18 Reasons cooking class

18 reasons

18 Reasons is a nonprofit community cooking school in the heart of San Francisco’s Mission District whose goals include helping people learn how to buy, cook and eat quality food, as well as helping low-income families by addressing food inequity in the Bay Area and through educational programming.

“Our mission is to inspire our community with the confidence and creativity to buy, cook, and eat good food every day,” explains Sarah Nelson, Executive Director at 18 Reasons. “This mission drives our work at 18th Street Kitchen and our Free Community Programming.”

“We live in a food environment where buying, cooking, and eating good food isn’t easy. Individuals and families must navigate deceptive marketing, confusing nutrition advice, and heavily processed products when deciding what to eat.”

This impactful organization works with chefs from around the world and hosts hands-on cooking classes, cheesemaking and fermentation workshops, dinners with farmers and brewers, wine seminars, and more, with most classes booking up completely. These hands-on cooking classes change daily.

“We attract students interested in learning fundamentals, world cuisines, and advanced techniques through a home cooking lens, and gear classes to meet these needs,” says Nelson.

Some example classes include Japanese Baking and Sweets; comforting curries; Croissants, Danishes and Kouign Amann, a special two-day workshop; and recurring favorites like Malaysian Chili Crab; sweet and savory galettes; Scandinavian baking; Flavors of Bordeaux; and Pasta Primers. Other popular classes include Basic Knife Skills and Culinary Boot Camp. Each class features a menu to be cooked or baked, with a new teaching chef guiding the class.

Baking croissants

18 reasons

For Valentine’s Day, 18 Reasons is offering two themed classes: Chocolate, which involves learning how to bake a Flourless Chocolate-Almond Cake with Marbled Chocolate Glaze, Chocolate Chip Tahini Cookies with Flaked Sea Salt and more, and Valentine’s Day Feast, which includes learning how to cook a cherry and herb stuffed quail, mascarpone mashed potatoes and more.

18 reasons offers themed classes around other holidays as well, including Chinese New Year in Malaysia; Short and Sweet: Mardi Gras Party; Mid Autumn Festival Mooncakes; Umbrian Easter Feast; and Purim Baking.

“18 Reasons believes in the transformative and healing power of home cooking,” explains Nelson. “We choose to work with chefs that teach from a perspective and appreciation for home cooking as opposed to techniques and/or equipment typical for a commercial kitchen or restaurant.”

“Guests keep coming back, and we see a trend of multiple class takers,” she continues. “Some people enjoy trying new classes, while others gravitate towards a certain instructor or cuisine.”

Supported by these paid classes hosted through its 18th Street Kitchen cookery school, 18 Reasons offers free, hands-on cooking classes and grocery donations to low-income adults, families and kids, and Black and Latinx pregnant women, through its Cooking Matters and Nourishing Pregnancy programs.

18 Reasons is celebrating its 15th year this year, and they’ve evolved and expanded in many ways that include offering Cooking Matters classes in three counties: Alameda, Contra Costa, and San Francisco, and creating three new programs: Planned & Prepped, Food As Medicine (FAM), and Nourishing Pregnancy.

We chatted with Sarah Nelson, Executive Director at 18 Reasons on how 18 Reasons got started, its educational programs, the range of cooking classes they offer and more. Here’s what she had to say.

18 Reasons in the kitchen

18 reasons

How did 18 Reasons start?

The Bi-Rite Family of Businesses created a space in 2008 for community dinners and tastings, meant to connect farmers with the community members buying their products. Executive Director Sarah Nelson began a nonprofit, Three Squares, in 2011 to address food insecurity and the need for many in disinvested neighborhoods to increase nutrition and, ultimately, better health.

18 Reasons was born as a merger between the two — creating a nonprofit community cooking school with cooking classes at our Mission location, as well as free programming at sites within the community.

Talk about the range of paid cooking classes you offer. What can guests expect during these classes?

Our classes are unique because they’re largely powered by volunteers, which creates a greater feeling of community in classes. Our volunteers usually come from people who have taken our classes and want to get more involved in the organization.

We offer classes at a variety of price points, with our most popular Basic Knife Skills class being just $75. It’s important for us to offer classes that match a variety of student interests and budgets. The cooking classes are very communal, often asking people to work in small groups. It’s a fun opportunity to get to know classmates, and to initiate conversations that continue with wine and dinner at the end of classes.

We offer cooking classes that allow students to hone a variety of skills — from fundamentals like sautéing and egg basics, to deep dives into regional recipes and skills like Handmade Noodles of Penang. World cuisine classes are a way for members of a diaspora to connect to their culture through food, and for guests to learn more about regional culinary traditions.

18 Reasons class

18 reasons

Talk about the three food education programs you offer — in what ways have you seen these make an impact on the community?

Cooking Matters

Cooking Matters is a 6-week series of classes that pairs hands-on cooking practice with culturally appropriate nutrition discussions and healthy grocery donations.

We offer series for kids, teens, adults, and families in both English and Spanish. Topics covered include knife skills, learning about nutrition labels, food groups, and balanced eating, and how to use and choose vegetables, whole grains, and fruits.

84% of participants increase healthy food preparation, and 82% increase how often they eat fruit, vegetables, whole grains, or low-fat dairy.

Planned & Prepped

Planned & Prepped is a series for adult graduates of a Cooking Matters series that focuses on meal planning, prep, and storage on a budget.

This program was created in response to the question from Cooking Matters participants, “I’ve built a solid foundation of skills and want to keep learning more – what comes next?”

Food As Medicine (FAM)

FAM is a long-term, specialized Cooking Matters series tailored for participants with poorly controlled diabetes. FAM helps participants manage their diabetes using nutritious food, cooking skills, and nutrition education.

It is funded by CalAIM and in partnership with Contra Costa Health Services doctors, who support by recruiting participants and providing medical supervision and nutrition expertise during classes.

87% of participants report improvement in their blood sugar and 33% of participants report improvement to their A1C.

Nourishing Pregnancy

Nourishing Pregnancy is an innovative cooking and health program serving Black and Latinx birthing parents in the last months of pregnancy and first months postpartum. Over 16 weeks, participants take prenatal cooking and nutrition education classes and postpartum support classes.

Black and Latinx birthers typically receive medical care in white-dominated settings. All facilitators in Nourishing Pregnancy identify as Black or Latinx, and create a sacred space of social support and belonging.

Nourishing Pregnancy has dropped low birth weights of babies born during the program to zero!

The post Nonprofit Neighborhood Cooking College 18 Causes Celebrates 15 Years In The San Francisco Bay Space appeared first on Los Gatos News And Events.

Moving into a new home is supposed to be joyful. Before moving day, you may have pictured yourself spending the next several weeks painting walls, decorating, and breathing a sigh of relief after a grueling buying process. The t’s are crossed, the i’s are dotted, and you can finally chill. Congrats—you’re a homeowner!

But amid all of that excitement, many new homeowners have found unanticipated expenses due to a laundry list of items that need fixing. This is often the case with homes that were purchased as is. But even homes that went through a thorough inspection can be ticking time bombs for unexpected repairs.

