San Francisco, CA
San Francisco Giants Cy Young Winner Expected to Bounce Back from Down Year
With the start of the regular season coming up quickly for the San Francisco Giants, the franchise will be hoping that their offseason moves pay dividends during the year.
Due to the massive shift in the front office just prior to the offseason, there was a lot of uncertainty about what the plan would be for the Giants this winter.
With a desire to cut payroll a touch, they were able to accomplish that. However, they might not have improved the team compared to last season, which is a concern.
San Francisco only made two notable signings this season. They brought in slugging shortstop Willy Adames from the Milwaukee Brewers, and they also signed future Hall of Famer Justin Verlander.
The addition of Verlander comes after the team lost Blake Snell to the Los Angeles Dodgers, and also saw free agent target Corbin Burnes sign with the Arizona Diamondbacks.
While improving the lineup was important to accomplish, the starting rotation feels like it took a significant step in the wrong direction.
Joel Reuter of Bleacher Report recently wrote about the expectations being high for the star right-hander heading into his first season with the Giants.
At 42 years old, it is hard to predict what Verlander has left in the tank. However, with him signing a one-year deal with San Francisco, both sides clearly believe that he can be a positive contributor to the team.
The 2024 campaign was a challenging one for the right-hander. He dealt with injuries for a good part of the season and just never seemed to find his groove. At his age, coming back from injuries is not going to be easy, and it seemed to really affect him when he was on the mound.
Last season, he totaled a 5-6 record, 5.48 ERA, and didn’t reach the 100-innings pitched mark.
While his last campaign was a really poor one, he did pitch well in 2023 with the New York Mets and Houston Astros. There is certainly a scenario in which the struggles from last year were completely because of injury and not a sign of decline.
However, bouncing back from an injury-plagued season at 42 years old is going to be a challenging task for Verlander.
With the desire to reach the 300-win plateau, he is going to need to string together some impressive seasons in order to reach the mark.
While expectations might be high for the veteran right-hander, it is impossible to predict whether he will be a positive contributor to the team in 2025.
San Francisco, CA
Women’s volleyball professional team headed to San Francisco
SAN FRANCISCO – Pro volleyball will soon be coming to San Francisco and this latest team is part of a surge of women’s sports.
League One Volleyball officially launched this year with six teams. Now the league has announced it’s expanding to nine teams, and that one of those expansion teams will be based in the city by the bay.
Three-time Olympic volleyball medalist Kelsy Robinson Cook is on the ownership team for LOVB San Francisco, bringing professional volleyball to the city. “Can tell you it’s going to be amazing,” said Robinson Cook. “Then, when you bring in the fandom of the Bay Area and SF I think personally it’s going to make for an incredible atmosphere.”
Team ownership said starting a team in the Bay Area is a natural with colleges and universities in the region turning out top talent. “It’s the number one sport for women and girls and I think that just speaks volumes as to where we’re headed, not only in club and college, but professionally,” said Robinson Cook.
Pro women’s volleyball is part of a growing list of professional women’s sports teams calling San Francisco and the Bay Area home.
The women’s professional baseball league announced plans for a team in San Francisco. Bay FC and the Golden State Valkyries are already proving there is a market for professional women’s sports.
When pro-volleyball was looking to expand, San Francisco was a natural choice. “You’re seeing Bay FC, the Valkyries, the success that they have, and this market loves sports, and they’ve also proven they love women’s sports,” said Robinson Cook.
San Francisco leaders said the city has already proven that it supports pro-women’s teams, and will welcome professional volleyball. Mayor Daniel Lurie pointed to the city’s rich sports history and enthusiasm to support the home teams. “Now, as we saw with the Valkyries selling out every single home game last year, there is an appetite, there is a fan base, and this new league understands that,” said Mayor Lurie.
At this time, there are still a lot of questions up in the air, including exactly where LOVB San Francisco will play. Organizers say they have a lot of plans in the works to get the team ready to bump, set and spike starting in January 2027.
San Francisco, CA
Body cam footage released in South San Francisco police shooting
(KRON) — The South San Francisco Police Department released video Thursday showing what led up to two officers shooting a man who authorities said was armed with a knife.
On December 8 at around 5:10 a.m., police arrived at the 900 block of Sandra Court on the report of a man under the influence of drugs and making threats to kill himself. When officers made contact with the man, identified as 28-year-old Luis Francisco-Manzo, he initially complied with orders, authorities said.
Officer-worn body camera video shows Francisco-Manzo walking toward officers in the entrance hallway of an apartment complex with his arms raised. A small dog barks as officers give repeated commands. Suddenly, Francisco-Manzo appears in the entranceway next to officers as one calls out, “He’s got a knife.”
Officer Brendan Hart, who has been with SSFPD for eight years, fired a Taser at Francisco-Manzo, but it did not have the intended effect, police said.
Four gunshots are heard in the body camera video. Police said Officer Hart and Officer Martin Corona were the officers who discharged their weapons. Officer Corona has seven years of law enforcement experience with over four years at SSFPD.
Francisco-Manzo was transported to the hospital in critical condition. On Thursday, authorities said he continues to recover in the hospital. No officers were injured in the incident.
The police shooting remains under investigation by the San Mateo County District Attorney’s Office.
San Francisco, CA
Pedestrian killed in San Francisco hit-and-run crash
SAN FRANCISCO – A hit-and-run crash in San Francisco on Wednesday evening left a pedestrian dead.
Driver fled scene
What we know:
According to the San Francisco Police Department, the crash happened around 6:05 p.m. in the 5500 block of Mission Street. The driver fled the scene after striking the pedestrian.
The victim died at the scene.
Officers have not yet provided a description of the suspect vehicle involved in the incident.
No further details were immediately released.
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