It was not your typical day game at AT&T Park Saturday as the Giants took on the Rockies.  The game on the field was "one for the ages" with a game winning inside-the-park home run in the bottom of the 10th inning.

There was another back and forth going on in the stands, as some 750 concession workers declared a one day strike.

The union workers dispute isn't against the Giants. The workers are employed by a company called Centerplate, which is the San Francisco Giants’ food and beverage subcontractor.

Union members authorized a strike by an overwhelming majority earlier this month.  Union leadership declared the one day strike at 4 a.m. Saturday. 

Center plate said they are bringing in replacement workers, but the long lines for your peanuts and cracker jack were a little longer Saturday.

Giants spokeswoman Shana Daum told Bay City News there was no major disruption. "They've had a little bit longer lines but nothing usual, kind of close to an opening day." Daum said.   She said fans were very patient and everyone got served.  

 Patricia Ramirez, who has been a cook for 13 years, said the strike should be a wake-up call.

“We want a new contract with wage increases, health care, and job security, and we’re willing to fight for it,” Ramirez said.  

The union says negotiations are at a standstill between Centerplate and the concession workers’ union, not the team directly.  

The Giants said San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee has agreed to step in and help move along the negotiations.

The main sticking points are wages and health care. 

The union said people walking the picket lines will encourage fans to enjoy the game, but to refrain from purchasing food. 

The union said its workers will be back on the job Sunday. 

Giants Statement:

We are disappointed that Centerplate and Local 2 have been unable to reach agreement on a new contract. We continue to urge both parties to get back to the bargaining table and to have productive discussions so the matter can be resolved as quickly as possible. This dispute is between Centerplate and Local 2, not the Giants. Mayor Ed Lee has graciously offered to bring the parties together to work toward reaching a resolution for the sake of the employees and the fans. We thank him for his assistance and leadership in this matter. We apologize to our fans for any inconvenience this unfortunate situation may have caused and we remain hopeful that Local 2 and Centerplate can find common ground and move forward.

 Centerplate spokesman Sam Singer said in a prepared statement that the company, based in Stamford, Conn., believes "this labor action by Local 2 is unnecessary, unfortunate and illegal."

Centerplate has "the highest paid staff in the concession business, earning between $15 and $20 an hour, receiving full healthcare and other benefits for their part time work," Singer said.

Hegde said that Centerplate has a large mark up, perhaps up to 55 percent, on its concessions that includes $10.25 for a cup of beer, Hegde said "Not all that money is going to the workers," Hegde said. Nordman, who called beer sales the "liquid gold" of the park, said that $5.50 of each beer goes to the Giants, the rest to Centerplate. 

Tonight on NBC Bay Area, the San Francisco Giants will take on NL West Division rivals the Colorado Rockies.

Be sure to follow us on Twitter as we live-tweet the game on @NBCBayArea and @GiantsCove!

Because tonight's San Francisco Giants game is airing on NBC Bay Area, you can watch NBC programming on TV36.

Here's the schedule:

7 p.m. -- San Francisco Giants vs. Colorado Rockies on NBC Bay Area

8 p.m.  -- "Dateline" on TV36

10 p.m. -- "Rock Center" on NBC Bay Area (following the Giants game)

Ask Barbara Casados to sew a button on a shirt for you and she'll say no.

Ask her to make a sick child feel better, though, and she'll sew up a storm.

She is the Bay Area's Caped Crusader. Casados was featured on the NBC Bay Area series Bay Area Proud.

She is the founder of "Kiss the Toad Creations" which is a non-profit organization whose main goal is to make children, who are battling life-threatening illnesses or disabilities smile.

Since 2008, Casados has sewn more than 11,000 super hero capes to send to those children.

Her efforts were recognized by the Giants Friday night.

She threw out the first pitch at the San Francisco Giants game against the Colorado Rockies.

Casados hammed it up to say the least as she took the mound. You can see the raw video at the top of this article. In the end, she threw a respectable lob to Giants closer Sergio Romo.

Below is reporter Garvin Thomas' report on Casados' sewing efforts.
 

When Eric Reid was taken by the 49ers with the No. 18 pick in April’s NFL Draft, he quickly was penciled in as the starter at free safety by fans and media alike.

But in his first week of organized team activities at the 49ers training facility, Reid has felt anything like a starting safety. His head was swimming and his feet were fumbling as he battled just to figure out what to do on each play.

During the first week of OTAs, Reid took reps as second-team free safety, behind veteran Craig Dahl who was signed this offseason as a free agent from the Rams.

As Scott Kegley of 49ers.com reported this week, Reid studied Dahl’s every move, trying to absorb as much as possible from him and starting strong safety Donte Whitner.

“They help immensely because they’ve seen it all,” Reid told Kegley. "There’s not too many things from a safety standpoint that they haven’t seen. Any question that I have, they can answer right there on the spot. That’s good for me. Like I keep saying, I’m just trying to be a sponge. I want to know as much as I can because that will help me play the game.”

