Last time I saw and spoke with Tony LaRussa was during a game I was broadcasting for the Giants
against the Cardinals at ATT Park in San Francisco
this season. I walked into his office early that afternoon at the Cardinals dressing room and
he asked me what kind of pitches did Giants
pitcher Brad Hennessy threw. I remember joking with my answer but telling him, nonetheless,
that I have not seen Hennessy that much and
was not qualified to answer the question.

By Amaury Pi-González [Read more →]

The smallest division in Major League Baseball,the American League West with only four teams is the
most volatile when it comes to managers.

By Amaury Pi-González [Read more →]

What do you expect when a team almost last in hitting meets a team that is #1 in pitching ?
Usually the pitching wins!
The Oakland A’S were 13th in hitting this season in the American League while the Detroit Tigers were
first in pitching.

By Amaury Pi-Gonzalez [Read more →]

Rick Kaplan
Staff Writer

OAKLAND (October 9) – Will Kenny Rogers run his record at the Coliseum to 24-1? Or, will he get food poisoning from the pregame meal and be unable to pitch?

Who is going to win the ALCS and how?

The one thing we can say pretty confidently is we are going to be surprised. So, this is probably all for naught. But let me give it a whirl.

The first pitch is tomorrow night in Oakland. Lots of predictions have already been offered, and the experts seem to be split fairly evenly between favoring the Tigers and the A’s.

Click below for more! [Read more →]

Last time the Oakland Athletics faced the Detroit
Tigers in the American League Championship
Series was 1972, the Athletics won in five games
advanced to the World Series against the
Cincinnati Reds and went on to win three
consecutive World Series.

Amaury Pi-González [Read more →]

Rick Kaplan
Staff Writer

OAKLAND (October 5) – Forget about worrying about being over-confident and the danger of letting the Twins sneak back in the series.

It’s in the bag. Start counting your chickens right now.

Let’s be serious. Mark Ellis, Oakland’s very solid second sacker, has a broken index finger. Brad Radke, the Twins starter in game three, has a broken shoulder.

Advantage, A’s.

Click below for more! [Read more →]

“Even though I will not be the Giants manager next year, I will always be a Giant”. The first sentence on
Felipe Alou’s statement on October 1,2006 as he says goodbye after a four-year tenure as manager of the San Francisco Giants.
Felipe did as good as possible, under the circumstances.

By Amaury Pi-González [Read more →]

Rick Kaplan
Staff Writer

OAKLAND (September 30) – Can someone explain the difference between “balanced” and “best,” or between “hottest” and “scariest,” “gritty” and “clutch,” and so on?

Where did I put my Sportswriters’ Dictionary?

I said in a previous column that the Athletics-Twins ALDS (American League Divisional Series) winner would be the World Series champ, and that the A’s, the most balanced club, would triumph.

I still think so. And may the best team win.

But not in 2006.

Click below for more! [Read more →]

Here in the Emerald City, headquarters for the
largest coffee retailer in the world,home of UPS
and birth city for greats Bruce Lee and
Jimmy Hendrix something might happen for
the first time next season.

Amaury Pi-Gonzalez
Seattle,Washington [Read more →]

It was only appropriate that the Oakland Athletics
would clinch the Division title againt the Seattle
Mariners. After all,they have owned the Mariners
since April.

By Amaury Pi-Gonzalez
Seattle,Washington [Read more →]