tardes and welcome to "comunidad del valle." i'm damian trujillo, and today, the spanish voice of the san francisco giants is here in our studio. plus, el grupo folklórico de san jose state on your "comunidad del valle." male announcer: nbc bay area presents "comunidad del valle" with damian trujillo. damian: we begin today with that spanish voice of your san francisco giants. erwin higueros joins me here on this show. an old compatriot, [speaking in foreign language] in telemundo a long, long time ago. erwin higueros: man, that was many moons ago. but we look the same, though. that's always good. damian: no, see, that's why i keep the hair short. it keeps the canas away. tell us what that experience has been like. i mean, for the past 3 years, or i mean, 3 times in 6 years or 5 year, what was that like, that whole run through? [speaking in foreign language]

i don't think anybody expected that the giants had a powerhouse, and that you would be announcing three world champions. erwin: well, it's something that it's hard to explain because, you know, you dream about it, right? i mean, you read that the giants moved here in '58, that they won since '54, it's been 36 years. damian: [speaking in foreign language] erwin: exactly, and i remember i was there in '02. and you know, i waited for my engineer to tell me, "okay, now you can go downstairs and do the interviews after the celebration." that never happened. and then you get mentally ready for it, that when it happens, it happens against all odds because the giants were not the favorites. damian: right, i mean, and this is a tv broadcast. i mean, we don't do too many spanish language tv broadcasts. this is you and obviously gabriel sotelo from telemundo 48. talk about that tv experience because it's different from--well, tell us what you've done as a spanish language broadcaster for the giants. erwin: well, i started my baseball career with the oakland a's from '88 to '97.

and then in '98 to now, i moved to the giants. and it has been a very good ride because in between, i have done football for both teams, the raiders, the 49ers. i evenid hockey for the sharks. so, i've been all over the place, but, you know, working tv with gabriel, as i was telling you, it's been unbelievable. it was great because it seemed like he and i have been working tv for the longest. and as you know, you know, you have to know everybody's little kinks here and there, but it's different. i mean, working radio is one thing, but working tv, you have people talking to you on your ear every second. so, in order to maintain your concentration and remember that, okay, that's fine, just listen to what you need to listen to and do the game. damian: but radio i would imagine is harder because we can't see what you're saying. you have to visualize the game for us. it's got to be a little-- with your experience [speaking in foreign language]

erwin: well, it is at the beginning. but like i always tell people when they ask me what i do, i do the easy stuff because i'm telling people what i see. it's my game analyst that has the hardest part. but then, you know, it's tito fuentes. he played the game, so with him, he says, "no, i have the easy part. you have the hard part." but it's just painting the picture, just make sure that if it's a fly ball to center, call it like it is. you know, if the center fielder, in this case angel pagan, moves to the left or the right, just say what you see. and then get excited when you need to get excited because i'm those announcers that i don't get excited for a foul ball, but there's other ones that do, right? i don't get excited for a slow grounder to the pitcher unless there is a reason for me to get excited. damian: right, now, when i do stories for telemundo, it's sometimes a little difficult for me to think of translating a word. for instance, how do you say bunt in español? erwin: toque. damian: toque? erwin: yeah, because you're touching it.

damian: and how do you say balk? erwin: there's no translation for that. i just use balk and then, if there's people that don't know what that means, i kind of explain that, you know, that you're deceiving the runner, you can't do that in baseball, especially at first base now that the rule changed, where now--before, you used to do that fake throw to third to, you know, trying to catch the guy at first. you can't do that anymore because now it's a balk. now, you have to actually throw to third base. damian: you have to explain that. erwin: because, you know, i don't want to assume that our audience is baseball savvy. you know, i want to assume that there is always somebody listening for the first time. so, i want to take the time and kind of explain certain things that normally don't happen that often. damian: what was your highlight? which one of the three do you think feels a lot better to you? erwin: the first one. the first one i think it was great because being the first one since the giants moved to san francisco, and you know, being next to tito. i mean, when tito saw that last out and the giants won in texas,

i mean, he just took a deep breath, i could see tears coming out of his eyes. and he looked at me and he goes, "i can't believe that i just did as a broadcaster what i couldn't do as a player, which was win a world series." damian: a lot of--i know a lot of kids, teenagers, young adults, old guys like me who would love to be a broadcaster for major league baseball. what does it take? erwin: well, it takes dedication. i mean, of course you want to--at a young age, it's hard for me to say you need to identify what you want to do in life, but kind of get an idea what you like, right? i mean, i was never good at math. i didn't like to read. i didn't--so, obviously being an engineer was out of the question, right, being a lawyer was out of the question. i love to talk. but then go figure, now that i'm working in radio, i have to do a lot of reading, right? because i have to get ready. but i guess it's just dedicate yourself to what you want to do. if you want to be a baseball broadcaster, listen to everybody. you know, it's okay to steal here and there because i did it. you know, i stole from different announcers until i felt comfortable enough to develop my own style.