Reid, a first-team all-Southeastern Conference selection this past season, is trying to absorb the playbook while also trying to adjust to the speed of the NFL. Even during drills – months before game action – he’s feeling a bit lost.

“It’s fast,” Reid told 49ers.com. He said he’s just battling to “keep up,” remember his responsibilities and executing.

It’s all part of a learning process he knew would be frustrating and baffling. That’s what happens to players jumping from college football to the professional ranks. And it’s the reason that while many have high expectations for him to be the starting free safety on opening day vs. the Packers in 2013, Reid is preaching patience and perseverance.

“I don’t expect, by any means, to start from Day 1,” he told the Bay Area News Group earlier this month. “I want to earn it.”

As much as Reid is known for being a physical defender -- a 6-foot-1, 213-pounder who was exceptional against the run at LSU – he’s also known for having a good mind. He was a good student in high school and college (graduating with a business administration degree in 3½ years) and has been studying the 49ers’ playbook since late April. So, he’s confident he’ll catch up in time. But it will take a while for all his reactions and reads to be automatic, the way they are with Whitner and Dahl.

The Niners, too, believe they have a good one. That’s why they moved up 13 spots in the first round to get their man. Some scouting reports before the draft said Reid was shaky in pass coverage and may not be effective in the NFL. The Niners aren’t one of those teams. If he’s anything like what their own scouting reports showed, he’ll likely earn the starting spot sometime in July or August.

“He has great contact courage,” coach Jim Harbaugh said of Reid after drafting him. “He likes to get from Point A to Point B and go hit somebody. He’s an  effective tackler, does it extremely well. He can be a range safety, cover ground. Long arms, big wing span.”

Sochi's anti-doping director says 2,500 drug tests will be conducted at next year's Winter Olympics, about 350 more than at the 2010 Games in Vancouver.

Alexei Slautin, head of Sochi's anti-doping section, said in a statement Thursday on the Russian Sports Ministry's web site that another 600 tests are planned for the Paralympics.

The World Anti-Doping Agency says 2,149 tests were done at the previous winter games.

In all, the Sochi Games will have 13 doping control stations -- 10 at competition sites and three in the athletes villages.

In business management seminars, problems are never called problems. They are opportunities.

A crisis is simply a challenge that can spark greater creativity or growth.

If that is indeed the case, then 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick now has a terrific opportunity.

With No. 1 wide receiver Michael Crabtree now out of the 49ers’ picture for most (if not all) of the 2013 season with a torn Achilles’ tendon suffered in team workouts this week, Kaepernick will need to grow out of his comfort zone. In 2012, Kaepernick’s first as a starter in the NFL, he came to depend on Crabtree as his go-to guy. Whenever he needed a big play down the field, he looked for Crabtree.

According to stats from ESPN.com, Kaepernick threw eight touchdown passes with one interception last season when targeting Crabtree. He had one TD pass with four interceptions when targeting other wide receivers. Kaepernick threw to Crabtree on 39.6 percent of his pass routes from Weeks 11-17, the No. 2 total in the NFL during that span, ESPN reported. Counting the postseason, Kaepernick threw to Crabtree on third down or in the red zone more than three times as often as he targeted any other 49ers player.

And Crabtree flourished once Kaepernick took over as quarterback from Alex Smith in November, posting his best season as a professional.

Now, however, Kaepernick will have to adjust.

Whether the 49ers braintrust of GM Trent Baalke and head coach Jim Harbaugh decides to bring in another receiver to compensate for Crabtree’s absence or stay with the players now on the roster, Kaepernick will have to put his trust in his other wideouts and tight ends. He won’t have the safety net of Crabtree’s great route-running and fine hands. He’ll have to develop a better rapport with tight end Vernon Davis and learn to trust veteran Anquan Boldin.

Through organized team activities (OTAs) that began this week and into summer training camp and the exhibition season, he’ll have to find out which receivers among a group that includes A.J. Jenkins, Quinton Patton, Mario Manningham, Kyle Williams and Ricardo Lockette he can lock in on.

Just as the wideouts on the roster will have to step up to fill the void left by Crabtree, Kaepernick will have to step up to help those receivers improve their games.

“We have a lot of talent out here, a lot of great players,” Kaepernick told Cam Inman of the Bay Area News Group Wednesday, after news of Crabtree’s injury was reported. “It’s just: ‘Who’s going to step up and fill that role?’ ”

Kaepernick has spent a good portion of the offseason working with Jenkins and Lockette, and believes they can be contributors.

But it will be up to Kaepernick to sift through the roster to find the ones he can depend on; to widen his focus on every play to see opportunities that he may not have seen before when Crabtree was on the field because he trusted so much in Crabtree.

In the end, if Kaepernick and the receiving corps can adjust, the injury to Crabtree could be beneficial to both the quarterback and the team. It’s a new opportunity for Kaepernick to grow. And, when and if Crabtree returns after surgery and rehab, Kaepernick will be an even more effective quarterback.

For now, however, that’s just hypothetical. There is work to be done.

