San Francisco

The Dodgers had four runners reach base on Friday, their second worst output of the season, trailing only the two runners against San Francisco on Apr. 2.

by W. Eric Martin • ICv2 has posted a list of the "Top ten tabletop game Kickstarters", including stats on each for the number of backers and the dollar amount per backer. Kingdom Death: Monster, for example, took in more than $370 per backer, while Reaper Miniatures' Dark Heaven: Bones took in "only" $193 per backer, but more than made up that difference by having 17,744 backers compared to KD:M's total of 5,410.On his blog, Matt Forbeck explores why those projects were able to take in what they did, and the short answer is one that people would likely be able to determine on their own: All ten games feature plastic miniatures. More specifically, says Forbeck, "It has to do with the economies of scale of plastic miniatures." In more detail:Casting metal miniatures is a labor-intensive process that involves pouring molten metal into a spin-casting machine that distributes the metal into hollow cavities cut into a vulcanized rubber mold. The molds wear out after a while, and you have to make new ones. The metal's a little pricey, but the rubber's cheap, so it’s a great way to make miniatures if you're making a few thousand or less.However, if you can sell more than that many miniatures, you should make your figures in plastic instead, as the molds for these last virtually forever and the figures only cost pennies apiece. The trouble is that the injection molds for plastic figures are cut from steel, a process that costs thousands of dollars per figure rather than dozens. A small company can't afford to make hundreds of these molds at once, at least not without a huge cash influx.And that's where Kickstarter comes in. If you can get your backers to pledge enough money to cover your steel molds, then you can give them lots of figures for their money. Better yet, if you bust through your initial funding goals, you can set stretch goals for new figures and toss them into the mix for either little cost (as low-cost add-on options) or bundle them in for free.• U.S. publisher WizKids Games is holding a six-month-long "organized play event" for its HeroClix miniatures game line Star Trek: Attack Wing titled "The Dominion War". Here's a description of the setting and why players might want to participate:In "The Dominion War", the Alpha Quadrant is in a time of struggle and chaos. The Jem'Hadar and the Breen Confederacy have established a presence for themselves in the Alpha Quadrant, and with the help of their recent allies, the Cardassian Union, they plan to conquer everything in their path. This engagement proves to be the most devastating ever fought in the Alpha Quadrant.In the Organized Play program, stores carrying Star Trek: Attack Wing will host tournaments for players to challenge each other for dominance of the Alpha Quadrant. Players will collect a participation prize each month as well as compete for a new playable ship that will be offered only via the Organized Play events. The player with the best record over the six-month event will be bestowed the title of Fleet Admiral and awarded a special grand prize at the end of the program.As noted in a May 19, 2013 BGGN post, WizKids Games plans to debut Star Trek: Attack Wing and its first eight expansion packs at Gen Con 2013 in August, holding tournaments at the time so that players can compete on fresh, unbroken ground.• Designer/publisher David Sirlin will be hosting a tournament of his own at the Fantasy Strike Expo, a convention run by his own Sirlin Games near San Francisco that will be held June 7-9, 2013. Sirlin notes that in addition to holding tournaments for Yomi, Puzzle Strike, and Flash Duel (along with the video games Street Fighter HD Remix and Puzzle Fighter HD Remix, he'll hold demo games with the beta versions of his upcoming games Pandante ("a panda-themed gambling game based on lying") and Codex: Card-Time Strategy. Says Sirlin, "I've been working on Codex off and on for over ten years now and polishing its current form for about 2.5 years. It's my (non-c

