Headline Sports podcast with Jessica Kwong: Eckersley’s grandson found in woods after being abandon by daughter; JJ Watt retires from football; plus more news

Alexandra Eckersley the daughter of former MLB pitcher and broadcaster Dennis Eckersley was booked by Manchester NH Police for endangering the welfare of a child on Tue Dec 27, 2022 (mug shot photo Manchester NH Police)

On Headlines podcast with Jessica:

#1 Former Boston Red Sox TV analyst and baseball Hall of Famer Dennis Eckersley’s grandson was found by authorities in the woods after Eckersley’s daughter Alexandra gave birth in the woods and gave authorities a false location after looking for an hour in 18 degree weather Alexandra finally gave the real location and Eckersley’s grandson was found alive with hypothermia but alive his condition is reported to be improving. Alexandra who is reported to have mental issues is being charged for endangering the welfare of a child she will be arraigned Tuesday in Hillsboro Superior Court North in New Hampshire.

#2 The Arizona Cardinals JJ Watt has announced his retirement from football. Watt who played 12 seasons in the NFL with the Houston Texans and the Cardinals. Watt leaves football as one of the most prolific defensive players in the game. Watt is one of just three players to be named Defensive Player of the Year three times in his career.

#3 The Denver Broncos top brass say that quarterback Russell Wilson is fixable despite his rough 2022 season. Wilson according to team owner Greg Penner and general manager George Paton said that they believe in Wilson’s future with the team. The Broncos who dropped to 4-11 and were bulldozed by Los Angeles Rams on Christmas day 51-14 are looking forward to working with Wilson again in 2023. The Broncos signed Wilson to a five year $245 million contract and pretty much are on the hook for it.

#4 The Buffalo Sabers were supposed to host the Columbus Blue Jackets on Monday but the game was postponed due to 50 inches of snow in Buffalo and the Buffalo airport is closed until Wednesday. The Sabers and Blue Jackets will reschedule the game for a later date.

#5 On Tuesday night the Sacramento Kings (17-14) who played at home against the Denver Nuggets (21-11) did so without the services of their head coach Mike Brown who was out for Covid 19 protocols and Domantas Sabonis who was out for right thumb fracture.

#6 The Brooklyn Nets continue to surge picking up their ninth straight win 125-117 over the Cleveland Cavaliers on Monday night. The Nets had top scoring from Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant who scored 32 points each.

Join Jessica for Headline Sports every other Wednesday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

That’s Amaury’s Sports and Commentary: The Making of a Closer A’s Great History with Closers

Hall of Fame reliever Dennis Eckersley during his Oakland A’s pitching days (Baseball Wikipedia file photo)

The Making of a Closer: A’s Great History with Closers

That’s Amaury Sports and Commentary

By Amaury Pi-González

OAKLAND–On Cinco de Mayo 2021 the Oakland Athletics were on their way to their 20th win and maybe extending their 2-game lead over the surprising Seattle Mariners in second place. With a 3 -2 lead into the eight-inning manager Bob Melvin called for Lou Trivino in relief.

Trivino was a perfect five for five in saves opportunities, and the A’s were the only team in baseball this early season with seven saves in seven opportunities and no blown saves. Trivino gave up fve earned runs, the A’s lost their first game this year to the Toronto Blue Jays 9-4 and they had their first blown save of the season.

The closing position is a relatively new position in baseball, from the 1990’s. The A’s signed Trevor Rosenthal during the off season to take over as closer for the team after they lost the most coveted free-agent closer, Liam Hendricks who was signed by the Chicago White Sox. Rosenthal is out after surgery and is not expected to be back until maybe August at the earliest.

Manager Bob Melvin has successfully used Lou Trivino to take over the 9th inning, although this May 5, used him in the eight, nothing wrong with that. The other closer has been lefty Jake Diekman who himself is 3 for 3 in closing situations. So with those two, the Athletics so far this year has handled the last part of the game with much success.

The Oakland Athletics have a great history with closers. Two of their closers are in the Hall of Fame at Cooperstown, a claim that most teams cannot make. Rollie Fingers, who used to throw, will relieve for an average of three innings and then later with Dennis Ecksersley, who began the general practice of a closer to enter the game to pitch the ninth inning when the team was ahead by three-runs or fewer. Fingers ended his career with 314 games saved and 114 wins usually throwing more than one inning, “He is the master” said fellow reliever Dan Quisenberry. Eckersley saved 390 games.

I once asked Eck what keeps him with that edge in the ninth-inning, and he told me “the fear of failure is what drives me”. He was a competitor like all these guys who made a career in the last inning of the game and are credited with a game saved. I am not one that likes to give players nicknames, but I did called Eck “La Cuchilla” trans: “The Knife”, he was a surgeon with that slider and he got most hitters out. There was one exception, Tigers second-baseman Lou Whitaker he enjoyed great success over Eckerseley.