As Kaepernick told Inman, his task now is to get “more comfortable with my receivers.”

When the Raiders asked Taiwan Jones to move from running back to cornerback in February, there was a dual purpose.

First, general manager Reggie McKenzie noted that Jones’ “skill set” best suited the cornerback position.

Second, the Raiders were in desperate need of help in the secondary.

Three months later, however, McKenzie has remade the secondary, adding free-agent cornerbacks Tracy Porter and Mike Jenkins, free-agent safeties Usama Young and Charles Woodson and using his top draft choice for cornerback D.J. Hayden.

Now, Jones’ chances of making the Raiders as a reserve cornerback seem much longer than they once did. Though Jones has explosive speed and played cornerback in college before shifting to offense, he’s obviously rusty and less experienced at his new job than any of the other cornerbacks now in camp for Oakland’s organized team activities (OTAs) that began this week.

Jones, in fact, told reporters after his first OTA session on the other side of the ball that he felt as if he were starting over.

“I do,” he said. “When I first came out, things were going pretty fast for me, but towards the end, I started to feel comfortable as I started seeing more plays and getting more reps.”

Jones admits that he’s excited about the position switch. Before OTAs began, he says he spent a lot of time studying the playbook and watching film. He was glad to finally be out on the field to test himself against other players.

“It was good to go out there and have live receivers running at you,” he said.

As a backup running back, Jones has been a contributor on kick- and punt-coverage teams his first two seasons in the NFL.  Head coach Dennis Allen noticed Jones’ tackling ability, knew his background as a cornerback at Eastern Washington – where he was recruited as a defensive back – and suggested to Jones in February that he make the switch.

At first, Jones says he wasn’t interested. He loved playing running back. Now he says he’s fine with the switch and will do whatever he can to make the roster and help the team. He certainly wasn’t getting many opportunities to carry the football. Last season, even with injuries to the team’s top two running backs, Jones was given little opportunity to run the ball, in part because it was reported Jones had fumbling issues in practice.

Now, Jones believes his best opportunity to stick in the NFL may be as a corner.

“As far as my career, it will probably be a good move,” he said. “I feel like I’ll last longer health-wise there and I can help the team out more there. Like I said, whatever the team needs me to do, I’m ready to do it.”

With all the new talent on board, however, Jones will have to make quick progress.

As Vic Tafur of the San Francisco Chronicle tweeted Monday after the first OTA session: “Former RB Taiwan Jones has a steep uphill climb to make roster as a CB.”

The Miami Heat opened the Eastern Conference Finals with a dramatic overtime win, securing victory at the buzzer in overtime on a LeBron James layup.

With 2.2 seconds to go, James took an inbounds pass from Shane Battier and made a beeline for the rim to hit the final shot, making it a 103-102 win over the Indiana Pacers.

James notched his ninth career playoff triple double with 30 points, 10 rebounds, and 10 assists.

PHOTOS: Heat Top Pacers in Game 1

"Two teams fought hard," James said. "We were able to make one more play."

Dwyane Wade scored 19 points, Chrish Bosh had 17 points, and Chris "Birdman" Andersen scored 16 points off the bench.

Seconds after Ray Allen missed one of two free throws that could have iced the game, Paul George forced overtime when he hit a 3-pointer from 32 feet with under a second to go in the fourth quarter.

He also appeared to give the Pacers a win in overtime when he drew a questionable foul call on Dwayne Wade while throwing up a desperation 3-pointer. He hit all three free throws to give the Pacers a one-point lead, but the reigning MVP made sure it would not last.

George scored 27 points, David West scored 26, and Roy Hibbert had 19 with 9 rebounds for Indiana.

Complete Miami Heat Coverage

Quizzically, Pacers coach Frank Vogel benched Hibbert on defense in the final two Heat possessions, likely fearing he would not be able to defend an outside shot from Chris Bosh. In both possessions, James drove to the hoop for go-ahead buckets.

"I would say we would probably have him in next time," Vogel said.

Early on it looked like the Pacers had lulled Miami into the kind of defensive slugfest that would normally favor Indiana. They led 42-37 at the half, forcing 13 Heat turnovers limiting James' and Bosh's minutes due to foul trouble.

Miami picked it up in the second half with a healthy dose of Andersen. Playing in a big lineup alongside Chris Bosh for stretches, he got multiple easy baskets at the rim by sneaking up on Hibbert on the weak side.

"Welcome to the Eastern Conference finals," Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. "Back and forth the whole way."

The Heat were out-rebounded by Indiana 43-38, but Miami had 16 offensive rebounds, including one in the final minute of overtime when Bosh made a putback (only his second rebound of the game) and got fouled, tying the game on the ensuing free throw.

"We're excited about the win," James said. "But we have to get better going into Game 2.

 The series continues with Game 2 on Friday night in Miami.

Big athletes' contracts, new stadiums -- and now Muni?

Tack on public transportation costs to big-ticket events' ticket prices, if a San Francisco supervisor's scheme is approved.

