Fans celebrate culture, love of sports at Giants’ Filipino Heritage Night – The Mercury News

Fans celebrate culture, love of sports at Giants’ Filipino Heritage Night  The Mercury News

The Bay Area's thriving Filipino community took center stage during Filipino Heritage Night at the San Francisco Giants' Oracle Park in September. Editor’s Note: This article was written for Mosaic, an independent journalism training program for high school and college students who report and photograph stories under the guidance of professional journalists. As bats cracked at Oracle Park in San Francisco, fans wearing limited-edition jerseys celebrated their shared roots at Filipino Heritage Night sponsored by the San Francisco Giants. The event at a game in September spotlighted the Bay Area’s thriving Filipino population on one of the area’s largest athletic stages. “There’s so many of us [Filipinos], and to have the opportunity to be recognized and celebrate our heritage, it’s excellent,” said Charlotte Potente, an occupational nurse from San Jose.

For many like Potente, the night was like a reunion. Walking along the edge of the stadium, Potente constantly stopped as she ran into cousins, caught up with friends and snapped photos with the bay serving as her background. In a region separated by bridges, water and city limits, the Giants brought together Filipino baseball fans from across the Bay Area. Filipinos have a large presence in the region with Santa Clara County alone serving as home to over 100,000 Filipino Americans. But despite being one of the largest Asian