We reached out to real estate pros and recent homebuyers to uncover the most common reasons why new owners call a handyman. Read on for what home inspectors might overlook, what kind of fixes they entail, and what to watch out for the next time you’re in the market for a new home.

1. Dryer vents

If a washer and dryer are blocking the vents, home inspectors often skip inspecting them.

“When home inspectors are unable to check dryer vents, it can be a big issue,” says Patty Sakunkooa homeowner and real estate investor who has purchased seven homes in California, Nevada, and Texas in the past 11 years.

“After closing, we’ve found that sometimes vents are so clogged, the dryers couldn’t even dry clothes,” she adds. “Plus, those clogs create fire hazards. If the vents are relatively easy to access and straight enough, you can clean them yourself. But you may need to hire a technician.”

Hiring a specialist will run you $50 to $150 per hour, depending on your location.

2. Faulty major appliances

In general, major appliances have a fairly standard shelf life. But even if home inspectors give yours the green light—and you believe they have a few years of life left—proceed with caution.

“Many appliances—especially things like water heaters and gas stoves—can fail with little or no warning, even after passing a home inspection,” says Troy Portillo, director of operations of Studypool. “This is one area where I’ve found that buying a home warranty or extended warranty on key appliances can be a worthwhile investment. If you’re cash-poor after buying a new home, a warranty can be a good hedge against the risks of a catastrophic appliance failure in the short term.”

Depending on the location and size of your home and the cost and age of the appliance, a home warranty or extended appliance warranty will run you anywhere from a few hundred dollars to a few thousand. But both options are much cheaper than buying a new gas stove or water heater.

3. HVAC breakdown

Maintaining your home’s temperature is essential to comfort. But often, home inspectors simply don’t have the time to assess real issues with your heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning system in one short visit. Therefore, you can start to see problems after move-in day.

“The HVAC system, specifically the AC, has been a big issue in almost half of the homes we’ve bought,” says Sakunkoo. “Sometimes, the inspector says the delta of the temperature is not optimal, but they wouldn’t elaborate. Then, sellers argue that it’s because the weather was unusually hot so the AC couldn’t keep up when the inspector happened to be there.”

Sakunkoo says she’s discovered leaks in the system or that the coil or evaporator needed to be replaced after a few months of homeownership.

“Sellers often try to hide AC problems because they’re costly to fix, but hard to prove unless you actually live there,” Sakunkoo says. “And problems with heating system are often difficult to identify in the summer when heaters aren’t operational.”

Even a minor problem in the HVAC system will end up costing several hundred dollars, at a minimum, with the potential to cost thousands.

4. Roof damage

In general, home inspectors are looking for cosmetic damage to a roof, or obvious structural concerns. But that means many issues fall through the cracks that inspectors aren’t trained to detect.

“While inspectors rarely miss major roof damage, they often flag issues in the inspection report by recommending a professional roofer takes a second look at it,” says Eric Waller, owner of Total Roofing Systems, with branches in Dallas and Grand Junction, CO. But because hiring a separate roof inspector will cost a few hundred dollars, many cash-strapped homebuyers ignore the advice.

“Please don’t ignore the warning,” says Waller. “Home inspectors aren’t qualified to assess the true functionality of roof systems, and they look for cosmetic damage like missing shingles and scuffs.”

Waller learned his own lesson the hard way in 2018, when he bought a large home with a damaged ridge section. He ignored the inspector’s red flag and ended up spending $35,000 soon after to replace the roof. The mistake did inspire him to launch Total Roofing Systems, and now he offers proactive roofing assessments to real estate agents.

5. Poor insulation

Insulation is—or should be—everywhere in a home, but because it’s hidden from immediate view, it’s hard to assess its condition. Inspectors often don’t have the tools to truly analyze the soundness of the home’s insulation in one short visit.

“There are many types of insulation hidden behind walls, in attics, and under floors, so it’s difficult to assess all of it,” says Cynthia Cummins, a real estate agent in San Francisco and the owner of Kindred SF Homes. “Poor insulation, such as air gaps between window frames, may not be noticed until the house has been occupied for some time.”

Gaps in insulation can result in higher utility bills and excess energy use. If certain areas of your home are consistently too hot or too cold, you’re going to need to call a handyman, Cummins says.

“Often, they can use infrared cameras to detect temperature fluctuations caused by inadequate insulation, and make repairs to damaged materials safely and securely,” she adds.

Depending on the extent of the damage and your home’s location, the fix will run from several hundred dollars to several thousand.

How to protect yourself

All of these issues may leave you feeling flummoxed and fearful. But you can protect yourself.

“There is a general misunderstanding about how much a home inspector truly knows,” says Denise Supplee, a real estate agent and the founder of SparkRental.com. “A good home inspector knows a little about a lot.”

So what can homebuyers do to make sure they’re not buying a money pit?

“Read all of the contracts thoroughly,” Supplee advises. “Make sure to also pay close attention to any seller’s disclosure. Some states, like Pennsylvania, require them.

“I had a situation myself where a homeowner did not disclose a mold issue,” she adds. “The home inspector missed it. Less than a few weeks of living in the home, the mold started coming through. I contacted a mold inspector. He found that the mold had been there and was painted over. Because they knowingly left out the mold issue in the seller’s disclosure, the sellers had to pay for the remediation.”

Read your contracts, do your homework, and, when in doubt, hedge your bets and spend an extra few hundred dollars on additional inspections from specialists, or invest in extended warranties.

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The Dallas Cowboys’ off-season is starting a little earlier than hoped after the team suffered a 23-17 loss in Sunday’s wild card game to the San Francisco 49ers. Attention now turns to the upcoming 2022 season and how the team can take steps to improve their ball club. One of the first things this organization will do is figure out which of their own free agents they want to keep. There are many tough decisions ahead, but one of the biggest is how to deal with edge rusher Randy Gregory. While he’s a guy most fans would love to bring back next season, that might not be the smartest thing to do. Here are three reasons the Cowboys should not sign Gregory.

You can’t afford it

First of all we would like to put a small disclaimer here. The Cowboys can afford any player they want if they really want that player. Contracts can always be adjusted for new business if the front office feels this is a good use of their money. So what we’re really saying here is that the organization will feel like it’s not worth the investment.

Gregory has had a good year and has done a lot of great things on tape in the first half of the season. He started 11 games in total this season, which is 10 more than in the last six years. Granted, two of those years he never took the field due to season-long suspensions, but even in the three seasons in which he played at least 10 games, he only managed one start. This year he was a fixture on the right defensive end position. He missed a game earlier in the year while on COVID reserve and then four more mid-year after suffering a calf injury.

He finished the year with six sacks, a career-high of 2018. It’s unclear what his market value will be this offseason. He’s still under 30 and has very little mileage on his body due to all the time he’s missed. Gregory’s production slowed as the season progressed. He hasn’t recorded a sack in the last five games of the regular season (six counting playoffs) and he didn’t do himself any favors with a couple of early penalties on Sunday. He’s still an experienced edge rusher that multiple teams will covet.