damian: use your own style. i want to talk about that in our next segment, but again, it's the spanish voice of the giants. where can they see or listen to these broadcasts, erwin? erwin: we're on espn deportes, which is 860 on the am dial. we've been there for--since 2012. damian: all right, we'll be back with erwin higueros, the spanish voice of your san francisco giants. stay with us. [music]

san francisco giants, erwin higueros. now, a lot of us think, because we just turn on the radio and there you are, a lot of us think that you just sit on your seat, you turn on the microphone, [speaking in foreign language] but you've mentioned preparation, it takes a lot of preparation. you've got to know who the pitcher is, who the batters are, [speaking in foreign language] erwin: exactly, exactly. i mean, i usually make it a rule of thumb to be there 3 hours before first pitch. that gives me time to get into the booth, you know, get myself

situated with my scoreboard, my different color pens because i'm very meticulous when it comes to that. you know, strikeouts, i use a red pen, walks a green pen, so that way if i'm talking about a certain pitcher, you know, they stand out on your scorecard and you can just count them really quick. it gives me time for me to go down on the field and talk to the players, kind of ask them how they're doing, wait for the visiting team to take batting practice, talk to them. and then come up and then read some of the notes. preparation, you do it every day because, you know, with the technology nowadays, you don't need to go out and buy 1,000 newspapers. everything is right there on the internet. you can just get information that you need. damian: does tito write his own notes tambien, or he leaves that up to you? the red and blue-- erwin: no, no, he does the same stuff. he keeps his own score book. he has a unique way-- everybody has a different way of keeping score. he does the same thing. he gets ready, he's learning how to use the computer too because, you know, you got to--71 years old, you know, i'm still

learning how to use the computer. damian: now, what's the camaraderie between you and tito, and then the english language guys, kruk, and kuip, and flem, and jon miller? erwin: well, i mean, those guys are great guys. i mean, dave flemming, who's the younger of all of us, it's great, you know, he does different sports and we get along very well. jon miller, the hall of famer, the same way. i mean, we have two former players. you know, krukow, who was a pitcher, duane kuiper, who was a second baseman. so, they're like resourceful. they're right there if i have a question about something, i can always go and talk to them and ask them about, you know, pitching, fielding. even though i have a second-baseman with me, but you know, two second basemans have a different way of looking at things, so i want to get two different perspectives. damian: talk about, because you're a part of this, the commitment by the san francisco giants toward the latino community. erwin: it's a 100% commitment. i mean, i'm there, i try to get around to the schools to talk to the young kids too.

damian: because you're in charge of the marketing of the-- erwin: well, not necessarily in charge, but i work with sponsorship. i kind of pick up the phone, i reach out to different sponsors or companies that i think that can benefit from joining the giants, and we joining them, and try to get appointments so that our account executives can go and seal the deal, right? but when it comes to the community, that's where i really take a lot of pride because i want to talk to the kids. i want them to not take any shortcuts. i want them to take advantage of the fact that there is teachers out there that care about them, that not to look at themselves like, "oh my god, i'm a latino, i can't do anything." you know, no, no, you're a latino, you should be able to do everything you want. there is places, there is people that want to take care of you, and just, you know, kind of make sure that they listen so they stay out of trouble. damian: the giants have been committed to getting their latino players. i mean, that locker room sometimes is 80% latino or whatnot. what's that like in that clubhouse when you're hearing

all the chatter from different dialects, [speaking in foreign language] than the colombians do and the venezuelans do? erwin: well, basically what it is is the slang, that it's kind of hard for someone that is not used to it to kind of recognize what they're talking about. but it's great. i mean, we as latinos, you know, we make a joke about everything. you know, you trip out of the stage, we'll laugh first before we go and see are you okay, right? five seconds, you don't get up, okay now there's something wrong with damian, right? and that's how it is, and they all stick together because that's us. damian: and you learn new words. when i was working at telemundo, a man from venezuela, he used the word [speaking in foreign language] i learned the word "pana." and pana means good friend in venezuela. erwin: exactly, yeah. you know, in mexico, it's camarada, you know, the same thing. but you associate it, and the guys are really good because, you know, i came from guatemala when i was 12. i still remember the culture, i know a lot of things, but there are certain words that i'm not too familiar with.

and i ask them what that means, you know, and they tell you. damian: can you deliver a message? can we get greinke and céspedes on the team for next year? can you deliver that message for me? what do you see? what's your crystal ball tell you about the 2016 season? erwin: my crystal ball tells me that the giants are going to try their hardest to get one of those big fishes that are out there. you mentioned greinke, i'm sure that the giants are trying to get him. the question is, does greinke want to stay in la, keep playing with the dodgers? does he want more money? does he want to be, you know, set for the rest of his life? that's a question that it's hard to answer because, you know, with the agents and everything, you know, they have a different agenda. i would love to have céspedes. you know, why not? i want a power hitter. we haven't had one since barry bonds retired, right? so, it's hard to replace him.