Supervisor Scott Wiener has asked city officials to study adding $1 to $3 -- for a "transit surcharge" -- to "all tickets sold for large sporting and entertainment events in San Francisco," according to the San Francisco Chronicle.

The ticket surcharge would be tacked onto Outside Lands tickets, Giants tickets, and any other ticket to an event that draws over 1,000 people, and would help Muni buy better vehicles, rehab old ones, and then run more vehicles on big event days.

"We're talking about a pretty small surcharge that would have a significant benefit for public transportation in the city," Wiener told the newspaper.

If the surcharge is approved, Muni could realize up to $22 million in new revenue annually.

Transit impacts in San Francisco are only going to get heavier: if the Warriors' plan to move to a new arena at Piers 30-32 pans out, transit will be taxed by sports fans.

Festivals, games and concerts at AT&T Park and the new arena -- both of which would be south of the Bay Bridge -- could draw as many as 7.3 million people a year.
 

Who’s got it better than the 49ers?

Over the past two years, hardly anybody.

The awarding of Super Bowl L to the team’s new stadium in 2016 is just the latest in a long string of good fortune for a franchise that was down on its luck for nearly a decade.

The once-proud 49ers – who’d won five Super Bowls under coaches Bill Walsh and George Seifert – went eight straight seasons without a winning record from 2003-2010 before things turned around.

But once the positive mojo started flowing again, it hasn’t stopped.

As Mike Sando, ESPN.com’s NFC West blogger, wrote on Tuesday, the awarding of the Super Bowl to the franchise is “just another sign of progress for the team under chief operating officer Jed York.” Sando then ticked off what is a long list of winning moves by the 49ers in recent years:

• The hiring of general manager Trent Baalke from within the organization. Though much talent already was in place, Baalke has proven to be a shrewd judge of talent and has been excellent in the draft.
• Baalke’s hiring of head coach Jim Harbaugh from Stanford.
• Drafting Nevada quarterback Colin Kaepernick in the second round of the 2011 draft, while also picking up an elite pass rusher in Aldon Smith in the first round of the same draft class, which was a remarkable one for the team.
• Back-to-back NFC West titles, two trips to the NFC Championship Game, one NFC title and one trip to the Super Bowl under Harbaugh in the past two seasons.
• Getting a deal to build a new stadium and securing a big-money naming rights deal with Levi Strauss.

But, Sando’s list isn’t totally complete. Other good fortune includes:

• The 49ers have profited from a great staff of assistants put together by Harbaugh that has remarkably remained intact. Offensive coordinator Greg Roman’s offenses have been among the most creative in football.
• The 49ers getting great value for quarterback Alex Smith after he lost his job to Kaepernick.
• Finding a gem of a starting guard in previous backup tackle Alex Boone to help create one of the NFL’s best offensive lines.
• Collecting a great quantity of draft picks for 2013 and 2014 that should help keep the 49ers in contention for several years.

As former 49ers head honcho Eddie DeBartolo noted during Super Bowl week, the franchise is flourishing once more under the direction of his nephew, York. The Niners are on a roll again, just as they were in the 1980s and ‘90s.

“It’s tradition,” DeBartolo told Fox Sports. “Everyone throws the word ‘dynasty’ out there, but I don’t know about dynasties. But you know what it is? It’s a tradition that (Jed) worked so hard to get.”

Brian Urlacher will not play for another team in the 2013 season.

The sure-bet hall of fame middle linebacker released a post on the social media site WhoSay.com letting fans know that he will be ending his career as a Bear.

"After spending a lot of time this spring thinking about my NFL future, I have made a desicion," he wrote.

Urlacher, 34, played 13 seasons for Chicago, earning numerous honors including Defensive Player of the Year in 2005 and Defensive Rookie of the Year in 2000. Urlacher was selected to 8 Pro Bowls.

The defensive stalwart parted ways with the team shortly after the free agency period began. Bears General Manager Phil Emery offered Urlacher a deal that amounted to just over the veteran minimum to stay with the club, Urlacher declined the offer and moved on.

See the statement below.

The remaking of the Raiders secondary is now complete.

Oakland’s signing of Charles Woodson Tuesday is the latest – and likely final – move by general manager Reggie McKenzie to put together a new defensive backfield that should be far less leaky than the version cobbled together with castoffs and backups in 2012.

Last season, the Raiders had trouble stopping both the run and the pass, but it was the secondary’s consistent inconsistency – giving up big plays throughout the season – that proved to be its most fatal flaw. Without much of a pass rush, Oakland couldn’t put pressure on opposing quarterbacks, and the suspect secondary was picked apart, allowing nearly 236 yards per game. Opposing quarterbacks completed 66 percent of their passes, the fourth worst mark in the league.

This offseason, however, McKenzie has rebuilt his secondary. On paper, it looks much more solid.

Woodson will join incumbent starter Tyvon Branch at the safety positions, with Usama Young – last season’s starting free safety in Cleveland, signed as a free agent – on board to provide depth.

