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San Francisco Giants Star Prospect Confident in His Future

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San Francisco Giants Star Prospect Confident in His Future


The San Francisco Giants have one of the top power prospects in baseball in first baseman Bryce Eldridge. He has moved quickly through the minors this season, making a Futures Game and playing across three levels. He started at Single-A San Jose and has already made it to Triple-A Sacramento.

After a breakout season, the 19-year-old is ready to make the next jump.

“The goal for me the second I got drafted was to get up here as soon as possible. I realized this year there are so many things I can accomplish … and I’m going to get to the Big Show as quick as possible and be the guy in San Francisco for a long time,” said the former first round pick.

That is exactly what a fan wants to hear from the top prospect in the system. The confidence is clearly there, and with the way he has performed and moved this season, it’s warranted. Eldridge was promoted twice in a pretty brief span, and only has 12 games above High-A.

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In those games, he has accumulated 13 hits with two doubles and a home run. At Triple-A, he is 3-for-12. Though he has struggled at the higher levels relative to his performances elsewhere, he knows that the level of competition is different.

“I think just that initial week with a drastic change in competition was big for me. But at that point, I felt like I still could have taken on more of a challenge. I don’t know how that sounds, but I think that’s what they thought, too, and I think that’s why they wanted me to move up here, because I felt like I was having really good at-bats there, I was hitting the ball hard every time and cutting the strikeouts down,” he explained.

The Giants are clearly high on the potential of Eldridge and he knows that. He likely won’t see much, if any, time in the Majors next season. With that being said, if he continues to rake in the upper levels, it wouldn’t be a shock to see him at some point. San Francisco hasn’t had a big, power hitting prospect like this since Brandon Belt.

“Yeah, I get that all the time. And I see a lot of the fans comparing me to him. Obviously he did a bunch of great things here, and I grew up watching him destroy the Nats — we have similar builds, stances. I haven’t met him, but I’d love to pick his brain if I get the chance,” he said when asked about Belt.

Big, power hitting lefties who play for the Giants, the two were bound to be compared. But Belt isn’t who he emmulated himself after.

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“Growing up near D.C., being a young guy sharing the same name with the superstar, that was a big thing for me. That was really cool. I tried to mimic my swing after him my whole childhood,” he said of superstar Bryce Harper.

Harper isn’t a bad player to mimic.

Bryce Eldridge appears ready for anything San Francisco throws at him in order to be the next cornerstone of the team. With the way he has soared through the minors, it might be sooner than most expected.



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San Francisco, CA

Bob Weir to Be Honored at San Francisco Celebration

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Bob Weir to Be Honored at San Francisco Celebration


The “Homecoming” is scheduled for Saturday, Jan. 17, and will feature several speakers, including mayor Daniel Lurie

The cosmic and legendary life of Bob Weir will be celebrated this weekend in San Francisco, in a public event on Saturday, Jan. 17.

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“Homecoming: Celebrating the Life of Bobby Weir” will kick off at 12:45 p.m. PT at Civic Center Plaza adjacent to San Francisco’s City Hall, and will feature multiple speakers, according to organizers, including SF mayor Daniel Lurie, who paid his respects to Weir on Monday at the Grateful Dead‘s Haight-Ashbury house. The gathering will be preceded by a procession traveling three blocks down Market Street between 7th and 9th Streets at approximately 12:30 p.m. PT.

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The news of Weir’s death broke last weekend, when his family announced he’d “succumbed to underlying lung issues” after he was diagnosed with cancer in July 2025. “One of the things that I hope that I’m remembered for is bringing our culture and other cultures together — by virtue or by example of,” he told Rolling Stone earlier that year, in our final conversation with the guitarist. “I’m hoping that people of varying persuasions will find something they can agree on in the music that I’ve offered, and find each other through it.”

Jerry Garcia’s memorial was held at nearby Golden Gate Park in Aug. 1995, where Weir publicly thanked the frontman for “showing me how to live with joy, with mischief.” Weir spent the next 30 years carrying the Grateful Dead torch in several bands and offshoots — most recently Dead & Company — alongside late bassist Phil Lesh and drummers Mickey Hart and Bill Kretuzmann. The world continues to mourn the loss of Weir, from his Dead & Co. bandmates to celebrities like Bob Dylan, Heart’s Nancy Wilson, and the Eagles’ Don Felder.





