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4-30-18 - Amaury

Amaury Pi-Gonzalez

Sabermetrics, Launch Angle and Statcast

By Amaury Pi-Gonzalez
Sabermetrics: The first-hand analysis of baseball, especially baseball statistics that measure in-game activity.

Launch Angle: When Barry Bonds hit 73 home runs in 2001, everybody was talking about the "bat speed" in his swing. Adios to "bat speed!" Today, the "launch angle" has become an obsession with hitters.

According to the experts, along with the ball speed, the launch angle is a primary component to determining the height and distance of a home run. It is said that every golfer should be fitted to achieve the optimal balance of launch angle and spin based on their club speed and ball speed. There is a reason when a team goes on a road trip you will see dozens of suitcases and also golf bags. 

Statcast: Major League Baseball's Statcast is a  high-speed, high-accuracy, automated tool that was developed to analyze player movements and athletic abilities. The Statcast was introduced to all 30 MLB stadiums in 2015. There is a leader-board for Statcast:  Giancarlo Stanton (117.9 mph), Mike Trout (116.9 mph) and so on. It shows how fast the ball leaves the bat when hitting a home run.

Today we have self-driving cars which can drive and park by themselves. We do not have to visit the bank and see the face of a bank teller. We go to a machine, punch a number and we get money. In China, the Shanghai branch of the China Construction Bank (CCB) opened a branch run entirely by robots, the first person-less bank branch where humanoids manage everything. Texting has replaced writing, as kids barely can write anymore. If you lose your cellphone, you probably will feel lost, depressed and abandoned, and may require therapy. People are working with their laptops at Starbucks while the local libraries are empty and continue to close.

Many fans at a baseball game are taking pictures, filming the action or just capturing themselves. At the ballpark or anywhere else, you can track a ballgame, pitch-by-pitch and you will know if it is a slider, curve, split or 96 mph fastball. More people are getting hurt by foul balls. You need more than two eyes to look at your smartphone screen and at the game on the field at the same time. And only God knows where we will be in the next few years. Back in 1989, actor Michael J. Fox in the movie "Back To The Future II" had a line that read, "the Cubs win the World Series!" and they did just that.

We have come a long way since the days when the U.S. Army timed the fastest pitch ever thrown by a pitcher in 1958. Bob Feller at 98 miles-per-hour was recorded on the old U.S. Army chronograph. That was a big deal and it was even shown at your local movie theater before the main feature and narrated by the legendary Lowell Thomas of Movietone Newsreel fame on the glorious Black and White.

Today Elon Musk wants to go to the moon and Richard Branson wants to colonize Mars.

¿Qué hay de nuevo?  Translation:  What else is new?

Amaury Pi-González is the Spanish Voice of the Oakland Athletics and a pioneer in establishing Spanish baseball radio in the Bay Area. Pi-Gonzalez was inducted into the Bay Area Radio Hall of Fame in 2010. Games are on KIQI 1010AM/990AM radio in the Bay Area and Northern California. They can also be heard in Spanish on the SAP on NBC Sports California. Total of 74 games (71 home games plus three on the road) from
AT&T Park in San Francisco.  Published courtesy: 

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3-6-17 - Pops

Michael King (left), with an associate from USF (center), and Karla Granadino-King, are pictured at the Olympic Club in San Francisco,  proudly sharing with the world their  Pops Premium Rumpopo. A King family secret, Pops Premium Rumpopo is a  delicious rum cream liqueur recipe brewed in the family tradition.  The award winning recipe is a Belizean family favorite and now available at all Total Wine & More stores in California and Bay Area retailers.
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