Many have suggested the Cowboys should be able to keep Gregory on a team-friendly deal, but that seems a little optimistic. He’s already signed two different one-year renewals at a bargain price, so it could be argued he’s discounted enough for the team already. With his only real shot at making some money, you have to reckon that Gregory and his agent will maximize this opportunity, and there’s a good chance it won’t fall below the amount Stephen Jones is willing to pay for his services to pay . But don’t worry, the Cowboys can still get away with a Premiere Pass Rusher, which brings us to reason number two…

Make Micah Parsons an edge rusher

There is no need to type the Cowboys star rookie to a specific position. In fact, it would be a mistake to do so. His abilities are so rare that it would be foolish to limit his contributions to just one facet of the game. Therefore, this “Lionbacker” should be used for everything if necessary. Oddly enough, that’s exactly what happened for them to discover just how remarkable an edge rusher he is.

Parsons led the Cowboys with 13 sacks this year, but what’s incredible about that feat is that he did it with limited pass rushing reps. As the team uses him in a variety of ways, they’ve only scratched the surface of what he could be as a true pass rusher. His 19.4% pressure rate was the highest in the NFL, and who says he couldn’t develop into one of the best edge rushers in the game? There’s certainly enough quality film out there to justify experimenting with this idea. An elite edge rusher is more valuable than an elite off-ball linebacker any day of the week. Not only that, but it’s also much easier to find a viable offball linebacker in the draft where the team could fill out the Parsons linebacker reps with a brand new rookie in the upcoming draft. Or even sign a moderately priced veteran.

The Cowboys have a few other options

With DeMarcus Lawrence and Parsons under contract, the Cowboys will go into the new season with some quality players even if they lose Gregory. They also have a few depth types. The team drafted Chauncey Golston in the third round last year and also has veteran Tarell Basham under contract. Unlike the one-year deals the Cowboys offered most of their free agents last offseason, Basham has been given a two-year deal so the team has him in their back pocket if needed.

You should also consider bringing Dorance Armstrong back if the price is right. A fourth-round pick in 2018, Armstrong’s rookie deal is up and he’s coming off his best season as a pro. He has taken advantage of lost time from both Lawrence and Gregory and has 507 defensive snaps (56%), which is a career-high all-time season. Armstrong has made the best of it with five sacks, 37 tackles and one forced fumble. He even blocked a punt and grabbed a Parsons sack/strip/fumble and returned it for a touchdown.

Ultimately, we’d love for Gregory to return. Having him in this squad makes this defense better. However, upon careful consideration, the Cowboys might be better off taking a different tack if his asking price is too high.

What about you? Would you find a way to re-sign Gregory or let him go free?

The post 3 explanation why the Cowboys ought to contemplate shifting on from Randy Gregory appeared first on Los Gatos News And Events.

We thought about going abroad for several years. We did research and visited many wonderful countries. Portugal has always been at the top of our list. This small nation is located in southwestern Europe, bordered by Spain to the east and the Atlantic Ocean to the west. When viewed on a map, it resembles the state of California but is only about the size of Indiana.

If you are looking for a place abroad to make a new home, you should consider visiting to explore this beautiful country. Here are some of the reasons why we chose Portugal when we moved abroad.

Brunch by the sea in Cascais, Portugal (Photo: Sue Reddel and Diana Laskaris)

1. Amazing food

We admit it. Food is one of the most important aspects of our lives. Of course, writing about food and travel is no coincidence. So when we started looking for places to relocate to, we knew there had to be quality food with fresh ingredients and enough variety to keep our interest going. Portugal meets all requirements.

Incredible fresh seafood and produce, meat, dairy, bread and baked goods abound in Portugal. Each region of the country also has its own specialties, making them fun to explore. Everyday restaurants are affordable and delicious. And if we want to spoil ourselves with Michelin stars, we have 28 restaurants to choose from. We won’t even go into the phenomenal wine regions here. It’s an embarrassment of wealth.

2. Friendly people who accept foreigners

Another consideration for us was how easy it would be for us to start a new life when moving abroad. Luckily, Portugal has a well-deserved reputation for being warm and welcoming. This friendly attitude extends to both visitors and foreigners like us who decide to stay in the country long-term. We’ve had wonderful experiences with everyone from fellow drivers to people we happen to meet at restaurants and walks in the park. There is a special sense of belonging here, even if you have just started a new life or are planning to retire in Portugal.

Duna da Cresmina in Cascais, Portugal (Photo: Sue Reddel and Diana Laskaris)

3. Diverse landscapes

We love varied landscapes. The landscapes that spark our enthusiasm include mountains, oceans, valleys, farmland and vineyards, rivers, lakes and everything in between. Luckily, Portugal has all these landscapes and more. It’s not uncommon to go from a sandy beach to a pine forest in under an hour. While we don’t miss the snow in the Midwest just yet, when we find we need a dose of the white stuff, we can even head into the Serra da Estrela mountain range to build snowmen, go skiing, and have a hot chocolate at the to sip fire. There’s also Madeira and the Azores if we fancy an island vacation.

Caldas da Rainha Sculpture Park (Photo: Sue Reddel and Diana Laskaris)

4. Art and culture abound

While not as familiar as its larger neighbor Spain, Portugal has a long history of exploration. Art and culture abound. Whatever our interest, there are many places where we can find education, information, entertainment and pure enjoyment. The architecture is stunning, from churches and historic buildings to churches and the tiling of train stations. Portugal has symphony orchestras, ballet troupes, opera companies, live theater and cinemas. It has art museums as well as unique attractions that celebrate Portuguese heritage, natural history, science and even the sea. There’s also a lot of pop culture and we love the variety of options waiting for us to enjoy.

Cascais Marina (Photo: Sue Reddel and Diana Laskaris)

5. Moderate weather

Many who, like us, experience cold, wet, and snowy winters in places like Wisconsin and Chicago, at some point consider moving somewhere warmer. We like Portugal’s temperate climate, which varies across the country. The weather is cooler near the coast. The north can get quite cool and very wet in winter. Larger cities can be warmer and drier, as can the Algarve in the south and some of the areas further inland. We like the fact that the temperature we live in is generally mild and usually not too hot. We definitely feel the seasons changing, but nothing like the Midwest.

6. Security

As we considered where to move abroad, our personal safety became more and more important. Not only do we have to consider the fact that we are a same-sex couple, but we also began to worry about the increasing violence around us.

Portugal is a peaceful country. We weren’t afraid of gun violence, carjacking, and violent crime in general. Drugs have been decriminalized here and are nowhere to be seen. We feel safe everywhere, even as two women walking alone through a city late at night. Many friends here feel the same way. Portugal is LGBTQ-friendly, recognizing same-sex partnerships since 2001 and same-sex marriages since 2010 when it was included in the country’s constitution. What is important is that in reality we have not experienced any discrimination and continue to feel safe.

7. Visa Requirements

When choosing a stay abroad, practical considerations sometimes have to play a role. One of the places we considered was Greece, where Diana has family associations, but the process was long and arduous. Portugal has several different visas, each with their own requirements. For us it was a fairly straightforward process that took several months to prepare and only a month to get approved. It doesn’t always happen that way, and as we often say, we’d rather be lucky than clever. But overall, the visa requirements were clear and we were successful with our first application.

