Tagged: Heritage Nights

Pac-Man fever hits AT&T Park

Yeah, I’m reusing the headline I wrote on the Giants homepage, but it’s too perfect not to. On Tuesday at AT&T Park, there was a stir the likes of which I haven’t seen the height of the Barry Bonds home run chases. Boxing champion Manny Pacquiao appeared as part of the first Filipino Heritage Night of the year, and he drew attention like a rock star wherever he went.

pacquiaobobble.jpgIn addition to a huge media contingent, from boxing magazines and Web sites to HBO to local Filipino newspapers. channels and sites, the crowd was swelled by an extra 11,000 tickets sold just for Filipino Heritage Night. That translated into a nice $50,000 check presented by the Giants to local Filipino groups.

Last year, the first Filipino Heritage Night smashed all records for tickets sold to one of these special group nights, with over 5,000 tickets purchased. The Giants even had to issue vouchers for the commemorative T-shirt because they ran out. This year, the giveaway was an extremely cool Pacquiao bobblehead, which is now a hot item on eBay. There was also a special T-shirt with Pacquiao’s nifty Nike logo in orange on sale at the ballpark. You can see Amy Gutierrez wearing the shirt in this video:

likhagroup.jpgBefore Pacquiao entered the field for the ceremonial first pitch to a HUGE ovation, there was a nice dance performance by the very colorful Likha Pilipino Folk Ensemble. Because people were rushing around in preparation for Pacquiao’s entrance, they kept walking in front of the camera, so this video is very short and features a jump-cut in the middle, but you get the idea:

Plenty more Heritage Nights and special group events are planned, including a second edition of Filipino Heritage Night, with a cool Filipino-themed Giants T-shirt, on Sept. 16.

Show your spirit

The Giants come back home Tuesday, and AT&T Park will host another Heritage Week, spread over the nine days of the homestand. Things kick off Tuesday with the second Irish Heritage Night of the year, featuring a pregame party in Lot D and a special Irish-themed cap for those who purchase the special ticket package.

renel_bobble.gifWednesday is Italian Heritage Night, with the special ticket garnering fans a Giants “beanie” (ski cap, or tuque to our Canadian friends) that has the SF logo in the Italian colors of red, white and green. On Orange Friday, it’s African-American Heritage Night, featuring a neat talking bobblehead of Renel Brooks-Moon, the AT&T Park public-address announcer. Renel has made plenty of history in her nine years behind the mike, becoming the first woman to announce a World Series Game and an All-Star Game.

luau.jpgEach night will include pregame and in-game heritage-themed entertainment, which is always pretty cool to see. The Giants find some very talented groups to show off their culture’s music and dance, like the dancers shown at right who performed last homestand as part of Luau Night, celebrating Polynesian culture.

Speaking of Luau Night, here are a couple more photos from the event:

luau_party.jpg

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Three more Heritage Nights are slated for the second half of the homestand — more on those later.

Luck of the Irish

Tonight’s the first of two Irish Nights at AT&T Park, and fans with special tickets will receive Irish-themed Giants T-shirts and sit in the Irish Night section.

Even without the special ticket, fans in attendance will get to enjoy Irish-themed pregame and in-game entertainment. There will be another Irish Night, this one with a commemorative cap for those who purchase special tickets, on Aug. 19, kicking off another Heritage Week.

The first 20,000 fans in attendance tonight will receive the third in the “Gamer” poster series, this one featuring Tim Lincecum.

lincecum.jpgFor Tuesday’s game, by the way, there’s another ticketing promotion: Courtesy of Giants broadcasting partner NBC11, view reserved and bleacher seats are only $11. Enter code NBC when purchasing tickets.

I just noticed a new promotion on the schedule for Wednesday: Planet Green Presents: Get Your Green On! Fans who wear green to the game will have a chance to win prizes, and the first 1,000 fans who show proof they took public transit to the game get a reusable fabric grocery bag.

League of nations

Monday kicks off Asian Heritage Week at AT&T Park, with four nights devoted to celebrating different Asian cultures. Fans who buy special tickets sit in the heritage night seating section and receive a special Giants-themed gift available only to those with the special tickets.

Monday: Chinese Heritage Night (cap)
Tuesday: Korean Heritage Night (T-shirt)
Wednesday: Filipino Heritage Night (T-shirt)
Friday: Japanese Heritage Night (Masanori Murakami bobblehead, in honor of the former Giants pitcher who was the first Japanese player in the Major Leagues)

asianweek.jpgEven if you don’t have tickets for the special seating section or commemorative gift, each night will include pregame and in-game cultural entertainment. Check out a couple of videos, one from last Friday’s Mexican Heritage Night, featuring the Xiuhcoatl Aztec Dancers, and one of a lion dance troupe from last year’s Chinese Heritage Night.