SAN FRANCISCO — When Jorge Soler homered Friday night, it got one monkey off the Giants’ backs. They became the final team in the majors to go yard in their home ballpark. But there was still something Giants officials were eager to cross off the list this home stand.
In 10 games at Oracle Park entering Monday, there hadn’t been a reason to showcase the full capabilities of the fancy, schmancy new lighting system installed over the offseason. The LED bulbs and 12 spotlights had sat mostly dormant because there hadn’t been a single save situation for Camilo Doval after dark.
So, even holding a four-run lead Monday night, with Doval set to enter for the top of the ninth, the stadium went dark. A moment later, the ballpark glowed orange. The 24,138 on hand quickly turned their confusion into enthusiasm as the bullpen door swung open and Doval was illuminated by a crosshatch of spotlights.
“I knew they were going to do the light show, but I had no idea it was going to look like that,” Doval said in Spanish through interpreter Erwin Higueros. “It looked like a movie. I mean, like a Hollywood type of thing. I was like, ‘Wow!’”
The Latin-influenced beat of his new entrance music, “Bandoleros” by Don Omar, thumped over a sound system that was also overhauled this winter. The speakers that were installed when the ballpark opened in 2000 were replaced by 523 new ones and 56 additional amplifiers.
“The only thing I chose was the music,” Doval said. “I chose that song because first of all I like it; it gets me excited. And it sounds really cool on the speakers in the stadium.”
The upgrades brought Oracle Park up to the standard with the rest of the league, where flashing LED lights have grown to be increasingly commonplace during celebrations and closer’s entrances. The element unique to the Giants are the spotlights, something not present at any other ballpark.
Their first use wasn’t entirely without hiccups: The stadium lights went out right as Doval fired his last warm-up pitch in the bullpen. Impressively, bullpen catcher Alec Burg still corralled the 95-plus mph heater.
Consider the closer a bigger fan than his manager.
“If he likes it, it’s fine,” Bob Melvin said after Doval finished off the 5-2 win over the Mets. “If the fans like it, that’s what it’s all about.”
When announcing the installation, the Giants touted more uses than just an entrance for Doval. They suggested the spotlights could be featured when a Giants batter sends a home run into McCovey Cove, though their first of the year — from Patrick Bailey on Saturday — also happened during an afternoon game.
Keaton Winn, who watched from a monitor inside the clubhouse after tossing six-plus innings, had an idea of how to incorporate the starting pitchers.
“Maybe if we’re having a good game going into the ninth or something, then we can get a spotlight,” Winn said. “That was so sick. I saw it on the TV and I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, I wish I was outside for this.’ Hopefully they do that more often.”