It’s a big Friday night in college baseball as the draft is now just 13 days away. With the Pittsburgh Pirates picking #9 and #14, they are getting some last looks in at the players in their range. A lot of the talk recently has centered around players that have either dropped in the rankings, like Georgia HS outfielders Clint Frazier and Austin Meadows, or we have heard about college bats that they may be looking at. Those bats for the most part are guys who were ranked lower this year, but have surpassed some of the college pitchers that have faltered recently. Some of these players mentioned below are ones to watch in the second round, possible guys that could fall and give the Pirates a strong pick at the 51st spot in the draft. Kris Bryant and San Diego, took on San Francisco today, facing off against Alex Balog. The big right-hander has been getting mention recently as a possible first round pick. Baseball America had a special article on him recently worth checking out. It was a tough outing for Balog, who gave up six runs on 11 hits and four walks in six innings. Bryant went 1-for-4, with a walk and two runs scored. The walk was intentional and the hit was a single to lead off the game. Bobby Wahl from Ole Miss never got to pitch this weekend because his team was eliminated from the SEC tournament on Thursday. Also not pitching this week is Jonathon Crawford, as his team was eliminated on Tuesday by Texas A&M. Colin Moran from North Carolina seems to be the best bat from the college ranks that could possibly fall to the Pirates. On Friday night, his team took on Clemson. North Carolina scored five runs in the ninth inning to send it to extra innings. Moran didn’t help much in the win on the offense side, going 1-for-7, with a walk and no runs scored or RBI’s. The hit was a seventh inning single. North Carolina won 12-7 in 14 innings. Stanford took on UCLA on Friday night with Mark Appel on the mound. He had a great outing, going eight innings, with one run allowed on three hits, two walks and a hit batter. He recorded nine strikeouts and threw 123 pitches. Austin Wilson went 1-for-3, with a single in Stanford’s 2-1 win. DJ Peterson from New Mexico has been linked to the Pirates recently, more times than anyone else. He took on UNLV on Friday night and went 2-for-4 in his team’s 7-1 win. He had two singles, scored a run and struck out twice. Aaron Judge went 1-for-4, with two strikeouts in his team’s 4-0 loss. Fresno State was eliminated from the Mountain West tournament with the loss. Judge had a single, run scored and walk in a 10-1 win over Nevada earlier in the day. Yesterday he hit his 12th homer of the season in a 6-4 with over Navy. Notre Dame third baseman Eric Jagielo went 2-for-3 Wednesday in the first game of the Big East tournament. He had his 18th double and drove in two runs. On Thursday, he went 1-for-4, stealing his third base of the season. Notre Dame has won both games so far and they will play again tomorrow. Ryan Eades from LSU, pitched today against Alabama and went seven innings, allowing two runs on four hits and one walk, while striking out four batters. He left with a 2-1 deficit, but LSU came back and won it late, helping Eades avoid what would have been just his second loss all season. Last night, Marco Gonzales lost to San Francisco in the WCC tournament. The lefty from Gonzaga has really slipped in the rankings since being highly rated early on and his start on Thursday didn’t help. He went seven innings, giving up six runs on 11 hits and three walks. He struck out four batters and threw 130 pitches. It could be possible that he slips to the second round, giving the Pirates a chance at a polished/athletic lefty, with four pitches. He may not project to have huge upside, but he could move quickly through the system and being a lefty helps at PNC. Draft Notes Earlier today, we posted a recap of Baseball America’s second mock draft, which can be

Boomtown

TOP ELEVEN SCORES WITH 11 MILLION MONTHLY ACTIVE USERS AS IT CELEBRATES THIRD ANNIVERSARY Award-Winning European Game Studio Nordeus Sees Constant Growth Across Multiple Platforms Belgrade, Serbia — May 23, 2013 — Online sports game Top Eleven – Be A Football Manager, developed by social game studio Nordeus, celebrates its third anniversary with 11 million monthly active users, making it the most played online sports game in the world. In the last three years, Nordeus has accomplished three major milestones with Top Eleven: · Constant Growth – Since launch, Top Eleven has reached more than 40 million registered users, and currently has more than 11 million monthly active users, maintaining a 25% retention rate in just three years. The DAU/MAU ratio is 40%, one of the top engagements in the world. · Recognized on Top Grossing App Charts Worldwide – Top Eleven is among the top grossing apps on iOS and Android, and is in the top five in more than 53 countries. · Authentic Gameplay Experience – Nordeus’ partnerships with football clubs Real Madrid, Liverpool, Arsenal, Milan and more bring fans closer to the sport with official team jerseys and logos in Top Eleven. Real Madrid’s head coach José Mourinho is the face of the popular app, and serves as an in-game coach for new players in tutorial mode. Top Eleven was developed by award-winning European game studio, Nordeus. Founded in March 2010 in Belgrade, Serbia, Top Eleven was created to fuel football fans’ passion for the world¹s most popular sport and allow them to build, improve and manage their own teams. Nordeus’ growing success has already been widely recognized in Europe: the company was named “Best Gaming Startup” at the Europas 2011 Awards, one of ETTA’s “Top 25 Hottest Tech Companies in Europe” in 2011 and as “People¹s Choice – Best Startup” at the London Web Summit 2012. “Nordeus is at the forefront of the sports game industry, and our success with Top Eleven has been tantamount to our growth and expansion,” said Branko Milutinovic, CEO, Nordeus. “Next, we will be expanding operations to Dublin, Ireland and Skopje, Macedonia, and are actively seeking new talent.” Top Eleven allows players to create and manage their own customized football teams. Professional Top Eleven managers can build up stadiums for their teams where they can compete against other players. Along with its complexity and advanced football manager features, Top Eleven offers cross-platform compatibility and a seamless gaming experience across web, Android and iOS devices. Top Eleven gives the most hardcore football fans an authentic gameplay experience. In March, the company chose Real Madrid¹s head coach, José Mourinho, to be the face of Top Eleven. Nordeus has also partnered with football clubs – Real Madrid, Liverpool, Arsenal, AC Milan, Benfica, Roma, Boca Juniors, Porto and more – also bring official in-game items to Top Eleven. Top Eleven is currently available on Facebook and for Android and iOS devices as a free download. For more information about Top Eleven visit www.topeleven.com. For more information about Nordeus visit www.nordeus.eu. About Nordeus: Nordeus is a leading and award-winning European game developer, and officially the best European gaming start up of 2011. At Nordeus, our goal is to provide a seamless gaming experience to millions of people, regardless of the devices they are using. That is why we make online games that are free and accessible to a wide range of people. Every day, our team of more than 100 people in Belgrade and San Francisco put all of their talent into making five-star games. Every day, millions of people enjoy what we have created. About Top Eleven – Be A Football Manager: Top Eleven is the most played online sports game in the world, with 1

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A Valiant, Your Local Toss Up

A Van Under a Freeway Overpass in San Francisco, California