8. Value for money

While we don’t want to fool anyone into thinking that you can live for next to nothing in Portugal, the value and quality of life here is excellent. Housing can be expensive as it can be anywhere, but the location, size and amenities we have are comparable to what we had in the United States at the time. We can have wonderful food and enjoy wine and dessert at reasonable price in local restaurants. Using public transport is easy and saves a lot of money. Plus, there are so many places, activities, and experiences that cost us little or nothing to enjoy, leaving us plenty of time to keep ourselves busy while staying on a reasonable budget.

9. Strong expat/immigrant communities

Moving abroad can be scary, especially if you don’t speak the local language. Luckily, Portugal has some wonderful expat and immigrant communities that we tapped into before we arrived. Facebook Groups, Meetups, and other groups of people who share languages, interests, and locations are easy to find. Friends of friends living in Portugal introduced themselves. From there we met some of their friends, introduced them to some new friends we had made and kept expanding our own social circles. We also enjoy meeting up with others who come to Portugal to explore or just for fun. We have met some who fell in love with Portugal like we did and soon they will join us as friends here too.

City shot of Lisbon (Photo credit: Photo credit: Sue Reddel and Diana Laskaris)

10. World-class city centers

Enchanting villages and fairytale towns were certainly an attraction for us, as they are for many who choose to move to Portugal. But for everyday life we ​​need access to cosmopolitan cities with many amenities in the modern hustle and bustle of life. With three major airports, one in each region, Portugal has accessible and vibrant big cities as well as charm.

Lisbon is a world-class city center with industry, technology and all types of business imaginable. It is home to an annual Web Summit that brings tens of thousands of technologists to the city to learn and advance the state of the art. Lisbon is a city that works. Up north, Porto is another phenomenal city that could be compared to San Francisco for its creative, slightly less buttoned-up vibe. There are many resources in both cities.

Editor’s Note: Stuck between the two cities? Here are the main differences between Lisbon and Porto.

Beyond the established metropolitan areas, areas like Oeiras are quickly becoming home to corporate headquarters from around the world.

Santa Maria Lighthouse Museum in Cascais, Portugal (Photo: Sue Reddel and Diana Laskaris)

11. A great home base

When deciding where to live abroad comfortably, practically, safely and affordably, Portugal was the right place for us. Being in Europe makes it a great base for many of our trips. There is a good infrastructure and means of transport that make it easy for us to get around Portugal and explore other parts of Europe. We can also fly non-stop to the United States from Lisbon, making visits to family and friends manageable.

These are just some of the many reasons why we chose Portugal when we moved abroad. We love our new home and look forward to exploring its many wonders in the years to come.

Further reading:

The post 11 Causes We Selected Portugal When Transferring Overseas appeared first on Los Gatos News And Events.

Mayor Breed shared on Twitter on Friday that around 400 city workers were either sick with COVID-19 or are currently isolating themselves from potential exposure – a tweet followed a day later by the SF emergency management department, in which the residents were asked to only call 911 “for” life-threatening medical emergencies. “

At the time of writing, the rolling seven-day average of new COVID-19 cases in San Francisco is 1,218 – a new record high. COVID-19-related hospital admissions in the city now stands at 135; such a number has not been observed in San Francisco since February 2021. Unfortunately, coronavirus infections and hospital admissions aren’t the only things that have risen lately.

Emergency calls have also swelled in San Francisco.

We still look like employees due to COVID including:
184 SFPD members
140 SFFD members
122 Muni workers

Even so, we continue to provide our residents with the essential services they deserve. Thank you to all the frontline staff who work shifts to support our city.

– London Breed (@LondonBreed) January 7, 2022

And the city is completely overwhelmed as it cannot cope with the influx of emergency calls; The fact that hundreds of city workers are absent for reasons related to Covid-19 does not help with the problem either.

“140 City Fire Department employees, 184 San Francisco Police Department employees and 122 Muni employees are out of work due to infection or isolation from possible COVID-19 exposure,” Breed tweeted on Friday, January 7th. “Even so, we continue to provide the important services our residents deserve. Thank you to all the frontline workers who work shifts to support our city. “

Most COVID cases are mild and can be treated at home. Look for emergency COVID warning signs but just call 911 or go to the 911 center. for life threatening medical emergencies. Have doctors ready for life-threatening situations. More information: https://t.co/l1Qs77Hcrr

– San Francisco Department of Emergency Management (@SF_emergency) January 8, 2022

The next day, Saturday, January 8, the San Francisco Department of Emergency Management posted on Twitter that residents “should only call 911 or go to the emergency room for life-threatening medical emergencies.” In a similar tone of voice, the San Francisco Fire Department urges the public not to dial 911 for minor questions or concerns or inquiries not found anywhere else online through the city’s resources.

“Please do not call 911 to ask for a COVID-19 test, or because you have a cold or mild flu symptoms. We really want our ambulances to be available for people with a heart attack or stroke, ”said Jeannie Nichols, SF Fire Department chief in the NBC Bay Area, previously saying the department is making” about 400 calls a day in the city ” had the last few days “- about 30% more calls than average.

Similarly, SF Zuckerberg General Hospital is seeing a surge in people either looking for a COVID-19 test or coming with mild symptoms. Mind you: Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital currently has around 400 employees who are absent due to COVID-19.

“We see more and more people looking for tests. We see more and more people with mild symptoms. And this is a particular challenge now because of all the circumstances I have just described, ”said Dr. Susan Ehrlich, CEO of Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital, the news agency.

If you have mild to moderate COVID-19-like symptoms or want to get an appropriate test, don’t choose SF’s emergency room. Instead, turn your attention to the San Francisco Public Health Department’s digital resource portal on coronavirus.

Related: Of course, unauthorized test sites pop up in SF when COVID tests run low

Omicron Surge should peak shortly in the Bay Area, says UCSF professor – and we need to rethink all of these panicky tests

Photo: Getty Images / lechatnoir

The post San Francisco Is Overwhelmed by 911 Calls; A whole lot of Metropolis Staff Out Resulting from COVID-19 Causes appeared first on Los Gatos News And Events.

Be warned, there are SPOILERS for Poison: Let there be slaughter scattered through this story. Stop now if you don’t want something to be ruined.

Every time a Marvel movie comes out, you’re sure to see a random character from the comics covered on the big screen. And while their on-screen counterparts don’t always matter to the story they’re involved in, there are times when a classic character not only gets a lot of screen time, but also a hint of a future within that particular franchise. Such is the case of Detective Patrick Mulligan (Stephen Graham), the San Francisco detective who sought to find the remains of Cletus Kasadys (Woody Harrelson) victims in Venom: Let There Be Carnage. However, by the end of the film, Mulligan becomes much more than a seasoned cop with a bone that he can chop with Eddie Brock (Tom Hardy) by getting some superpowers of his own.

After viewing the latest entry in the universe once known as the Sony Pictures Universe of Marvel Characters, you may be wondering something like, “What’s wrong with Patrick Mulligan and how does he fit into the overall system of things?” Well, look Don’t go any further, because we’re about to break his story down into Marvel Comics and why we should all be excited about his future, whatever we call this new world after the closing scene of Venom: Let There Be Carnage.