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A future starter could be emerging on the San Francisco 49ers offense

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A future starter could be emerging on the San Francisco 49ers offense


The San Francisco 49ers have been piecing things together on the fly all season. So, it should be no surprise that the team is not only getting satisfactory play from their third option at left guard, but it may actually be their best fit for the position. The San Francisco 49ers may have found their starter at left guard moving forward with Spencer Burford.

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Will the San Francisco 49ers extend Spencer Burford?

Entering the 2025 season, Burford had just 81 snaps at left guard. The coaching staff left him for dead at the position. They went into training camp, starting Ben Bartch at left guard and having rookie Connor Colby serve the role as the backup. 

Burford was working as the backup left tackle in training camp, so even when Bartch was banged up or missed time, the team turned to Nick Zakelj as the third option at left guard. Still, he hardly played the role and spent most of the year on the practice squad. 

After Burford spent the summer as a left tackle, he spent the start of the season on the Injured Reserve. The team shuffled through all three options, and none of them proved to be capable of starting. So, finally healthy with almost no time working at left guard, they asked Spencer Burford to step in.

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Burford has been the starter since Week 9 and while there have been rough patches throughout the year, he has started to find his own. His play against the Philadelphia Eagles was crucial to winning in the Wild Card, considering the Eagles’ interior is the best aspect of their defense. 

Funnily enough, Burford mostly played on the left side in college. He spent two years at left guard before two seasons at left tackle. So, it should not be a big shock that it took a mid-round pick from a smaller school to adjust to the right side during his first two seasons. 

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Burford was depth last season and mostly played back on the left side, and now in year four, he is playing the position he once played in college, albeit back in 2019. 

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It may be that he feels better on the left side, and as he grows into the role, he can be a long-term fit.

San Francisco has a growing list of needs due to the injuries hitting the roster. They only have so many picks and so much salary cap space, so if they felt comfortable at left guard, it would help them in a big way. Every game from here on is an audition for what he can provide next year.

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Trial in brutal San Francisco shoving death of ‘Grandpa Vicha’ winds down

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Trial in brutal San Francisco shoving death of ‘Grandpa Vicha’ winds down


Attorneys are wrapping up closing arguments in the high-profile trial of a man accused of killing an elderly San Francisco man five years ago in a brazen attack.

Closing arguments for the trial of Antoine Watson continued Tuesday, beginning with Judge Linda Colfax reading jury instructions. Watson faces charges of murder, elder abuse, and assault in connection with the 2021 death of 84-year-old Vicha Ratanapakdee.

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The attack, captured on a neighbor’s security camera, shows Ratanapakdee being violently shoved to the ground.

Defense cites emotional distress

What they’re saying:

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The defense does not dispute that Watson shoved Ratanapakdee. Instead, attorneys argued the then-19-year-old defendant was experiencing extreme emotional distress following a family argument and a car crash. They contended Watson “snapped” when his car would not start that January morning.

The defense further argued that the prosecution failed to meet the burden of proof for a premeditated killing, suggesting that childhood trauma may have contributed to Watson’s actions.

Prosecutors allege defendant acted recklessly

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The other side:

Prosecutors described Watson’s actions as reckless and deliberate. During their closing argument, they said the defendant was “angry that his car wouldn’t start, and he spotted a target for his anger.”

Family glad case nearing end

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Outside the Hall of Justice, the victim’s family, who affectionately called him “Grandpa Vicha,” gathered on the court steps. While they are gratified that the case is nearing a conclusion, they voiced concerns that the judge has not been evenhanded during the proceedings.

“I’ve been here one month for the trial,” said Monthanus Ratanapakdee, the victim’s daughter. “It has been traumatizing for my family.”

The victim’s son-in-law, Eric Lawson, added: “We really hope the jury can see through all the court procedures and know what happened with grandpa was a horrible, awful murder.”

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Closing arguments are expected to resume on Wednesday, followed by jury deliberations.

The Source: Information for this report comes from courtroom proceedings and interviews with relatives of the victim, Vicha Ratanapakdee.

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