At corner, the Raiders have No. 1 pick D.J. Hayden to pair with a pair of free-agent acquisitions in Mike Jenkins and Tracy Porter. Jenkins, a former standout with the Cowboys, is a former first-round pick and Pro Bowler in 2009. Porter, who’ll be entering his sixth NFL season, played last season in Denver after four seasons in New Orleans, where he helped the Saints win a Super Bowl. Young, a seven-year veteran, started 11 games for the Browns in 2012 and had three interceptions. Previously, he played for head coach Dennis Allen when Allen was an assistant with the Saints.

As the Raiders go through organized team activities (OTAs) this week and begin working toward the start of training camp in July, the team’s secondary now appears to be one of the team’s strengths rather than weaknesses. Last season the starting cornerbacks were Shawntae Spencer and Ronald Bartell, who quickly were lost to injury, eventually forcing the team to move starting safety Michael Huff to corner. All season, the secondary featured a parade of new faces in new places.

Now, by adding Woodson – the Raider who went off to Green Bay and now has returned at age 36 – Oakland’s secondary should be much improved in 2013.

As Jay Glazer of Fox Sports wrote: “Woodson will join a secondary that is being overhauled for the second straight season and his experience could help the transition.”

In assessing the Raiders’ signing of Woodson Tuesday, Bay Area News Group columnist Monte Poole hailed the move as a terrific addition, saying Woodson will be both a leader and teacher.

“Woodson, even at 80 percent of what he was two years ago, immediately becomes the best player among Oakland’s back seven on defense,” wrote Poole. “And he’s still among the smartest, bravest, most instinctive players in the game.”

The odds are stacked against B.J. Daniels.

The former South Florida quarterback, a seventh-round choice of the 49ers in April’s NFL draft, enters the start of team organized activities (OTA) workouts Tuesday buried on the depth chart of a team stocked with talent.

As a quarterback, he’s behind starter Colin Kaepernick and backups Colt McCoy and Scott Tolzien. As a receiver, kick returner and running back – where the 49ers say they will give him a shot to show what he can do – he’s also on the bad end of a numbers game.

Yet as OTAs begin, Daniels ranks as one of the more interesting stories among rookies fighting for a job. He was a four-year starter and winner at South Florida and has great athletic ability. Niners head coach Jim Harbaugh has referred to him as a potential “Swiss Army knife” who could fill multiple roles. A player as versatile as Daniels could be an impact player on special teams and allow the 49ers to keep another player or two, if they believe Daniels can contribute in several areas.

After the 49ers took Daniels, Harbaugh said: “He’s a tremendous athlete with great foot quickness, strong arm, two-time captain. I think we’re fishing out of a good pool there, that he’ll be able to contribute to this football team.”

His best bet to make the roster may be as a kick or punt returner. He’s spent time this spring fielding punts at South Florida, and he looked comfortable at rookie minicamp recently taking punt and kick returns.

“I’m comfortable with my hands and, like I said, anything I can do to help out is what I’m going to do, just to keep my options open,” Daniels recently told Matt Barrows of the Sacramento Bee.

With Kaepernick the locked-in starter at quarterback and McCoy the presumed No. 2, that would leave Daniels battling Tolzien for the No. 3 job – a prospect that seems unlikely, given the fact the team has invested two years in Tolzien, and likes his abilities as a pocket passer.

But if Daniels can begin showing his ability to field punts, catch passes and run the ball out of the backfield – beginning in OTAs and through this summer – the rookie could prove valuable.

He says he’s ready for the challenge.

“Honestly, I’m just doing what it takes to make the team,” he said. “Whatever is asked of me, that’s what I’m trying to do.”

NFL owners on Tuesday picked Santa Clara over Miami to host the 50th Super Bowl in 2016.

Reaction was fast and furious on Twitter and other forms of social media as word of Super Bowl L spread.

The first two Tweet was Jed York.

See the reaction on Twitter below:

The San Francisco Giants put Ryan Vogelsong on the 15-day disabled list Tuesday and prepared to be without their right-hander for two months in yet another challenge for their struggling starting rotation.
 
 Vogelsong had surgery Tuesday morning at Stanford, one day after breaking his pitching hand while at the plate. The expected recovery time is 4-6 weeks, but Vogelsong likely would need a rehab assignment before re-joining the Giants.
 
"I'll be back, no question about that,'' said Vogelsong, who waited to greet his teammates after Monday's win, his right hand wrapped. ``It stinks. It stinks because it had been so rough, to go out there and feel like my old self again.''
 
 X-rays revealed he broke two bones in his right pinkie area and also dislocated a knuckle that couldn't be immediately popped back into place by the medical staff, Vogelsong said. He was hurt on a fifth-inning swing when he chased an inside fastball from Craig Stammen during an 8-0 victory against the Washington Nationals.
 
The injury came as Vogelsong was putting up his best outing of the year and felt like his former dominant self. He had a 6-0 lead at the time of his injury, and had pitched five scoreless innings for his first victory since April 11, snapping a six-start winless stretch.
 