(Photo credit: Sony Pictures)

What happened to Detective Patrick Mulligan in Venom: Let there be carnage

Stephen Graham’s Detective Mulligan is one of the first main characters we meet in Venom: Let There Be Carnage, and from an early age he is linked to the events that play out throughout the film. Mulligan is introduced as a young cop sitting with Frances Barrison (Naomie Harris) when she is transported to the Ravencroft Institute For The Criminal Insane. When trying to escape, Barrison, aka Shriek, uses her sonic scream to attack Graham, who then shoots her in the eye, but not after she has gone deaf in one ear.

Years later, Detective Mulligan contacts Eddie Brock (Tom Hardy) about his conversations with Cletus Kasady, hoping to use the convicted murderer’s trust in the reporter to his advantage. One thing leads to another, and Mulligan later believes Brock had something to do with Kasady and Barrison’s escape and begins further investigations, which leads to his being captured by the recently reunited lovers. In the film’s climate battle, Mulligan is apparently killed by Shriek’s sound pressure, but is seen alive and well with blue eyes towards the end of the film, revealing that he may have his own sound powers.

(Image credit: Columbia Pictures)

In the comics, Patrick Mulligan becomes an offshoot of the carnage symbiote named Toxin

Judging by how things went for Detective Mulligan in Venom: Let There Be Carnage, it looks like the character is going down a different path than its Marvel Comics counterpart Toxin, another iconic symbiote. In the comics, Toxin is an offshoot of Carnage, Venom’s descendant, which Toxin Venom’s grandson does when the alien life forms believed in the family construct.

As in any family, the relationship of the three symbiotes is a bit complicated if we’re being honest. Even before Toxin joined Patrick Sullivan, a complicated detective with a myriad of problems both out of and out of his rhythm, Carnage wanted nothing more than to kill his offspring. Fortunately for Toxin, Mulligan, and other characters living in the Marvel Comics universe, Venom stepped in to save the day. But Toxin and Venom weren’t always on the best of terms, either.

(Image credit: Disney)

Toxin has teamed up with Spider-Man in the past and even saved the Web Slinger from poison and carnage

Not long after Toxin first bonded with Detective Patrick Mulligan, he was rescued by Spider-Man and Black Cat when Carnage tried to kill the young symbiote and his host. After that, Toxin began teaming up with Spider-Man, seeing him as a role model and someone he wanted to be more like. This eventually led to Toxin protecting Spider-Man by single-handedly taking on Venom and Carnage in a fight.

It remains to be seen whether the version of Detective Mulligan in Venom: Let There Be Carnage will side with Tom Holland’s Spider-Man in the future, as it is not yet known in which direction the character will develop further down the line, especially since its on-screen origin story is very different from the one in the comics.

(Image credit: Sony)

Patrick Mulligan / Toxin is a complicated character who fights crime but also has a taste for people

The best Marvel characters are the ones complicated with a villain gallery of demons and skeletons in the closet, and Patrick Mulligan / Toxin is no different. A relatively no-nonsense police detective with a wife and young son in the Marvel Comics universe, Mulligan is also home to the symbiote Toxin, who, like similar life forms, has murderous instincts and a fondness for human brains. This new identity messes up Mulligan’s life in the comics, ultimately leading him to leave his wife and son behind as he battles crime and super villains on the streets of New York City.

This fight for control is not dissimilar to the fight Bruce Banner wages with The Incredible Hulk. And like Banner / Hulk, Mulligan and Toxin eventually come to an agreement that could make for some great moments if the character is featured in the films for the long term.

(Photo credit: Optimal publication)

And there isn’t too much Stephen Graham

Stephen Graham is one of those actors who immediately interests me in a movie because he’s in it. That fascination for me began after seeing his staggering performance as Andrew “Combo” Gascoigne, a vehemently racist and xenophobic skinhead in Shane Meadows’ 2006 coming-of-age drama This Is England. Politics and Worldview his character are absolutely hideous and he is objectively a bad person, but Graham’s portrayal of a man lost through time is something not to be missed.

And not only in This Is England do we see this intensity of the actor. You see it with his portrayal of Al Capone on Boardwalk Empire and Anthony “Tony Pro” Provenzano in The Irishman, among other films and shows. There’s even a bit of that silent anger and low-key intensity in Venom: Let There Be Carnage, and I can’t wait to see what awaits his character in the future.

Hopefully this is just the beginning of Detective Patrick Mulligan and Stephen Graham’s presence in the Sony Pictures Universe of Marvel Characters, or even MCU, if we go in that direction.

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The San Francisco 49ers suffered a brutal late game loss to the Green Bay Packers in Week 3. In that game, Jimmy Garoppolo led the 49ers to the top quarter, just over 30 seconds behind in game four.

Unfortunately for fans on the bay, the 49ers offense left too much time on the clock. Their defenses also blew it up when, after time ran out, Aaron Rodgers led Green Bay to the final field goal to win the game.

San Francisco wouldn’t even have been able to lose their first game of the season if their offense, led by Garoppolo, didn’t fight for a second game in a row in the first half.

Until their running back in the fourth row, the 49ers saw Green Bay take a 17-0 lead in the first half. Rodgers far surpassed its smaller counterpart. It was only when San Francisco brought rookie No. 3 with Trey Lance to the touchdown towards the end of the second quarter that things apparently changed. He saw action for another game in the second half. That’s it.

That is the crux of the problem for the San Francisco 49ers, who go into their important week 4 game against league rivals Seattle Seahawks. Garoppolo remains extremely restricted in the passing game. And without a hasty elite-level attack that marked the Kyle Shanahan era in Northern California, the quarterback’s weaknesses have risen to alarming levels.

Now is the time for San Francisco’s Brass to finally admit that Lance is their best option for the rest of the season. Here’s why.

Related: San Francisco 49ers Schedule and Forecasts

The San Francisco 49ers aren’t Super Bowl contenders

Darren Yamashita-USA TODAY Sports

Even though the season started on a 2-0 record, holes in that squad became pretty obvious. The unlucky Detroit Lions returned from a 41-13 deficit in the second half against San Francisco in Week 1, but lost 41:33.

This was a harbinger for the future. What must be viewed as a foolish mistake, the brass section of the 49ers largely avoided the cornerback position in the offseason. Instead, General Manager John Lynch and Co. relied on an injury-stricken Jason Verrett to take on the No. 1 role. This after Verrett had played a total of 18 games in the last five seasons due to injury.

The former Pro Bowler went down like clockwork with a cruciate ligament rupture late in the season opener win against the Lions. San Francisco has since struggled to defend the pass and relies on seasoned journeymen after seasoned journeymen. That included getting Josh Norman, Dre Kirkpatrick and Buster Skrine off the streets.

Related: Where do the San Francisco 49ers rank on our NFL defense rankings?

What is the moral of the story here when it relates to Trey Lance starting over Garoppolo? As things stand, San Francisco passport defense will be one of the most important things to keep this team from competing in This 2021.

