Oakland A’s Commentary podcast with Len Shapiro: Will Giants claim East Bay as their territory when A’s leave?

San Francisco Giants CEO Larry Baer looks out from the stands at Oracle Park in San Francisco. Baer has been in the 24 hour news cycle for being responsible for tweeting how it’s a shame the A’s are leaving. The former Oakland A’s play by play announcer himself, Baer as Giants CEO played a role in blocking the A’s from moving to the South Bay in 2011 according to former A’s owner Lew Wolf and former San Jose Mayor Tom McEnery. (file photo from San Francisco Chronicle)

On the Oakland A’s Commentary podcast with Len Shaprio:

#1 As if the San Francisco Giants CEO Larry Baer hasn’t got enough blame in the last 48 hours for being a big part in the Oakland A’s leaving Oakland leaving a huge void in the East Bay will the Giants also claim Oakland and the East Bay their territory when the A’s leave Oakland so no team could either move or expand there?

#2 Baer received a lot of criticism in the media and on social media regarding the Giants tweeting this week saying that the “A’s are such a big part of Bay Area baseball history, the East Bay and the greater community.” Former A’s owner Lew Wolf called the tweet by the Giants “disingenuous” and that the Giants stopped the A’s from moving to San Jose by claiming their territorial rights in 2011 when the A’s wanted to build a new downtown stadium in San Jose.

#3 Len you and the late Joe Buerry were managing partners at the Oakland A’s radio affiliate 990 the KATD in Pittsburg and were with the station during the time when the Giants wanted to block the A’s from claiming territorial rights in the South Bay the city of San Jose took MLB to court to fight for territorial rights but the Supreme Court ruled that the Giants had those rights.

#4 Critics say that Baer should have done his due diligence like previous A’s owner Walter Haas did and agreed to give the Giants territorial right to keep the Giants in San Francisco or allow them to move to San Jose. The Giants never returned the territorial rights back to the A’s and even more Baer has fought to keep those right and enforced it to keep the A’s out of moving to San Jose.

#5 The big question is will Baer and the Giants claim the East Bay as their territory after the A’s move out of Oakland and to make sure that no MLB team can expand or do a relocation move to Oakland or the East Bay in the future to claim Northern California the Giants and only the Giants?

Len Shapiro was a former radio station assistant manager for Oakland A’s affiliate 990 KATD Pittsburg

MLB podcast with Daniel Dullum: SF CEO Baer returns after domestic abuse suspension; Yanks-Sox slugfest in London; plus more

President and CEO Larry Baer will reportedly wield less power upon his July 2 return from suspension. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez, File)

On the MLB podcast with Daniel:

1 Larry Baer will return as Giants president/CEO but with less power

2 Yankees, Red Sox light up scoreboard in London

3 Benches clear after Cincinnati Reds Yasiel Puig hit by pitch; reliever calls him ‘stupid as f–k’

4 Fernando Rodney ties obscure save record

5 Mets apologize for putting two living players in memorial montage of 1969 Mets

Daniel Dullum does the MLB podcasts each Sunday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Headline Sports podcast with Tony Renteria: Baer will lose control of team when he comes back from suspension; New CEO Dean to take Baer’s spot

Photo credit: @Deadspin

On Headline Sports podcast with Tony Renteria:

#1 Tony, the San Francisco Giants have decided to have acting CEO Rob Dean as their frontman. In a statement from the team on Tuesday, the Giants have said that upon returning from suspension on July 2nd, Baer will no longer have control of the team, although he will retain his title as CEO and president.

#2 The players have stated that regardless of the off-the-field issues regarding Baer, they are determined to stay focused, and outfielder Steven Duggar says playing between the lines has been a safe haven for the players.

#3 The Giants have been struggling in spring training are are now open their regular season today in San Diego. They do have one of the best defensive infield in the National League coming into the season.

#4 The Oakland A’s, who were left for dead after their starting rotation either went on the DL or underwent surgery, came back later in the season and made it to the Wild Card. You just can’t count a Billy Beane team out.

