Back from the world series and I must say I enjoyed the games in Houston very much.

Each game was packed with managerial decisions and both games went down to the last pitch.

I was very impressed with Bobby Jenks. In game three the atmosphere was electric with the game on the line on every pitch. Jenks throws the ball over the plate at 95-100 mph, it is almost impossible to get a good swing on the ball.

If Jermaine Dye wasn’t MVP, the award should have gone to Jenks.

The A’s are not going to sign Mike Piazza. He is over the hill plus he will want too much money. You can jam Piazza and definitely work on him when he is at the plate. Physically he breaks down all the time and can’t run a lick.

Set your sights on a younger player like someone in Pittsburgh.

Click below for more! [Read more →]

The 2005 Major League baseball season ended Wedensday night
with the Chicago White Sox as champs. While they swept the Astos in 4 games, it was a very entertaining close fought
4 games. With a key hit or a break here or there the Astros
could have won 2 games . But they didn’t and an wait of 88 years for a championship has ended for the White Sox.
This is the second time in recent memory that a former
Oakland Athletic has been named MVP of the series in his 1st year with his new club. Jermaine Dye was the MVP in 2005 and Scott Brosius did it with the Yankees in the 1998 series
against the Padres.

This year was delightful as the Astros won for the 1st time in their history. The Cardinals,Yankeess,RedSox,Angels and
Braves made the playoffs. The Padres sort of slid into the
playoff as representative of a bad division.

I enjoyed the run the A’s made after such a woeful start.
They may have made it but the injury to Bobby Crosby
couldn’t be overcome. I enjoyed the success of the pitching staff. Haren,Blanton,Street were terrific as was Zito.
Jay Payton was a nice fit.

The Giants had a tough year as Bonds was not a factor.
They need a lot of retooling for next year.

Some teams are getting older and are in need of makovers.
The Yankees and Red Sox are in thate group. Let’s see
what happens over the winter.

The saddest note of the season was the loss of Bill King.
Much has been written and spoken about Bill. All I can say is that he deserves to be in baseball’s Hall of Fame.

Time to take a breather from baseball.

Jerry Feitelberg [Read more →]

Not satisfied with the Chicago White Sox vs.Houston Astros World Series ?
I strongly recommend you take a peek at the “Baseball As America”exhibit and the
companion exhibitions, like The Latino Experience,
at the Oakland Museum of California.

By Amaury Pi-González [Read more →]

by Glenn Dickey
Oct 26, 2005

ALTHOUGH THE A’s will have more payroll flexibility this year as they drop the contracts of Erubiel Durazo and Octavio Dotel, it will be very difficult for them to get a right-handed power hitter, because the market is so limited.

Paul Konerko will be out there, for instance, but he’s priced beyond the A’s budget; the latest reports have him leaning toward the Angels, whose hitting is at least as suspect as the A’s. Carlos Lee was an intriguing possibility, but the Milwaukee Brewers picked up his $8.5 million option and would trade him only for a young front-line pitcher like Dan Haren. Since pitching has been the strength of the A’s, that’s not going to happen. [Read more →]

I’m down here in Houston and watched game one of the series with Art Howe.

Some conclusions:

Next time Mike Lamb won’t face Neal Cotts with the game on the line.

Most managers will give their players the benefit of the doubt when they have produced in the past.

It is clear that Lamb couldn’t catch up with Cotts so next time Phil Garner will go with a right handed hitter late in the game.

Contreras didn’t have his good stuff but some times its better to be lucky than good because the Astros hit the ball on the nose, but to no avail.

Roger Clemens was hurting, it wouldn’t surprise me not to see Clemens again unless the Astros send this series to a game six.

Click below for more. [Read more →]

It’s a funny thing when someone famous dies and it moves you seemingly beyond all rights, because, after all, you didn’t really know this person. But when I heard that Bill King, the A’s broadcast announcer, died this past Tuesday, I cried.

Then things happened because of his death. I got emails from people who I hadn’t heard from for a long
time, wondering how I was doing, talking of their loss.

I sent emails to people who I felt needed to know. I wrote to people who didn’t even know him. If they were important to me, they needed to know about this man.

Please click below for more, thanks Wendy, your words are beautifully descriptive of the real Bill King…Marty [Read more →]

by Glenn Dickey
Oct 19, 2005

BILL KING was a remarkable broadcaster and an even more remarkable man. We will all miss him terribly.

More than anyone I’ve ever known, King lived his life as he wanted, oblivious to what others thought. Away from the park, he drove a battered car and lived on a houseboat, and he seemed to feel that anything invented after about 1950 was of no consequence, a category that included inter-league games.
[Read more →]

There’s an old saying that deaths come in threes.

I now believe it.

Three very unique men, connected in so many similar ways, have passed from the Bay Area’s sports scene.

First Bill Rigney passed away on February 20th, 2001 at the age of 73. Then Leonard Koppett succumbed to heart failure on June 22, 2003 as he approached his 80th birthday.

Lastly, completing the famous trio’s passing, Bill King, 78 years young, passed from us on October 18th, 2005.

All were very special men who were loved and respected by all that came in contact with them.

They had another wonderful character trait that separated them from all the others who were similarly situated in their field.

Click below for more! [Read more →]

The Lord needed somebody to do some play by play for the World Series in heaven
next week and he selected Bill King.

By Amaury Pi-González [Read more →]

Today started off like any other day. I got up, made coffee,
had breakfast with my wife and at about 12 noon I went out
to do some errands. I was on Doolittle drive on my way to the UPS depot to pick up a package. I was tuned to KNBR and
listened to Rick and Rod when the news came that Bill King,the longtime voice of the Oakland Athletics had passed
away. I was stunned. I was shocked and saddened that Bill
was gone. I enjoyed the pleasure of meeting him at the Coliseum several times and it was always exciting. This year, while at spring training, Bill was gracious enough to give me an interview for my local show in Alameda. He talked about how he became a broadcaster and his journey
in broadcasting. I will never forget that day. He was a terrific
announcer.I heard him do Raider games as well but I loved his baseball work. His passing will be felt by all those who knew him, worked with him and listened to him. He is irreplaceable.

Jerry Feitelberg

[Read more →]