2021 is a year of transition for Trey Lance and the San Francisco 49ers

Cary Edmondson-USA TODAY Sports

That brings me to one of my biggest points. If the 49ers aren’t true Super Bowl contenders, the 2021 season must be viewed as a transition period for this franchise. Perhaps it was a foolish belief that this team was as good as the 2019 iteration that shockingly made it to the Super Bowl. It is also possible that a lack of activity on the free agent front in cornerback and other most pressing positions was a team failure.

Whatever the reason, it’s clear that the best San Francisco can hope for this season is a wildcard course. If it does, what is the real reason for waiting for Trey Lance to launch? Other rookie quarterbacks like Justin Fields, Mac Jones, Trevor Lawrence and Zach Wilson have had big problems this season.

Does that mean Lance will follow suit? I am not really sure. He has a much better supporting cast than any other rookie picks for the first round. He has a much better offensive game caller. Choosing to keep Lance sitting because other quarterbacks struggled is like a philosophical fallacy. Not every situation is the same. It’s a red herring.

What does Jimmy Garoppolo offer the San Francisco 49ers that Trey Lance doesn’t?

Cary Edmondson-USA TODAY Sports

Limited. This is the best way to describe the San Francisco offensive in the first three games of the season. And in reality a lot of it is on Garoppolo.

We can focus on the quarterback career record of 26-9 as a starter. We can focus on the fact that he has scored five touchdowns against an interception this season. These statistics are a fact. They are also misleading.

Garoppolo is a quarterback who offers absolutely nothing on the spot. When San Francisco’s frantic attack doesn’t work, the defense hones the passing game. His inability to get the ball to the receivers on the field and off the hashes creates huge problems, especially in Shanahan’s plan.

At least Trey Lance San Francisco offers this dual threat capability. He’ll make the defense think. He has a cannon for his arm and is ready to throw the ball across the field.

Counterbalancing this argument would be the inevitable mistakes Lance will make below the middle. But is that different from Garoppolo losing a fumble in the fourth quarter of Sunday’s game against Green Bay? I do not think so.

In the end, the San Francisco 49ers may have overrated their squad for the 2021 season. You might have overrated Garoppolo himself.

Now, with Week 4 against the last-placed Seahawks, it’s time for San Francisco to face reality. As a non-contender, Trey Lance is the best option for the future.

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The San Francisco 49ers were against Julio Jones before Sunday’s blockbuster deal that sent him from the Atlanta Falcons to the Tennessee Titans.

It made sense since Jones’ previous relationship with 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan went back to their days together in Atlanta. The 49ers’ questionable wide receiver situation behind Brandon Aiyuk and Deebo Samuel added another layer.

Whatever the reason, San Francisco couldn’t close the deal. Instead, the Titans grabbed Jones for a second and fourth round to team up with stud receiver AJ Brown for quarterback Ryan Tannehill. That’s a solid number for a seven-time Pro Bowl recipient who has still proven to be dominant on the field.

Meanwhile, Falcons new general manager Terry Fontenot was able to get value for the high-priced seasoned receiver while cutting a ton of salary. It can be argued that both the Titans and the Hawks were winners here. The San Francisco 49ers? Not as much. Here are three reasons for that.

The San Francisco 49ers still can’t close the deal with a wide receiver

Ken Blaze-USA TODAY Sports

I get it. The 49ers have had great success in recent drafts with both Deebo Samuel and Brandon Aiyuk. That’s all well and good. However, the team’s inability to land a proven # 1 recipient for head coach Kyle Shanahan is a bit of a concern. In 2019, San Francisco felt like it had the best deal on the table for then New York Giants recipient Odell Beckham Jr. before it was dealt to the Cleveland Browns. Reports have since surfaced suggesting that Giants general manager David Gettleman did not want to trade OBJ with an NFC rival. It’s hard to blame the 49ers for that.

Other than that, it’s just a continuation of the struggles the 49ers had to land proven recipients through either the free agency or the commercial market. In March, San Francisco hadn’t even got its feet wet when it came to top-end receivers on the open market. These included Corey Davis, Kenny Golladay, and Curtis Samuel – the latter would have fitted very nicely in the slot. In 2020, San Francisco refused to sign Emmanuel Sanders again and did not bid for another slot type in Robby Anderson.

On the way to the training camp, there will be an open competition for the wide receiver spot No. 3 and the top slot position in Santa Clara. This includes former third-round pick Jalen Hurd, who missed his first two NFL seasons due to injury. It also contains veteran cstoffs like Mohamed Sanu and Bennie Fowler. This could be the doom of the 49ers in 2021.

About the “aggressive” nature of the San Francisco 49ers

Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports

General Manager John Lynch and Co. shocked the football world at the start of this off-season by breaking the 12th. This was the culmination of an aggressive tenure for Lynch in San Francisco.

The 49ers built a championship caliber roster by trading with the likes of Jimmy Garoppolo, Laken Tomlinson, Trent Williams, Dee Ford, and the aforementioned Sanders. While this had consequences for both the salary cap and the draft, these deals also worked for the most part.

Sure, the 49ers are limited when it comes to draft picks to offer in blockbuster trades after moving two future first rounds and a 2022 third round into the Lance blockbuster. That’s all well and good. However, it must be possible to strike a balance between winning now and preparing for the future. A second-round pick and a mid-round pick wouldn’t have handcuffed the 49ers too much. It would have made their offensive pretty unstoppable too.

The NFL salary cap is an invention of our imagination

09/20/2020; East Rutherford, New Jersey, USA; San Francisco 49ers general manager John Lynch (left) shakes hands with head coach Kyle Shanahan after beating the New York Jets at MetLife Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Vincent Carchietta-USA TODAY Sports

That might sound a bit hyperbolic. But check out what the Titans did to get Julio Jones. Tennessee was about $ 2 million under the ceiling before earning the future Hall of Fame recipient. The 49ers? They are currently at $ 17.36 million below the cap.

Of course, every team has different situations on their squad. For the 49ers, this includes the need to sign all-pro linebacker Fred Warner for a massive contract extension this off-season. With that in mind, San Francisco is sitting back and ready to pay Garoppolo $ 26.38 million against the cap, even after adding his eventual heir. The 49ers could also have created more wiggle room by adding Laken Tomlinson and Jimmie Ward, two players who fit into their long-term futures.

What does it all mean? The NFL salary cap for 2022 could climb to $ 208.2 million after a sharp drop in the coming season due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It will skyrocket in 2023 when the NFL’s new television deal comes into play. With a salary cap guru in President Paraag Marathe, the San Francisco 49ers could have done this job very well. Unfortunately, they couldn’t close the deal. This could have a big impact on San Francisco’s status as the top-end title contender in 2021 after an injury-ridden campaign in 2020.

All of this makes the San Francisco 49ers the biggest loser when it comes to Sunday blockbuster Julio Jones against the Tennessee Titans.

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SAN FRANCISCO – Adam Bergeron is excited to reopen the Balboa Theater, the independent San Francisco cinema that he owns and operates.

He has watched other cinemas in the US take the audience back in front of them. But San Francisco reopened more slowly than other cities. Now the time feels right.

“San Francisco was a role model for getting Covid right, if there is such a thing,” said Bergeron.

