San Jose Giants honor ‘patron saint’ of players on 52-year career

Many big names spent time with the San Jose Giants before making it to the big leagues, and you can be sure they knew the name Linda Pereira.

The woman known as the patron saint of players was honored by the Excite Ballpark team last Sunday as she retired after 52 years of service. The pregame ceremony included a video featuring well-wishes from dozens of people, including former San Jose Giants manager Lenn Sakata, San Francisco Giants pitcher Shawn Estes — who noted she always sent him a birthday card every February – and broadcasters Duane Kuiper and Mike Krukow.

Pereira was the face of the team to many season ticket holders and was also the team’s director of player personnel, running the host family program, where she recruited South Bay families to host players during the season. The program ended after COVID-19 when Major League Baseball began offering accommodations to minor league players.

Mark Wilson, who worked with Pereira as the team’s general manager for 38 years, said the front office’s response to most players’ concerns was “See Linda.”

“Few organizations have a single person responsible for the players and all their needs,” he said. “So if a player comes to town and needs a hotel room, ‘See Linda’; a player’s family comes to town, “Seeing Linda”; A player’s girlfriend was coming to town, “See Linda.” And Linda always said, “Keep wives and girlfriends separate.” » »

Wilson spoke with Roberta Mazur, executive director of Professional Baseball’s Scout of the Year program and longtime friend of Pereira, and current general manager Ben Taylor, who presented Pereira with a jersey emblazoned with “52.” in the back and revealed the Linda Pereira. Scout bench. He said the bench, a few rows below the press box behind home plate, “welcomes the scouts, players and all staff, just as Linda so graciously did here for 52 years.”

This hospitality is a family affair. Pereira’s father was Manny Pereira, owner of the popular Manny’s Cellar bar in downtown San Jose and who also worked the Heineken booth for many years at San Jose Giants games.

Pereira – who over the years has received the nicknames “LP,” “Muffin” (from Dusty Baker) and, most recently, “Miss Linda” from younger employees – said she was grateful to everyone who came to the stadium to celebrate it. That day. Last month, she was at Oracle Park to celebrate longtime San Francisco Giants clubhouse manager Mike Murphy, who was added to the team’s Wall of Fame for his 65 years of service.

“The highlight of the weekend for me was Mike Murphy coming up to me and saying, ‘Muffin, you’re the Mike Murphy of San Jose,'” she said. “The best compliment of my life.”

DINNER AT LOS GATOS: I was recently able to cross Dio Deka in Los Gatos off my “I haven’t been there since the pandemic” list and had the opportunity to chat a little with Managing Partner Yanni Dulles and Executive Chef Nikos Moulinos. Dulles says business at the popular Greek restaurant has been steadily improving since COVID-19 shut everything down in 2020, and he expects a good fall season as cooler weather makes Dio’s indoor dining Deka at the Los Gatos hotel more attractive.

Another thing I learned during my visit – besides the fact that my addiction to homemade pita hasn’t diminished – is that even though Dio Deka isn’t open for lunch for years, its kitchen is rather busy during the day. That’s because it supports Café Dio, their sister business across the street at 151 E. Main St., which serves deep-dish pizzas, sandwiches and salads as well as coffee and pastries .

SEE SCORSESE: Pruneyard Cinemas is pulling out all the stops with a five-week celebration of legendary director Martin Scorsese that kicked off Friday evening with a screening of his 1995 hit “Casino” and a “Casino Night” pre-party at the adjacent Cedar Room Lounge. More Scorsese films will follow over the next four Tuesdays: “Raging Bull” (September 19), “The Last Waltz” (September 26), “GoodFellas” (October 3) and “The Departed” (October 10). . “Casino” will also be screened again on September 18 as part of Pruneyard’s Culinary Cinema series, although that screening was almost sold out.

This is all in anticipation of Scorsese’s new film, “Killers of the Flower Moon,” due out Oct. 20, but Pruneyard Cinemas co-owner Jack NyBlom says it’s also an opportunity to premiere 4K versions recently remastered from the 80 year old film. -old directors’ films on the big screen for Bay Area audiences.

“It looks like we’re going to show the NorCal premieres of at least ‘Raging Bull’ and ‘The Last Waltz,'” NyBlom said. You can get the full schedule and tickets at www.pruneyardcinemas.com/specialevents.

ADVANTAGE OF AGRICULTURAL WORKERS: Earth to Table, a Gilroy-based nonprofit, is holding its first benefit concert at the Guild Theater in Menlo Park on Tuesday to raise money for farmworkers who continue to face hardship in the wake of the mass shooting of January in Half Moon Bay and severe weather events across the state.

The 7 p.m. concert will feature performances by MALO, the Juan Escovedo All-Stars, Bernal Beat, the Just Project and All Nighter with Ricky Watters Jr., as well as remarks from civil rights icon Dolores Huerta; Belinda Hernandez Arriaga, founder and executive director of Ayudando Latinos a Soñar; and “A Song for Caesar” filmmaker Abel Sanchez.

Earth to Table was founded by Brent Turner and Janet Lloyd-Davis to support and empower the farmworker community. Tickets are available at www.guildtheatre.com.