Tony does Headline Sports each Thursday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Larry Baer suspended by MLB for physical altercation with wife

sfgate.com file photo: San Francisco Giants CEO Larry Baer is serving a five month suspension including retroactive time going back to March 4th and will be back to work July 1st. The suspension was issued by MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred on Tuesday.

by Jeremy Harness

SAN FRANCISCO — Calling for warranted discipline and after reviewing a TMZ video of San Francisco Giants CEO Larry Baer on March 1st getting up and pulling a cell phone out of the hands of his wife Pam where she was seated and fell off her chair and Baer walking away in San Francisco’s Hayes Valley Major League Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred has suspended Baer without pay until July 1st.

Manfred said that the suspension without pay will be retroactive from March 4th when Baer had went on voluntary leave of absence from the club on March 4th. Baer had made a statement after the incident that he apologized for his actions the same evening of the altercation.

Baer’s wife Pam at the time said that she had an injured foot and that she couldn’t keep her balance while hanging onto the phone and Baer was pulling up on the phone and she fell off her chair screaming “oh my God help.”

The question now remains can Larry Baer remain CEO of the Giants after something like this and still have the respect of the community, players, fans, women’s right’s groups and have his front office and MLB colleagues still listen and respect his business decisions?

Manfred said that Baer is held to a higher standard and as the face and front person of the Giants he should have been better than that. The total amount of suspension time including retroactive time without pay amounts to a five month suspension. Baer will be allowed to return to work on July 1st but the Giants partnership may also decide to ask Baer to step down when he returns.

Jeremy Harness is a San Francisco Giants beat writer for http://www.sportsradioservice.com

San Francisco Giants CEO Larry Baer in physical confrontation with wife

Photo credit: tmz.com

by Morris Phillips

SAN FRANCISCO — San Francisco Giants CEO Larry Baer on Thursday was recorded by bystanders in a physical altercation with his wife Pam. Baer was arguing with his wife while trying to grab her phone out of her hand. In the ensuing action, Pam fell to the ground in the chair she was sitting in.

Pam shouted “Oh my God!” and was calling for help. Baer was heard telling his wife “Stop Pam stop!” and was seen in the video walking away as witnesses were telling Baer’s wife to stay away from him. Baer and his wife have released a statement regarding the incident apologizing and trying to put a good face on the incident saying,”Regrettably today, we had a heated argument in public over a family matter. We are deeply embarrassed by the situation and have resolved the issue.”

Baer said that he was truly sorry for the embarrassment that he caused his children and his family and to the Giants organization. Baer said that he assured everyone involved that this would not happen again going forward. Pam said that she fell backwards to the ground and lost her balance and that Larry did not push her to the ground, “Ha…An unfortunate public marital argument. I grabbed his phone and I fell back. I love Larry more than anything.”

San Francisco Police are involved and are investigating at the location of the incident and studying the video recording, according to Officer Joseph Tomlinson, who is no relation to San Francisco Giants infielder Kelby Tomlinson. Major League Baseball has established rules about domestic violence to its teams and its employees, which includes players and team executives. MLB is also studying the video and trying to determine if discipline on Baer is called for. New York Yankees pitcher Aroldis Chapman and Colorado Rockies infielder Jose Reyes had been suspended in the past for domestic violence.

Morris Phillips is a San Francisco Giants beat writer for http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Commissioner says no to A’s move but owners would approve in a vote

That’s Amaury’s News and Commentary

OAKLAND–Major Leauge Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig during last regular season denied the A’s move to San Jose if you read between the lines. They were asking about the San Jose financial status and if San Jose can support a big league club. It makes no sense to me because in a recent survey San Jose was declared the wealthiest city with over one million people.

Silicon Valley is in the South Bay the only reason that this is happening is because of Giants team president Larry Baer is declaring the team’s territorial rights in San Jose and this might be put to a vote and it’s almost positive that the owners would apporve the move by over a quarter of the majority but it’s the Giants who hold the cards here therefore the A’s are stuck in Oakland and they just recently extended their contract at the Coliseum for two more years.

Eventually something will happen, something will give, it might be that A’s owners Lew Wolf and Don Fisher might get tired of this situation and put the A’s up for sale. For right now the A’s have been denied moving from Oakland to San Jose although that’s not written in blood as we speak it’s not a real definite.

Kings and Warriors arena builds: If the Sacramento Kings can’t build their own arena in downtown Sacramento it would be a shame because Sacramento Mayor Ken Johnson jumped through hoops to keep the team in Sacramento and stopping the team from leaving for Seattle.