“At this point, everyone I know is fully vaccinated. Cases are falling. And we just picked a time that seemed like the right time,” he added. He plans to reopen May 14th with a “Godzilla” marathon.

Full coverage of the coronavirus outbreak

San Francisco and its suburbs were cautious and maintained various restrictions while other parts of the country reopened businesses and eased masking mandates. The vaccination rate is now among the highest of any major US city. Two thirds of all adults have received at least one dose.

And as parts of the city open up – some bars in San Francisco have waiting lists to get a table again – experts are showing cautious optimism. The city may see signs of herd immunity.

“This is our moment to leave the pandemic behind,” said Dr. Grant Colfax, San Francisco’s director of health. “It is clear that the vaccines are our way out.”

Herd immunity is about transmission. When not enough people can catch and spread a virus, especially in a community where cases are already low, the virus struggles to find new hosts. Eventually, of course, infections would subside. It’s a simple concept, but it can be elusive and difficult to define – especially at the national level.

However, it may be clearer on site. In the past seven days, San Francisco, which was home to more than 870,000 people, had an average of just 26 new Covid-19 cases per day. Two-thirds of all adults in San Francisco and nearly 60 percent of the larger metropolitan area of ​​4.7 million were vaccinated with at least one dose – one of the highest rates in the United States. The positive test rate is 1.2 percent.

All over San Francisco, there are signs that residents are beginning to relax, at least slightly, their emergency arrangements and be rewarded with vaccinations. Some people go maskless on walks outdoors – a rare sight until recently – while small gatherings such as running and cycling clubs have resumed and gym yoga and other fitness classes have resumed. With applause from the city, the main branch of the city library reopened for browsing on Monday, and the city could enter California’s “yellow tier” – the least restrictive pandemic level – this week.

And there are signs that the city is preparing for a long-term reopening. Kevin Carroll, executive director of the San Francisco Hotel Council, a trading group serving the city’s hospitality industry, said the majority of San Francisco’s 34,000 hotel rooms are expected to be open by the end of May. More downtown offices, including the big tech companies, are about to return. Salesforce, the software company that occupies San Francisco’s tallest skyscraper, is aiming to reopen its headquarters this month, spokeswoman Annie Vincent said.

It is estimated that between 70 and 85 percent of a city’s population must be immune to achieve herd immunity, but that number can be a moving target. A better indication is whether the number of cases and hospitalizations in a city is falling to a low level and staying so with few restrictions, said Dr. Monica Gandhi, an infectious disease doctor and professor of medicine at the University of California at San Francisco.

San Francisco has had the advantage of speeding up its vaccination campaign, while cases, hospitalizations, and daily deaths are already relatively low, which most likely accounts for much of the city’s success to date. Last winter, when much of the country was grappling with a devastating wave, cases in San Francisco peaked on January 4, with 560 infections reported. For comparison: Los Angeles peaked on December 26th with more than 29,000 new cases.

Vaccines can help bring these numbers down, but how quickly this happens depends largely on the local situation. In places where cases are increasing, scientists have observed a tipping point in vaccinations. After that, hospital admissions and deaths begin to drop dramatically.

“It appeared to be 40 to 50 percent at the first dose rate,” said Gandhi. “After that, things started to decline.”

There are currently 15 people hospitalized in San Francisco for Covid-19, which is roughly less than 2 per 100,000 people. While there isn’t a magic number, Gandhi said it is these types of low hospital stay rates that health officials monitor to make sure a city is on the right track.

In March 2020, San Francisco became the first city in the country to issue mandatory on-site accommodation in response to the pandemic. And the city has maintained other stringent mitigation practices that have helped the city “hit back three waves,” according to Colfax, San Francisco’s health director.

Colfax also recognized the widespread acceptance of the city’s public health interventions for this advancement.

“That culture and public health support and public health infrastructure are deeply ingrained in San Francisco, largely because of our response to the HIV / AIDS epidemic,” he said. “It’s anchored in our cultural DNA.”

But the real test is likely to come this week when the city starts lifting some of its restrictions.

“The final test when you achieve herd immunity is not to be on lockdown and not having mitigation procedures in place,” Gandhi said. “The way we could tell we got herd immunity with measles is because people were out and mixing and people didn’t get sick and children weren’t hospitalized with severe measles.”

However, herd immunity is not a set target and the threshold can vary depending on a number of factors including population dynamics. Reaching herd immunity also does not automatically guarantee that the coronavirus will simply go away. For example, even though more than 90 percent of the US population has received a measles vaccine, outbreaks can still occur.

Hence, herd immunity should not be seen as an end goal, said Dr. Julie Parsonnet, Professor of Epidemiology and Population Health at Stanford University.

“It’s not permanent, and just because we’ve achieved herd immunity doesn’t mean there won’t be any cases,” Parsonnet said. “Herd immunity is a good construct for modeling, but not for life.”

There is also a risk of developing a variant of the virus that escapes the protection of vaccines. There is no evidence that this has happened so far, but if it did it could jeopardize the protection that communities have built.

And while pockets of land like San Francisco may already have reached a level of immunity that can lift most major restrictions, it can take the entire country a long time to get there – if it ever does. But that doesn’t mean that the lockdowns will last for years or that life can’t go on.

“If we get to a point where the coronavirus isn’t making people very sick, we’re in good shape,” Parsonnet said. “If we don’t get herd immunity as a nation, we will still protect vulnerable people with vaccines and hopefully not have hospitalizations.”

While San Francisco is the first major U.S. city to appear to have lost control of the pandemic, others are likely not far behind.

Download the NBC News App for full coverage of the coronavirus outbreak

More than 46 percent of people in New York City have received at least one dose of vaccine, and cases, hospitalizations, and deaths are steadily declining. Los Angeles County, considered the epicenter of the U.S. pandemic less than five months ago, saw no new deaths from Covid-19 on Sunday and Monday. 54 percent of residents have received at least one dose of vaccine, and it is among several California counties planning to lift restrictions this week.

In other parts of the country, smaller cities such as Albuquerque, New Mexico; Portland, Maine; and San Diego are seeing similar encouraging progress.

“It is deeply hopeful,” said Gandhi. “The vaccines have put us in a whole new world.”

Denise Chow reported from New York City; David Ingram reported from San Francisco.

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Four weeks after the start of the 2021 season, it is not surprising that two NL West teams achieve the best record in the National League. Even after six defeats in the last eight games, World Series defending champion Los Angeles Dodgers is 15-8 with the best running differential in the sport (plus 30). Almost everyone expected to see her at the top of the leaderboard.

The other 15-8 NL West team isn’t the upstart from San Diego Padres, however. It’s the San Francisco Giants, a team that have won seven of their last nine games and have been 13-5 since their 2-3 start. The Giants blew up the Colorado Rockies on Monday (SF 12, COL 0) and already brought them six shutout wins this year. This is the best start in 23 games since the beginning of 2003 between 18 and 5.

“It was nice to have a really good game, a clear defensive game and then a few runs,” manager Gabe Kapler told reporters, including MLB.com’s Maria Guardado, after Monday’s win. “There’s not much to complain about tonight. I usually spend about an hour after the games taking things apart. I mean, what is there to take apart? The guys did a great job.”

