Lively Fiesta Gigante a Hit With Fans

SAN FRANCISCO — There was a party outside SBC Park on Monday evening and it had nothing to with the return of Barry Bonds.

Lefty O’Doul Plaza played host to the first ever Fiesta Gigante, an event intended to celebrate the rich Hispanic heritage of the Giants franchise and the city of San Francisco.

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“We have a franchise here that is full of tradition in the Latin and Hispanic community,” said Giants executive vice president and chief operating officer Larry Baer after Vizquel’s appearance. “Probably no franchise in baseball has more [Latin] tradition than the Giants, and now it comes full circle with our manager, Felipe [Alou], and with all the players. Just seeing Omar dancing on the stage an hour before the game is wonderful.”

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The party didn’t end at the gates. Tambores de Colombia, a band that performed outside, performed behind home plate before the game. The Giants team got into the act, too, by wearing jerseys that replace the word “Giants” across the chest with the name “Gigantes.”

“This is the first of many years of a strong commitment to creating events for all members of the Hispanic community,” Baer said. “What we’ve found is that actually bringing the community to the ballpark brings a lot of joy and pride within the Hispanic community.”

Fiesta Gigante — sponsored in part by Bank of America, McDonald’s and Cingular — also coincided with the official launching of sfgigantes.com, the first MLB Spanish site to have a homepage design that mimics its English counterpart, sfgiants.com.

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