Dennis Eckersley had his great success as he came to Oakland in 1987 with an extensive resume he was a starter. He was a 20 game winner with Cleveland in 1978 and with other reams compiled a record of 197-171, starting 361 games, completed 100 games in 1,071 games he pitched, 2,401 strike outs and a 3.50 ERA. I remember when Eck came to Oakland; he never envisioned being a closer in his life, yet under the great system of Manager Tony LaRussa and pitching coach Dave Duncan. He became one of the greatest closers.

Necessity is the mother of invention, when the need for something becomes imperative; you are forced to find ways of getting the results you want, maybe even achieving it. When kids start playing baseball, from T-Ball all the way up to High School their dreams are of pitching, playing the infield, maybe the outfield, some kids have the calling for catching, but you will never see a kid saying: “when I make it, I want to be a closer.”

This is because such position in the game is something that evolves and developes by many circumstances. It is only early May and the closing situation still developing with the Athletics. We are witnessing maybe the making of another closer inside the Oakland Athletics organization with Lee Trivino, or maybe not. Nobody really knows.

The King of Closers? Panamanian-born Mariano Rivera, “Mo”, in 2019 was the first player unanimously elected to the Hall of Fame, his sensational career with the New York Yankees spanned for 19 years and a total of 652 saves. Perhaps the next Mariano has not been born yet.

Stay well and stay tuned.

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

That’s Amaury’s News and Commentary: Athletics Sabermetrics and Closer

Former San Diego Padre pitcher and current Oakland A’s pitcher Trevor Rosenthal seen in this Sep 26, 2020 photo is congratulated by catcher Austin Nola after pitching against the San Francisco Giants. Rosenthal will be out for approximately four months after having arm surgery (Bay Area News Group file photo)

Athletics: Sabermetrics and Closer

That’s Amaury News and Commentary

By Amaury Pi-González

Perhaps the worse news for the Oakland A’s 1-7 start to the 2021 season is that they will be without Trevor Rosenthal, signed to a 1-year deal for $11 million contract to take the place of Liam Hendricks, who is now the closer with the Chicago White Sox. Rosenthal had surgery Thursday.

An issue affected his pitching arm (he threw 100 mph) this surgery required removing his first rib releasing the pectoralis minor muscle of his chest-wall. It is called Thoracic Surgery. Matt Harvey had same surgery a couple of years ago when he was pitching for the Cincinnati Reds; today he is pitching with the Baltimore Orioles.

Rosenthal will be out a few months, maybe back in July or August, if everything goes very well during his rehab. About the Rosenthal surgery, manager Bob Melvin said; “I had a feeling that was going to happen,” Melvin said before Thursday’s game against the Astros. “Everything went well. I don’t really have a timetable or anything like that.”

Without a legitimate experienced closer, the team is left with these potential replacements for that position: Jake Diekman, Lou Trivino, J.B. Wendelken or Jordan Weems. Some suggested that young A.J Puk was given a shot, but he was recently placed on the Injured List as they called up Deolis Guerra.

The closer has become one of the most specialized and important jobs for a pitcher in baseball, it’s a given, that nobody can win without a star closer. We do not know, if the A’s would make a trade to acquire somebody to take their closer spot, nobody knows.

You really never know who is going to become a great closer. In 1987 I remember when Dennis Eckersley came to the A’s from the Chicago Cubs (already a 13-year veteran and 20-game winner in 1978 with Boston) Eckersley started two games with the A’s before an injury to then closer Jay Howell.

That opened the door for Eckersley as pitching coach Dave Duncan and manager Tony LaRussa gave him the ball to move into the closer’s role. That year Eck saved 16 games, next year 1988 he saved a league-leading 45 games helped the A’s win the pennant and went to the World Series, and the rest is history.

He was a dominant closer with the Athletics until 1995, then ended with St Louis and finally back to Boston for his last season in 1998. Dennis Eckersley pitched for 24 years ended with 390 games saved. In 2004 he was elected with an A’s uniform to the Baseball Hall of Fame at Cooperstown, New York.

I will never forgot one of my interviews with him while playing here in Oakland. I asked him what makes him that sharp (I nicknamed him, “La Cuchilla”- “The Knife”) he responded “I am afraid of failure and that keeps me motivated.”

He was as automatic as any closer during those years in baseball. The Oakland Athletics and Tampa Bay Rays are the sabermetics darlings of Major League Baseball. They have not spend a lot but they have gotten very good return on their investment, the A’s won the Western Division last season, the Tampa Bay Rays won the American League pennant and lost to the Dodgers in the World Series.

Both clubs are similar in their approach to player’s salaries and they have worked the Sabermetrics very well. The world (everybody not only baseball people) was made aware of Sabermetrics by the movie Moneyball in 2011. “Baseball is like a poker game, nobody wants to quit when he’s loosing; nobody wants you to quit when you are ahead” -Jackie Robinson.

Stay well and stay tuned

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