When you put a vote like this to the voters who knows you could flip a coin most people in this country are not in the mood to spend tax money on new arenas. Most people 99 percent beleive that most owners have the money to build a new arena. These are the guys who sign players for over $200 million and the average fan or citizen would say they would have the money to build it themselves.

So if the public votes on the new Kings arena and I’m not a betting guy but most people in Sacramento would vote no on spending public money on a new arena. The owners have to be ready to pay and build their own arena. Regarding the Warriors we don’t know the history of San Francisco. All you have to do is look at the Giants and see how many times they tried to build a new stadium with some public money.

The voters turned them down several times until they got approved for Pacific Bell Park, the Warriors want to move to the City at piers 30-32 but right now former San Francisco Mayor Art Agnos is working very hard to prevent the Warriors from moving to the piers. In an election to decide to move the Warriors at the piers won’t be easy it won’t be a matter of “were going to put the Warriors at the piers and that’s all”.

Warriors owners Joe Lacob and Peter Gruber they have great attorneys but they don’t understand the political environmental layout of San Francisco. Even if both Lacob and Gruber could pay for the entire project the voters would vote no because they like the views at the piers just fine.

Amaury Pi Gonzalez is the Spanish radio voice for Oakland A’s baseball and does News and Commentary each week for Sportstalk Radio

Lincecum exits with a win over the Dodgers

By Morris Phillips

Tim Lincecum wanted to end his 2013 season—and possibly his career with the Giants—in style.  Fans of the Giants and Dodgers—weary of senseless violence– wanted peace.  And apparently, Brian Wilson wants his World Series ring after all.

To say Thursday night was a busy one on the shores of McCovey Covey would be an under statement.

Lincecum arrived in San Francisco in 2007- the final year of Barry Bonds as a Giant—and went on to win two Cy Young awards, two World titles and throw a no-hitter.  Now 29 and not nearly the pitcher and player he was a few years back, Lincecum enters the off-season as a free agent.  But if Thursday was his final act as a Giant, LIncecum made sure he leaves a winner, as the Giants squeezed past the Dodgers, 3-2.

“We don’t know what’s going to happen, but I was very happy with what he did tonight,” manager Bruce Bochy said of Lincecum.

While both sides have said all the conciliatory things, Lincecum may not be back.  The Giants will have bigger off-season priorities then resigning the Freak, and Lincecum will command offers to be a starter for other teams even as his skill set has eroded prior to him turning 30.  Given that, the fans in attendance brought signs and cheers of encouragement while Lincecum departed after seven innings pitched by giving the crowd a polite bow.

“That ovation was pretty special and I’ve always had an awkward way of acknowledging that,” Lincecum said.  “But I do have an appreciation and respect for the way they’ve received me.”

Lincecum cooled the Dodgers’ lineup during his stint, allowing single runs in the first and fourth inning and leaving with the game tied after the Giants rallied for a pair of runs in the fifth.  Angel Pagan’s drive to left in the eighth inning just barely cleared the wall and marked the difference in a hard fought game between the California rivals.

Prior to the evening’s first pitch the crowd stood in a moment of silence for Jonathan Denver, who attended Wednesday’s game and was stabbed to death after the game in a confrontation between Giants and Dodgers’ supporters near the ballpark after the game’s conclusion.

Arrests have already been made in connection to Denver’s death, but the violence between fans of both clubs again marred the rivalry as it did when Bryan Stow was severely injured outside Dodgers Stadium in 2011.  The moment of silence on Thursday was an eery reminder of that incident and also an indication that much work is to be done to move beyond the violence.

After the game’s final pitch, former Giant Brian Wilson ran across the field and confronted Giants CEO Larry Baer apparently over the delivery of his World Series ring from 2012. According to the Giants, they had approached Wilson a couple of times to arrange and schedule the gift of his ring but were rebuffed both times.   In the bizarre confrontation, Wilson was seen to be yelling while Baer stood befuddled.

The awkward solution?  Wilson’s ring was delivered to the Dodgers’ clubhouse soon after the confrontation without any fanfare.

The Giants take on the Padres in their final series of 2013 with San Diego’s Burch Smith facing San Francisco’s Ryan Vogelsong in the opener at 7:15pm.