Four weeks is out of season, although it does have a real impact on post-season odds. According to SportsLine, the Giants came into the season with a post-season rate of 8.7 percent. That is now up to 30.9 percent. FanGraphs says their postseason odds have increased from 5.7 percent to 20.3 percent. That’s a significant increase in just 23 games (14 percent of the season).

The Giants almost made it through the postseason last year, keep that in mind. They finished on the same record as the Milwaukee Brewers, but the Brewers held the tiebreaker, so they got the # 8 seed and San Francisco went home. The Giants responded with a very active off-season (nine free agents who had signed MLB contracts) and now they’re being rewarded with wins.

Here are four reasons the Giants are starting so hot this season.

1. Posey and Longoria look rejuvenated

The 2021 Giants are built similarly to the Giants teams of the Mini Dynasty era in the early 2010s. These clubs were designed to prevent running and were insulted just enough to win. This year the Giants achieved an average of 4.00 runs per game, which is below the average of 4.31 NL. Your team 97 OPS + is basically league average. They were good offensively, but not great.

Individually, Buster Posey and Evan Longoria were great. Both look rejuvenated – Posey quit last season and looks as physically fresh as he has in years – and they were the club’s two best players in the early days. The payment:

Posey recently had his first two-homer game since 2016 and has already hit his performance for the 2018 homerun (five of 488 record appearances). From 2018-19, Posey penned a .270 / .340 / .375 batting line with 12 home runs in just under 900 record appearances, and he looked like a catcher nearing the end of his line in his 30s. This year it looks like Vintage Posey.

“I think Buster’s bat speed and the way his lower half is working right now is what I have in mind,” Kapler told Guardado. “His bat speed is great, and his hips and lower half work well. His body moves well.”

Longoria’s offensive decline has not been subtle in recent years. From 2017 to 20, he hit .254 / .306 / .424 in almost 2,000 record appearances, which corresponds to an OPS + of 97. Even if you adjust to the spacious Oracle Park, Longoria has been a slightly below average batsman in recent years. Now he is producing like in his prime, even if he has a hamstring injury.

“He got in a good matchup (against Austin Gomber, the left of the Rockies) and took advantage of it, drove baseball for us a couple of times and didn’t endanger his health, which was the # 1 goal of the day.” “Kapler told Guardado after Monday’s game in which Longoria scored two hits and drove in three runs before being pulled out of the blowout to rest his Achilles tendon.

Beyond Posey and Longoria, the Giants get good work from Mike Yastrzemski (117 OPS +) and Brandon Belt (112 OPS +), and Darin Ruf annihilates left-handers (148 OPS +), and that’s it for the offense. Nobody else on the roster has a WOW season on their plate. Posey and Longoria turned back the clock early and are aggressively carrying the Giants.

“We don’t have the feeling that we probably clicked all cylinders offensively,” Posey told Guardado. “Our pitching and defense have been really good. In my experience, playing on some really good teams is number 1 to pitch well and play defense. It’s a good start. It’s early, but it definitely is a good start. ” . ”

2. The rotation has been switched off

The San Francisco mini dynasty in the early 2010s was made possible by a rotation anchored by three round one picks: Matt Cain (# 25 in 2002), Tim Lincecum (# 10 in 2006), and Madison Bumgarner (No. 10 in 2006). 10 in 2007). This year’s rotation is headed by former Cincinnati Reds: Johnny Cueto, Anthony DeSclafani, Kevin Gausman, and Alex Wood.

This foursome, along with native Righty Logan Webb and free agent reclamation project Aaron Sanchez, helped give the Giants the most dominant rotation in baseball to begin with. Seriously. Their 2.11 ERA is by a considerable margin the lowest in baseball (the Padres follow with a 2.42 ERA), and they do it a bit unconventionally. Namely:

• Strike rate: 24.2 percent (14th highest in MLB)
• Base ball rate: 51.5 percent (highest in MLB)
• Hard contact rate: 28.9 percent (fifth lowest in MLB)

The Giants don’t do it with loud strikeout sums like the Dodgers or Padres. They have a lot of weak contact, especially on the ground. DeSclafani hit nine in his three-hit shutout Monday and he also allowed nine balls in play with an exit speed below 90 mph. Weak contact with the ground is a great way to suppress offense.

“I think a lot of this gives the Giants credit for overall pitch design,” DeSclafani Guardado said of his success this year (1.50 ERA in five starts). “I got my fastball back to 2019 levels and helped myself get my slider shape back to 2019 levels. I think credit goes to you for maybe realizing what went wrong last year , and helping me fix these issues. ” “”

As good as the rotation was – and it was very good – it is not without risk. Cueto is currently out with a lat injury, DeSclafani and Wood are no strangers to the injured list, and Sanchez rarely breaks 90 mph on his fastball after major shoulder surgery last year. There are some depth issues, but this is the most effective rotation in baseball right now.

3. The defense is much improved

Preventing runs doesn’t just affect the man on the hill. Defense also plays an important role, especially when the pitching stick creates as many weak ground balls as it does in San Francisco. Earlier this year, the Giants were the best defensive team in baseball according to Defensive Efficiency, and they have improved significantly over the past few years.

• 2017: .679 DE (28th in MLB)
• 2018: 692 DE (14.)
• 2019: .699 EN (7.)
• 2020: .699 EN (12.)
• 2021: .739 DE (1.)

In short, Defensive Efficiency tells us that this season the Giants turned 73.9 percent of the balls in play into outs, the top grade in the game. They had a terrible defense in 2017 and were closer to the middle of the field by 2018-20.

This year, despite an older squad (defense is typically a young player skill and San Francisco’s positional players averaging 31.2 years old, the oldest in baseball) and many injuries, the Giants play like an elite defensive team. You had to move people in the meantime and get guys out of position.

“It’s a testament to the work Kai (Correa) has done with all of our infielders to prepare them all to move around the diamond,” Kapler recently told reporters, including Jacob Rudner of Mercury News. “… We have to prepare these guys for anything.”

Thanks to the ability of their pitching staff to create weak contact and the power of the defense to turn that weak contact into outs, the Giants have the opponent’s second lowest hit average (.205) and third lowest opponent’s hit percentage (.330) in MLB. San Francisco allowed 3.04 runs per game to start, nearly four-tenths of a run better than any other team.

“Overall, our defense looked really solid,” Brandon Crawford told Rudner. “We do the pieces we’re supposed to do and occasionally do some really good pieces. We looked really good, really solid, all around … luckily we have depth and can fill some guys in. We can still go out and…” win a baseball game. ”

4. The schedule was favorable

You can only play the schedule you were given, and so far the Giants have only played three games against teams that FanGraphs predicts to top over 500 points this year. They took two out of three of the Padres at home in the second series of the season, otherwise they saw a lot of Mariners, Marlins and Rockies early on. The schedule was sure to be good.

And give credit to the Giants for making this affordable schedule the best record in the league. You did a good job, bank profits. However, it will soon be a little more difficult. The Giants will play the Padres six times in their next eleven games, and they have seven games with the Dodgers coming up in May. These 13 games against NL West’s other two powerhouses give us a good idea of ​​whether San Francisco is real.

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