been very long since Dave Dombrowski held the World Series trophy over his head during the parade in Boston. But today, Dombrowski is not the reigning World Champion General Manager anymore. In a town that lives and dies with their beloved Red Sox, there is no mercy. Although I believe, and most sane people also believe there is a whole world outside of baseball; In Boston, the Red Sox are breakfast, lunch and dinner everyday. There is nothing laid back about Boston or New York — you are a great guy, a nice guy, a genius, as long as you will; but when you do not win, Au Revoir!

Dombrowski was also GM of the Montreal Expos, Florida Marlins and Detroit Tigers before taking over the Boston Red Sox. He always has enjoyed the reputation of one of the best baseball executives around. But today, he is Au Revoir!

For now, it will take three executives to replace Dombrowski: Zack Scott, Eddie Romero and Brian O’Halloran, who served as assistants to the fired GM. Also, Raquel Ferreira, a longtime Red Sox senior Vice President of the Sox Minor and Major League operations for the last 21 years. She automatically became the highest-ranking woman in the MLB.

Red Sox Field Manager Alex Cora,was asked if he was surprised. Cora said: “Surprised? I am shocked!”

The way this happened, not waiting until the conclusion of the season, sounds to me like a typical baseball Coup D’état.

I wish Dave Dombroski the best in his future endeavors. He is a real gentleman and an accomplished man in the world of baseball.

That’s Amaury’s News and Commentary: Could the A’s Win Their Fifth World Series?

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By Amaury Pi-Gonzalez

This Saturday, the Oakland Athletics will conclude their crucial nine-game homestand hosting the San Francisco Giants for the last two games this year against their Bay Area rivals. The A’s won three of four against the Astros and swept the Yankees in three games. Those are the best two teams in the American League this season. So, with the thought in mind, could the A’s shock the baseball world and win the World Series?

Beginning tomorrow against the Giants, the A’s have 35 games left this season — 15 at home and 20 on the road.

Included in those 15 at the Coliseum, they still have to play a game suspended in May while at Comerica Park in Detroit, which began at the bottom of the seventh inning with the A’s ahead 5-3. It will be resumed when the Tigers visits Oakland on September 6, prior to that night’s scheduled game at 7:07 p.m.

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly
The A’s have to play these teams during the remaining of their schedule:

The Good
Yankees and Astros

The Bad
Giants, Angels and Rangers

The Ugly
Tigers, Royals and Mariners

The beauty of this game is that at any given moment a last place team at anytime at the end of the season can beat a good team like the A’s. Some of these teams with no chance are like the house party with one guy you invited that spoils the whole thing. Therefore, do not trash Detroit, Kansas City or Seattle, but keep in mind those three teams combined are on their way to losing more than 250 games.

The wild card situation looks good for the A’s, and as of now, Tampa Bay and Cleveland are the competitors. The A’s are a good bet to make it as a wild card, but after that, all bets are off. Last year, the A’s won 97 games and lost the whole season in 3.25 hours on October 3 at Yankee Stadium in the Bronx. There is a chance if they win the wild card game this October, they will have to play the Yanks again, but in the best of five divisional series. The way they have played the Yanks would not be bad, but there is one exception: Playoff baseball is a total different animal that regular season.

The A’s last World Series title was 30 years ago. That was one of the best A’s teams ever during a stretch of three consecutive trips to the October Classic. One of my favorite quotes about the World Series comes from Bay Area native Dennis Eckersley after the A’s defeated the Giants in 1989.

“But more important than personal awards is winning the World Series. That’s the max that anyone could ask for. Let alone to have the ball in your in your glove for the final out of the World Series. That was the ultimate.” — Dennis Eckersley

That’s Amaury’s News and Commentary: Historic A’s Spanish Radio Now 10,000 Watts, 24 Hours a Day

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Photo credit: athleticsnation.com

By: Amaury Pi-Gonzalez

Historic KIQI1010AM/990AM Oakland Athletics Spanish Radio Network used to be 10.000 watts at day and 500 Watts at night, but is now a clear 10,000 watts all day and all night. Owned by Multicultural Radio, a media company based in New York City owned by Chinese-American businessman Arthur Liu. it caters mostly to the multi-cultural community and owns television and radio stations in several of the top markets’ multiple languages. One of those stations is the flagship station for the Oakland Athletics Radio Network KIQI1010/990AM covering the nine counties of the Bay Area as well as Sacramento/Stockton and other communities in Northern California.

KIQI1010 AM radio is a historic radio station in the Bay Area that was once owned by James Gabbert, a radio and television entrepreneur and innovator. I met Gabbert at the last year’s Christmas party for the Bay Area Radio Hall of Fame and we reminisced of the year 1980 when he sold the station to Cuban-born René De La Rosa, who became one of the first Latino owners of a radio station in the State of California. During the 1980’s, De La Rosa’s KIQI 1010AM broadcasted MLB and the NBA’s Golden State Warriors in Spanish with a format that included live news, sports and talk shows.

