I have a lot of opinions about sports, especially on the professional and collegiate level. However, I’m going to use this opportunity to talk about a team inside The Q.

For the past several seasons, San Quentin State Prison had two baseball teams, The Giants and The A’s. Over those seasons, both teams were mediocre at best. Splitting the teams meant splitting the talent and both teams struggled. 

However, during the 2018 off-season, the program made a radical shift. There would be one team. That team would consist of the top players on the yard. 

The team manager is now Richard Williams. 

His assistants are the top veteran baseball managers at The Q: 

John Parratt 

Anthony Caravalho 

Terry Burton 

Doug Abineau. 

The equipment manager is Michael Pulido. 

The only baseball team now at The Q is the San Quentin Athletics and that team is undefeated. Their record is 17-0 as of 7/10/2019. 

O. Acosta 

A. Chan 

A. ‘The Professional’ Denard 

T. Halfin 

C. Hickson 

John James (i.r.) 

Angelo Mecchi 

Juan Navarro 

Leigh Olden 

Brandon Riddle-Terrell 

Jessie Rose 

Randall Stockton 

Michael Stone 

Austin Thurman 

Mark Wiley 

There are five pitchers in the rotation. Rob “Big Smooth” Polzin, Royce “Gator” Rose (i.r.), Gary “Cool Aid” Townes and Carrington “Suit & Tie” Russelle and Riddle-Terrell closes games as well. Between these five pitchers, they have collective era in the low 3.0’s. 

Can you imagine an MLB club with a pitching rotation that had that kind of earned run average? 

The team is averaging 14.5 runs per game. The closest game this season was a 9 inning 5-3 win over the Santa Monica Suns, the first game of a double-header on 6/29. Other than that, every contest has seen The A’s in the mid-teens in runs each game. 

The teams defense is stellar to say the least. Double plays have become the norm. At every position on the field, the defense is backing up the pitching, to the point that Townes went into a sixth inning of game with a no-hitter earlier this season. 

Thurman is a player with multiple talents who has a legitimate shot at playing on the professional level when released. The team also has Denard, who was a draft pick to the Toronto Blue Jays, along with returning MVP from last season Riddle-Terrell, they make up a powerful and formidable line up to visiting clubs. 

If you haven’t had a chance to come out and watch the A’s this season, you should find an opportunity to attend a game. 

This season, The A’s are the truth and being undefeated means my opine is fact based.