Considering all of Vogelsong's comebacks in a journeyman career that has taken him to Japan and back to the big leagues, nobody doubts the 2011 All-Star will bounce back again _ in plenty of time to get back on the mound before 2013 is done.
 
"He's a little down, which is to be expected,'' manager Bruce Bochy said late Monday. ``He'll be back, hopefully in a couple of months.''
 
The 35-year-old Vogelsong, who received an $8.3 million, two-year contract in January 2012, said he hopes the fact that he injured his pinkie could allow him to return more quickly.
 
"If it's going to be one, that's the one to do,'' he said. ``It doesn't do much on the baseball, it just goes along for the ride.''
 
Vogelsong won 14 games last season three during the franchise's run to a second World Series championship in three years and was a 13-game winner in his comeback year in 2011. Last fall, he won Game 3 of the World Series at Detroit's Comerica Park as the Giants went on to sweep the Tigers in four games.
 
But he's off to a slow start this year, and he's not alone. The Giants' typically steady starters _ Madison Bumgarner, Barry Zito, Tim Lincecum and Tuesday night's pitcher, Matt Cain _ began the day with a 4.78 ERA.
 
 Right-handed reliever Santiago Casilla also went on the disabled list Tuesday because his troublesome right knee still isn't fully healed despite the use of two different braces.
 
"Casilla's just not 100 percent,'' assistant general manager Bobby Evans said.
 
 Infielder-outfielder Brett Pill and right-hander Sandy Rosario were recalled from Triple-A Fresno to help fill the voids for the reigning World Series champions.
 
The Giants were still working to figure out how to cover Vogelsong's spot in the rotation, though the club has some time because San Francisco doesn't need a fifth starter until next Tuesday's Bay Bridge interleague matchup against the Oakland Athletics.
 
While Bochy likes having versatile right-hander Chad Gaudin as a long reliever out of the bullpen, he has starting experience _ 75 starts in 11 major league seasons _ and could fill in, while lefty Mike Kickham also is ``in the mix'' for consideration, Bochy said Tuesday.
 
Kickham is 2-4 with a 4.72 ERA with 50 strikeouts and 19 walks in nine starts for Fresno. An 11-game winner last season for Double-A Richmond, the 24-year-old Kickham was a sixth-round draft pick by the Giants in the 2010 amateur draft out of Missouri State.
 

 

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NFL owners on Tuesday picked Santa Clara over Miami to host the 50th Super Bowl in 2016.

The news first came in a tweet from San Francisco 49ers CEO Jed York.

Minutes later, at a news conference in Boston, where the decision was made, a beaming York repeated how "excited" he was about having the Big Game played "in the heart of Silicon Valley."

It was the first time in a decade that a Super Bowl was awarded on the first ballot.

Super Bowl committee chair Daniel Lurie, and CEO of Tipping Point Community,  thanked the mayors of San Francisco, Santa Clara and San Jose for working as a community and pulling together to make this dream a reality. The entire region will benefit from the boost of hosting the game.

"This is a huge moment," Lurie said. "We're excited to show what the Bay Area has to offer at Levi's Stadium."

MORE: Reaction on Twitter to Super Bowl Bid

Lurie said they'd party on Tuesday night and hunker down to work on Wednesday; there's only 33 months to go before the premier football event.

Thank you @nfl for awarding #SB50 to the Bay Area. Thx for all support @daniellurie @mayoredlee & Mayor Matthews... @sfsuperbowl baby!!!

— Jed York (@JedYork) May 21, 2013

Back in Santa Clara, where about 80 supporters were cheering at City Hall, a jubilant Mayor Jamie Matthews said, "Before we built  a stadium, we landed the 50th Super Bowl." When he heard the news, he said, "a shot of electricity ran through me."

He estimated that the region would reap between $300 million to $500 million, with happy game-goers dining at restaurants, staying in hotels and visiting the Bay Area's top tourist spots.

VIDEO: Super Bowl L Will Bring Millions to Bay Area

San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee has been publicly gracious about losing the San Francisco 49ers, who have played at the aging Candlestick Park and who will  now play in the high-tech, $1.2 billion stadium in Santa Clara, 45 miles away, starting in 2014.

Lee learned the learned the news during a peppy ceremony to  honor the Golden State Warriors and point guard Stephen Curry for their NBA  playoff run. He was handed a note about the winning bid. And his announcement drew cheers from the crowd at San Francisco City Hall.

Lee tweeted he was "proud to be the host of Super Bowl L."

The votes are in! #SF Bay Area is proud to be the host of Super Bowl L!! Excited to welcome the #SFSuperbowl & use opportunity to give back.

— Edwin Lee (@mayoredlee) May 21, 2013

MORE: Guide to Surviving Super Bowl L in the Bay Area

Later, Lee added: “Are we ready for some football, San Francisco Bay Area? Make no mistake, we put forward an incredible bid and that’s because the San Francisco Bay Area is quite simply the best place to host Super Bowl 50.