Gabbert, who speaks fluent Spanish, told me how proud he was of selling the station in 1980 to De La Rosa, who intended to change the format to Spanish. James Gabbert, who is still involved in the media business of radio and television, also told me he travels frequently to Latin America and predicted that California would become one of the largest markets in the US for Spanish format stations with the influx of the Hispanic population, the largest minority in California and in the United States.

With a signal of 10,000 watts, located in the middle of the radio dial (1010AM frequency), KIQI now can serve the over 2 million Hispanics in the Bay Area with a much stronger signal at night, which is vital for sports, especially most Major League games, which have night schedules.

These increases in wattage power are authorized by the FCC and sometimes takes years for a radio station to obtained that permission. The old KOFY had the radio dial of 1050 AM in Spanish format. The studios were located in Burlingame, near the San Francisco Airport. It took them many years to increase their wattage from 1000 watts to what it is today. Also, they originally had permission to broadcast from sunrise to sunset. It seems that it took them forever to become a 24/7 station.

That’s Amaury’s News and Commentary: Hall of Fame weekend is their World Series

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By: Amaury Pi-González

In Cooperstown, New York this weekend six players will have the weekend of their lives with their families, friends and fans as their names will be engraved into immortality in alphabetical order: Harold Baines, Roy Halladay, Edgar Martínez, Mike Mussina, Mariano Rivera and Lee Smith.

Cooperstown is a beautiful small town that’s best known as the home of the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum.

For the greatest Hall of Fame in all American sports, this is their World Series, their Superbowl, their Olympics and their World Cup altogether. Dozens of living inductees will be on hand to welcome the new class of six. The last time I visited Cooperstown, it was part of a vacation to the east coast in November 2009. From the Bay Area by plane to Miami and then up to New York, where I bordered a train from Penn Station to Albany, NY. There, in Albany, I had a rental car awaiting and from there I drove to Cooperstown, driving through beautiful green rolling hills country. The whole trip takes about 5 hours and I recommend to anybody that has the time to do it. It is truly a nice relaxing trip. Cooperstown reminds me of the movie “Back to the Future” with old brick buildings and where you feel it is 1952 all over again.

Two of the six players that will be inducted have a direct connection with the Bay Area. Harold Baines, who played with the Oakland A’s from 1990 to 1992, played a total of 22 years for various clubs, ending with 2,830 games, 2,886 hits, 1,628 runs batted in, 384 home runs and a solid .289 batting average. A designated hitter for a great part of that stellar career.

Mike Mussina attended Stanford University where he pitched for three years. He was one of the most consistent pitchers in the majors for 18 years (10 with the Yankees and eight with the Orioles). He won 270 and lost 153 with a 3.58 ERA, 2,813 strikeouts and 57 games completed in 3,562 innings pitched.

The other four will be Roy Halladay, whose family will be accepting in his behalf. He died on November 2017 as his small private plane crashed in the Gulf of Mexico. Halladay won two Cy Young Awards hurled a perfect game plus a no-hitter during playoffs with Philadelphia. 16 years with Toronto and Philadelphia, won-lost 203-105 with a 3.38 ERA who also completed 67 games. Roy “Doc” Halladay was one of the last pitchers that everybody expected to complete the game he started. I can only imagine if he was with us, what would Doc say about the new craziness by some teams to use an “opener” which is a man that would be scheduled to pitch only the first inning.

Edgar Martínez is one of only two players inducted this year that played their whole career with the same team. The Seattle Mariners from 1987 to 2004. He originally was a third-baseman, but became one of the best pure hitters of his generation as a DH. 2.056 games, 2,247 hits, 309 home runs and 1,261 runs batted in and a combined .312 average. He hit over .300 in 11 of his 18 seasons and he had the eye of an eagle, struck out only 1,202 times in 8,674 trips to the plate. I used to call him “el oportuno” (translation: “the clutch one”) because he was the type of hitter you want with the winning run on base, he will not disappoint.

Lee Smith. About time! This man should have been inducted many years ago. He was a great reliever. During 18 years saved 478 and pitched for Boston Red Sox, Chicago Cubs, St. Louis Cardinals, NY Yankees, Baltimore Orioles, California Angels, Cincinnati Reds and Montreal Expos.

Mariano Rivera. Born in Panamá, the land of the great Hall of Famer Rod Carew, Rivera was the greatest closer in the history in this position. With a cutter from heaven he saved an incredible 652 games with a 2.21 ERA in 1,115 games,1,283 innings pitched with 1,173 strikeouts. It would be safe to say that this save record is safe and might not be broken during mine, yours, your kids and their kids years unless if baseball invents another crazy rule. Rivera only played for one club, the New York Yankees, from 1995 to 2013. He is a wonderful man who is truly an idol in his native Panamá. Also, a real gentleman. Every time I interviewed Rivera, he conducted himself with great professionalism. We were truly privileged to have witnessed his career.

Congratulations to all! They represent the best of the best.

