Fans Encouraged to Post Questions to Oakland’s Veteran Radio Play-by-Play Man

OAKLAND, Calif. – For the second consecutive season, the Oakland A’s Spanish language web site, www.losatleticos.com, will feature the insightful and entertaining blog entitled “En El Aire,” which is written by the club’s veteran Spanish radio play-by-play broadcaster Amaury Pi-González.

A’s fans are encouraged to post questions about the 2010 A’s on the blog, which Pi-González will personally answer.  Entering his 32nd season of broadcasting Major League Baseball, Pi-González will again serve as the “Spanish Voice of the A’s” for all Oakland games aired over the Spanish Beisbol Network on radio stations KDIA (1640 AM) and KDYA (1190 AM) this season.  The Cuban native was inducted into the Cuban Sports Hall of Fame and into the Hispanic Heritage Baseball Museum in 2004.

Pi-González is again joined in the broadcast booth by Manolo Hernández-Douen, one of the leading sportswriters among Spanish media in the United States.

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Contact: Bob Rose, Oakland A’s Director of Public Relations
(510) 563-2380, brose@oaklandathletics.com

Oakland, Calif-- Por segunda temporada consecutiva, el website en Español de los Oakland A's
www.losatleticos.com tendrá el entretenido y perspicaz blog titulado "En El Aire", el cual es escrito por Amaury Pi‐González veterano narrador en Español del equipo.

Los aficionados de los A'S estan invitados a que envien sus preguntas durante la temporada 2010 a dicho blog en el cual Pi‐González les contesta individualmente. Iniciando su 32da temporada como narrador de béisbol en las Grandes Ligas, Pi‐González regresa como "La Voz en Español de los A'S"para todos los juegos de Oakland através de Spanish Béisbol Network, en las estaciones de radio KDIA (1640 AM)y KDYA (1190 AM)esta temporada. El nativo de Cuba fue exaltado al Salón de la Fama del Deporte Cubano y al Hispanic Heritage Baseball Museum en 2004.

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Contact: Bob Rose, Oakland A’s Director of Public Relations
(510) 563-2380, brose@oaklandathletics.com

By Ismael Nuñez

How did you or what got you interested in doing the book?

I had written a book about the role of sport in the black community (Sandlot Seasons: Sport in Black Pittsburgh) that focused on the Negro League teams that made Pittsburgh the center of black baseball in the 1930s and 40s. One of those clubs, the Pittsburgh Crawfords, was torn apart by the Dominican Republic's volatile politics in 1937 when Satchel Paige, Josh Gibson, Cool Papa Bell and some of their teammates played for Cuidad Trujillo. That, and growing up a fan of the Giants (before I moved to Pittsburgh,) when Felipe Alou, Juan Marichal, Manny Mota and other Dominicans played for the team, got me interested in better understanding the story of baseball on the island.
 
Did you have to speak Spanish to anyone?

Yes, but so many Dominicans speak English, especially in the common ground that baseball provides between the US and the DR.

Anyone tell you their bad experiences?

MLB teams have camps there true: if so do they help the players in anyway possible. Like learning to speak English, What happens if one does not make the MLB?

Most of the young Dominicans who sign with a major league organization will never make the major leagues. The odds are against them. Some of the teams are working with these young men to equip them with some language skills and give them more of an education. I suspect that some teams are better at this than others. It can be devastating to see one's aspirations crushed at an early age, especially if they do not have much to fall back on.

There's talk that several players from the Dominican Republic who are playing professionally have no high school diploma, can't read or write?

True. Many major leaguers from the Caribbean left school before finishing. Some have been quite successful despite that. I do not know if there are any player who are illiterate.

In the movie “The Republic of Baseball” you profile the Alou brothers, Manny Mota, Hall of Famer Juan Marichal, yet no mention of Julian Javier, Rico Carty, Ceasar Cedeño, Ozzie Virgil. Why was it? We realized that to finish this documentary, which we began working on in 2000, we needed to focus the story on just a small group of players. We shot interviews with Julian Javier, Rico Carty, and many other men, but were unable to use them in a documentary that runs under an hour. There are many others stories to tell about the Dominican Republic and I hope we'll get the chance to tell some more of them, especially the saga of the 'Cocolos' from San Pedro de Macoris.
 
The great player Tetelo Vargas. Does Vargas belong in the “Baseball Hall of Fame”?
I think that both Tetelo Vargas and Horacio Martínez merit consideration for the Hall of Fame. Now that the Hall has opened its “Viva Baseball” exhibit about Latinos in baseball, I hope that they might establish a special committee to consider such candidacies, as they did once before, in 2006.

A lot of the players have created charitable organizations true?
I think it has been a hallmark for Dominican ballplayers to give something back to the country. Manuel Mota and his wife have run a program in a Santo Domingo neighborhood for years, Pedro Martínez built a church for his home town, and Tony Peña, Vladimir Guerrero, and others have done many things to help people and the nation. They take their responsibility seriously and celebrate Three Kings Day by bringing their hard-won gifts back home.

Were they inspired by Marichal and Puerto Rican Hall of Famer Roberto Clemente? By the way there's a movement to retire Clemente's number; agree?

Juan Marichal, Roberto Clemente, and Felipe Alou mean much to me, not only for their feats on the field, but the sort of principled lives they have led.

If you are in the South Bronx and are a Latino sports lover, a place that you must visit is Latino Sports, a small business located at 424 Grand Concourse.
This haven has rare sports collectibles, Latino Sports’ branded merchandise, sports books about Latinos, and jerseys featuring Caribbean baseball teams. Latino Sports considers itself as the “Number 1 Roberto Clemente Memorabilia Store.”
Latino Sports is not just a business. There is a small museum at the shop, which is free and open to the public. The store’s motto is: “It’s about us, it’s about time!”

Julio Pabon, CEO and founder of Latino Sports, recently spoke with Bronx Latino about his shop.


(Julio Pabon, left, is pictured here with Senator Jose M. Serrano at the East Harlem Little League Parade.)

Q: Why did this business get started?
A: It got started out of anger. It was a result of an award we presented to Ruben Sierra who at that time was playing baseball with the Texas Rangers. Many felt he deserved to win the “Most Valuable Player Award” in the American League. Eventually, the award went to Robin Yount who played with the Milwaukee Brewers. The baseball writers voted for Yount. Who’s to say they were wrong? Yount had a good season, but then again Sierra’s numbers were far better.
This event showed that a Latin American institution to highlight the positive values of Latinos in sports was needed. So, I felt it was important for the community to have our own award. I didn’t know that it was going to turn out to be a yearly thing and then to the creation of Latino Sports.

Q: So, Latino Sports is not just about promoting the goodness of Latino athletes. Do you also consider yourselves as activists?
A: This is true. That’s how it basically got started. We realized that Latinos were overlooked not only in baseball but also in other sports.

Q: Latino Sports is heavily involved in the fight to retire “Roberto Clemente’s number 21.” Why is that?
A: Very true. Clemente was not only a great player and Hall of Famer. He was a humanitarian, father/husband, and a person who was proud of his Afro-Puerto Rican heritage. He stood up for things he believed in, loved people/children, and gave back. That is why number 21 should be retired.

Q: If 21 were retired, what would that mean to the Latino sports community?
A: It will be a victory for the entire Latin American community everywhere. It will be something that we believed in, working side by side by side to get. That team effort and caring is what has made Latino Sports a success.

For more information about Latino Sports, visit www.latinosports.com. – by Ismael
Nunez