"It is an honor to get this great opportunity to host one of our nation’s most historic celebrations and we will host the best, most innovative and most philanthropic Super Bowl in the history of the game."

This will be the first time in 28 years that the Super Bowl will be hosted in the Bay Area. The last time was in 1985 at Stanford Stadium in Palo Alto.

Most expected Santa Clara to win the bid. It may not even be so much about what the small city of about 120,000 45 miles southeast of San Francisco has going for it - but what Florida didn't.

MORE: Bay Area Prepares to Make its Super Bowl Bid

The Sunshine State recently failed to pass a funding mechanism that would’ve provided needed improvement’s to the aging Sun Life stadium where the Dolphins play, considered a lynchpin of its bid. Multibillionaire Dolphins owner Stephen Ross said it would cost $350 million to upgrade the stadium, but he didn't want to pay for them himself.

The new, high-tech San Francisco 49ers stadium, which will top $1.2 billion when the construction is complete, is set to open in 2014. Levi Strauss, headquartered in San Francisco, recently announced a $220 million naming rights deal to brand the new arena. The stadium will be solar-powered and offer high-speed WiFi for 75,000 fans.

In addition, the Bay Area's Super Bowl committee has lined up $30 million dollars in funding pledges from Bay Area companies such as Apple, Google and Hewlett-Packard. A total of $8 million of that is earmarked for Bay Area charities.  

Also on Tuesday, the NFL also announced that Houston will host  Super Bowl LI in 2017.

The full list of who comprised the Super Bowd bid commitee:

• Nikesh Arora, CBO of Google
• Robert Mailer Anderson, Author
• Todd Bradley, EVP of Hewlett Packard
• Willie Brown, former Mayor of San Francisco
• Lloyd Dean, President & CEO of Dignity Health
• Joe D'Alessandro, President & CEO of SF Travel
• Pat Gallagher, Former President of Giants Enterprises
• John Goldman, Former President of San Francisco Symphony
• Carl Guardino, President & CEO of Silicon Valley Leadership Group
• Thomas Keller, Chef & Restaurateur
• Chris Kelly, Entrepreneur & Former Facebook Executive
• Daniel Lurie, Founder & CEO of Tipping Point Community
• Stephen Luczo, President & CEO of Seagate
• Michael O’Hara Lynch, former Head of Global Sponsorship of Visa
• Marissa Mayer, CEO of Yahoo!
• Mary Murphy, Partner at Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher
• Laurene Powell Jobs, Co-founder of Emerson Collective
• Condoleezza Rice, former U.S. Secretary of State
• Joseph Saunders, Chairman & CEO of Visa
• Charles Schwab, Founder & CEO of Charles Schwab Corporation
• George Seifert, former San Francisco 49ers Coach
• Charlotte Shultz, Chief of Protocol of San Francisco
• Jeff Ubben, Founder & CEO of ValueAct Capital
• Jim Wunderman, President & CEO of Bay Area Council
• Steve Young, former San Francisco 49ers Quarterback
• Gideon Yu, President & Co-owner of San Francisco 49ers

NBC Bay Area's Lori Preuitt, Adrian Holeyman, Marianne Favro, Joe Rosato Jr. and Bob Redell, and Bay City News contributed to this report.

On the first day of organized team activities (OTAs) for the Raiders on Monday, Matt Flynn got his first chance to perform like the team’s No. 1 quarterback.

In what’s been described as an open competition for the job, the former Packers and Seahawks backup – acquired this offseason from Seattle and anointed No. 1 at his position (for now) – looked good by all accounts.

He moved well in the pocket, threw pretty-looking passes and acted like a veteran.

“It was good,” Flynn told the media afterward. “It was a lot of fun to get out here on the field. We’ve been kind of running plays where it’s offense by themselves, but it was good to get out there and see a defense kind of give you some looks and get a little competition. ... There was definitely some rust out there, I think from everybody, myself included. But it was good to get out there and just compete a little bit and have fun playing football.”

Flynn is competing with fourth-round draft choice Tyler Wilson of Arkansas and holdover Terrelle Pryor, who was No. 3 on the depth chart last season but had a chance to start the Raiders’ final game of 2012 and demonstrated both good and bad in a loss to the Chargers.

What was apparent on Day 1 of OTAs, however, is that this quarterback competition could well be a Flynn vs. Wilson competition, with Pryor the long shot. As Steve Corkran of the Bay Area News Group noted, Pryor was much more inconsistent with his throws than Flynn or Wilson. “Pryor’s passes are still too wobbly and off the mark to be considered a legitimate contender for the starting job,” wrote Corkran.

Wilson, meanwhile, showed the strongest arm of the trio. Though he has a much steeper learning curve than Flynn, who is familiar with the West Coast offense from his days in Green Bay, Wilson is athletic and a long-shot beat to beat out Flynn.

In recent Raiders rookie minicamp, Wilson was impressive with his arm strength and accuracy.