That’s Amaury’s News and Commentary: US Women’s World Cup Champions? Equal Pay!

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Photo credit: @marceloclaure

By: Amaury Pi-Gonzalez

Yes, the FIFA Women’s World Cup champion US women’s soccer team should get equal pay like their male counterparts, but what they have to do is for their attorneys to re-negotiate their contracts. However, when it comes to this recent international World Cup, the ruling organization is FIFA (International Federation of Association Football) and FIFA has been a very corrupt organization for a long time.

FIFA would say that the Men’s World Cup is watched by half of the world, while the Women’s World Cup is not. While that is true, here in the US, the latest World Cup where the US women won their fourth World Cup accumulated a total rating bonanza for the FOX network. The last time they won the Women’s World Cup four years ago, they had an impressive 25.4 million viewers, making it the most watched soccer game in American TV history.
Yesterday, 14.3 million viewers watched the 2-0 win over the Netherlands in Lyon, France for the now four-time World Cup champs, which is up 22% over the 2018 Men’s World Cup Final.

The US women’s team that just won have a great argument to make, especially here in the US, to get paid as much as the US men’s team. This however, will be played out in a legal arena as attorneys are already involved. Today, this female championship team today has great leverage and enjoys tremendous popularity in this country. I cannot see why they cannot get equal pay.

When it comes to fútbol (soccer) in World Cup competition, the male teams always show higher ratings than their female counterparts. That is the whole world. In some countries where soccer is king, women still have to walk behind men, they are prohibited to get an education, and in some countries, they are not even allowed to drive.

But we are different that the rest of the world, so my prediction is that the US women’s team have an excellent opportunity to finally have equal pay and this is their best time for that argument.

Regardless of whether or not they get equal pay, we must congratulate them for a great World Cup. New York will welcome them with a ticker tape parade this Wednesday.

That’s Amaury’s News and Commentary: Warriors Trying to Appease Their Fans

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By: Amaury Pi-Gonzalez

The Golden State Warriors were ready to become the next Michael Jordan’s Chicago Bulls dynasty. But now, that is all, but a memory — a wish for their fans. Kevin Durant made a brief stop with the Warriors, and in a flash, it was all just a dream for their fans — one of those dreams you do not want to wake up from.

The truth remains that in this era of huge salaries and free agency, it is very difficult to keep a championship group together in the NBA. Mega stars like LeBron James play with a team, win a couple of titles and then just move on. With the departure of Durant to Brooklyn and Andre Iguodala to Memphis, the Warriors have a totally different look.

Now the Warriors organization is saying that no Warriors player will ever wear #35 again, that of Kevin Durant, who left for Brooklyn to join his 2016 Olympic buddies Kyrie Irvin and DeAndre Jordan and leaving millions on dollars on the table, which was offered by the Warriors.

“As long as I am co-chairman of this team, no player will ever wear #35 for the Warriors again,” Joe Lacob said in a statement.

OK, Warriors fans, calm down. The organization still wants to please you and continue to win. They are going to be moving this winter to Chase Arena in San Francisco. That will be the biggest attraction, a beautiful brand-new home. As far as winning, well nothing lasts forever. The LA Lakers will probably be the favorite to win in their division, but the Warriors should still be very competitive. Well, let’s hope so.

The Beatles also broke up in 1969 John Lennon informed the other Beatles he was leaving. Later in 1970, Paul McCartney also said goodbye to his fellow band members. The Beatles had a dynasty of music in the 60’s — like the Boston Celtics’ dynasty — they also became free agents who went their separate ways. John, George, and Ringo went solo, while Paul formed the famous band Wings.

That’s Amaury’s News and Commentary: Baseball in England? “This is Bloody Cool”

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Photo credit: @visitlondon

By: Amaury Pi-Gonzalez

Major League Baseball’s first regular season series will take place this weekend from June 29-30 at London Stadium in London, England.

The New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox are the greatest rivalry in baseball and perhaps professional sports. The Red Sox are the home team, which makes a lot of sense for their first ever game in England, since the Red Sox play in New England. The NFL and the NBA have played in England, but this is a first for the MLB.

The Yankees have an on-going major league record of 29 consecutive games hitting a home run, plus they just ended a 10-game homestand with a 9-1 record. As this series gets underway, the Yankees are leading the AL East with 52-28 and a nine-game lead over the reigning champion Red Sox, who are in third place.

The two-game series between the Yankees and Red Sox will see the biggest and oldest rivalry in US sports in front of an estimated 130,000 fans.

London Stadium is a multipurpose outdoor stadium with a capacity of 66,000. One of the most iconic cities of the world, London has Big Ben, Tower of London, Buckingham Palace, and the Coca Cola London Eye, a huge observation wheel next to the Thames river. It is a scenario worthy for a James Bond movie.

It will be aired on FOX Sports Saturday, June 29 at 1:10PM EDT and ESPN Sunday, June 30 at 10:10 AM EDT.

Baseball in England is a spectacle, and like the British would say, “This is bloody cool.”