Students showed out Wednesday night for the return of Stanford Night at Oracle Park. For the first time since 2019, the San Francisco Giants hosted a dedicated night for the Stanford community and the representatives did not disappoint. In a largely uneventful 3-0 Giants win over the Los Angeles Dodgers, Stanford brought a unique energy to the stadium.
Stanford football General Manager Andrew Luck threw the inaugural first pitch. The Stanford women’s soccer team was acknowledged for their stellar performance in the ACC last year and announced “play ball” to the stadium. Then, the students got their time to shine.
“My friend has gone to seven or eight games and has never been on the Jumbotron,” junior Mikul Rai said. The dorm group Rai and his friend came with was featured three times on the big screen that night.
This was Rai’s first time at a professional sporting event.
“I was really fascinated seeing the entire field and the way the game was going,” he said.
He had to ask his friend which team to root for and what a strike was, and looked to his friends to know when to cheer. When it came to the Jumbotron, his friend had some advice.
“He taught me one rule that you never look for the camera – you just get excited because you will miss the moment,” Rai said.
That excitement and cheering, plus the group wearing their matching Giants Stanford Night hats, is what drew the camera to them.
Junior Angelina Schapiro’s night was not filled with Jumbotron features, but father-daughter time with her dad.
“I haven’t seen my dad in a while,” Schapiro said. “We bond over baseball.”
Schapiro was sporting a Giants sweatshirt and met up with her dad, who wore a Dodgers blue hat.
“I let him choose his team,” she said when asked about the rivalry, and acknowledged that she was looking forward to seeing the Dodgers’ starting pitcher. “I’m excited to see [Shohei] Ohtani pitch because I’m a fan of Ohtani… just Ohtani.”
A Bay Area native herself, Schapiro felt like the game created the perfect atmosphere to celebrate California: “The combination of Dodgers and Giants — our biggest California rivals — then throwing in Stanford… It’s exciting.”
For Rai, Stanford palpably elevated the atmosphere at the game.
“I think Stanford brought the main energy up. Without Stanford, the energy would be missing. We were the energy.”