But after Monday’s OTAs, Raiders head coach Dennis Allen was more reserved about Wilson.

“He’s looked pretty good,” Allen said of Wilson. “Obviously this is the first day that we’ve actually been out there and had a chance to go offense vs. defense. We still have a long way to go.” Added Allen: “I know he does good things. Obviously he’s a rookie. He’s got a long way to go. He’s not the finished product at all.”

Which all means, of course, that the quarterback scenario for the Raiders is probably this for the near future: Flynn is No. 1, Wilson is No. 2 and Pryor is No. 3. Flynn will no doubt be given every opportunity to win the job. There will be plenty of opportunity to see what Wilson can do this summer, but there’s no sense rushing him.

Flynn, meanwhile, knows that if he keeps looking like the No. 1 quarterback, he’ll be the No. 1 quarterback.

“There can only be one quarterback on the field,” he told reporters. “My job is to go out there and play the best that I can, compete with myself. Be better tomorrow than I was today.”

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The NFL is poised to declare on Tuesday which city will host the the 50th Super Bowl in 2016: Santa Clara or Miami.

A total of 32 owners are meeting in Boston and they are expected to announce their decision on Super Bowl L about 11 a.m. The winning bid needs 24 votes.

If the new 49ers stadium is chosen, it will be the first time in 28 years that the Big Game will have been played in the Bay Area. The last time was in 1985 at Stanford Stadium.

MORE: Bay Area Prepares to Make its Super Bowl Bid

Most expect Santa Clara to win the bid. It may not even be so much about what the Bay Area has going for it, as what Florida doesn’t.

The Sunshine State recently failed to pass a funding mechanism that would’ve provided needed improvement’s to the aging Sun Life stadium where the Dolphins play, considered a linchpin of its bid.

The new, high-tech San Francisco 49ers stadium, which will top $1.2 billion when the construction is complete, is set to open in 2014. Levi's recently announced a $220 million naming rights deal to brand the new arena, Levi's Stadium.

In addition, the Bay Area's Super Bowl committee has lined up $30 million dollars in funding pledges from Bay Area companies like Apple, Google and Hewlett-Packard. A total of $8 million of that is earmarked for Bay Area charities.  

The runner-up of Tuesday's vote gets to contend for  Super Bowl LI.

NBC Bay Area's Joe Rosato Jr. and Bob Redell contributed to this report.

Since helping the 49ers reach the Super Bowl in early February, quarterback Colin Kaepernick has shown First Lady Michelle Obama how to “Kaepernick,” has become a spokesman for Jaguar and has posed for ESPN The Magazine’s annual body issue.

To say the least, it’s been a busy offseason.

But all that activity shouldn’t cloud the fact that Kaeprnick’s primary focus since February has been on getting better. And to those who have seen him work this offseason, that doesn’t just mean honing his on-the-field skills. Apparently, his leadership skills also have taken a great leap forward as well.

Recently, former 49ers quarterback Trent Dilfer – who won a Super Bowl with the Baltimore Ravens and now works as an analyst for ESPN – said Kaepernick’s ascension to the starting quarterback role has changed the environment on the 49ers. He told Scott Kegley of 49ers.com that Kaepernick's work ethic and personality have made him an unquestioned leader on the team.

“I was just watching him this morning and the way he interacts with his teammates,” Dilfer said from the 49ers facility. “When he gets to a meeting room, a weight room or on the field, that place just got better because of his presence, and that’s what you’re looking for.”

The fact that Kaepernick will have had an entire offseason to prepare as the team’s No. 1 quarterback will have a big impact, Dilfer said.

“Colin has the opportunity to set the pace every day,” Dilfer told Kegley. “We want the thermostat leaders, a term I’ve used. Guys who step into an environment and change the environment, they don’t react to it. That’s what Colin’s done.”

Dilfer’s observations mirror those of teammates and coaches since Kaepernick became the team’s starting quarterback last November following an injury to Alex Smith. Once Kaepernick got the chance to show what he can do, the job was his.

Even as a young, second-year NFL player last season with no starting experience, Kaepernick was praised by teammates for the way he handled his responsibilities.

“He knows what to do at the right time,” center Jonathan Goodwin said before the Super Bowl. “When he needs to take control of the huddle, he’s firm, loud, demands things out of guys. And he also knows when to be silly. For a guy … in just his second year (to) control some grown men, it says a lot.”

In March, head coach Jim Harbaugh said he was excited that so many players were eager to get back to work so quickly after the Super Bowl loss. One of those was Kaepernick, who began working out, holding throwing sessions with receivers in the Bay Area and spent several weeks in Georgia refining his fitness, running and throwing skills.

Dilfer said it’s a great thing to see: a quarterback working to improve himself and his teammates.

“So much happens in the offseason with team building,” Dilfer told Kegley. “Usually that centers  around a few key figures on the team, the quarterback being one of them. I love watching quarterbacks develop, become graduate-level players with their own flavor. … Now Colin Kaepernick has his own flavor, and it’s beautiful to watch.”