nobody's going to replace number 25, but at least you can try. but i know the giants are going to do something. damian: real quickly before we wrap it up, yasiel puig, is there a culture shock do you think? because it seems to not be clicking for him in los angeles. is it a culture shock, or is this just-- erwin: i think it's just his personality. i don't think it's a culture shock. at one point, you can use him having all this money at his disposal, but he's been in the states for i want to say 5 years. you know, and i think it's just his personality, where he just thinks that a lot of things don't apply to him, you know. damian: well, you know what? we'll take him too. we'll put céspedes in center, and put puig in left, and then let it roll. erwin, if you'd like to listen to [speaking in foreign language] erwin, was it 860 am you said? erwin: exactly. damian: ¿algo más? any final thoughts, erwin, before we let you go? erwin: i just want to thank you for inviting me. i mean, it was a long time, and i'm glad that i finally made it. damian: thank you very much. erwin higueros, the spanish voice of your san francisco giants; go giants. and up next here on "comunidad del valle,"

danzantes folklórico de san jose state. stay with us. who coined the term "side bread?" because there's nothing "side" about this bread. it may look like the moon. but it's the star of the show. unleash the power of dough. give it a pop. that sound. like nails on a chalkboard. but listen to this: (family talking) that's a different kind of sound. the sound of the weekend.

unleash the power of dough. give it a pop.

it's a folklórico dance group called luna y sol. with me on "comunidad del valle" are itza sánchez and rafael sario. welcome to the show. now, what's that like? we do have video that you all provided us of your-- this is a rehearsal practice. describe what's going on here. itza sanchez: so, this is a standard rehearsal that we have, which is what we teach to the students. and just working on some basic zapateado technique. in this case, we were getting ready for a performance at a local school. so, this is a standard rehearsal and what it looks like. damian: now, i saw about 20 minutes' worth of this. rafael, itza is hard. she's tough on the dancers. rafael sario: yes, and something interesting about itza is that she lets us know from the very first day that she's going to push us hard. and so, we're expecting that we're going to performances, so it's kind of, to be honest, kind of a disappointment when she's not hard because we're expecting a challenge. and that's what this is about. it's about forging us into dancers and students, teaching

us how to promote our culture. and it's difficult, but it's really, really beautiful if you stick with it. at the end of the day, as you saw in the video, it's a really beautiful dance, and we learn a lot at the rehearsals. they are pretty long and itza is tough on us, but we enjoy it, and i'm sure she enjoys teaching us as well. damian: talk about that passion, itza, that you have. itza: sure, i think i found folklórico as a young student. and being latina here in the bay area, it was a way for me to maintain my culture and maintain my language. so, i knew the power of [speaking in foreign language] early on. and so, when i came to san jose state and there was no folklórico group, when i found some other students that wanted to create it, i jumped onboard and i was like, "yes, let's do this, and i want to teach it." damian: so you danced with who before? and then-- itza: so actually, i danced many, many years, almost 15 years, i lost count, with the ballet folklórico of carlos moreno based out of oakland. and then i went on to study with amalia hernandez, and have really dedicated my life to dance. it's like my side hobby, but has turned really into a life pursuit with my working with the students now at san jose state.

damian: those are incredible credentials that you have there. what's it like to learn from itza, who's obviously at the top of her game right now? rafael: so, when i came in, i came in with absolutely no folklórico experience. so i think it's--for me, it's really lucky to have someone with so much experience teach me from day one. like me, there's been a lot of members who've come in with absolutely no experience, and we've learned everything we know about folklórico from itza. and there's been members that come with some experience, and some with a lot of years of experience. and so it's interesting to see how those that have experience, how they have to adapt to a new instructor. and for those of us that have no experience, it's a little easier. but i think we all appreciate her work because she's really knowledgeable about the topic. she makes sure that we don't only dance the dance, but we know about it. so, every 2 weeks, we have a lecture where she teaches us about a certain dance, how it was developed, why it's the way it does, why the steps are done the way it is. so, she makes sure that when we dance, it's not--when we get on

stage, we know the steps to the dance, but we also know the history behind it. so when people offstage ask us, "jalisco, what's it about?" we know about the region, we know about the dances, and we know about the tradition. it's not just the dance, but the whole people and the culture in itself. damian: i mean, is this a class or is this a group? itza: no, actually it's a student organization, which is even more profound because it's basically students that just came together like a club, right? now, obviously the life dream would be a more institutionalized program within the university, similar to how the marching band is facilitated, but that will come with time. the group is still relatively young. we're about 13 years young now, but we're really big. we're 70 students. we started with only 10, and now 70 strong, and we have to separate obviously the-- damian: the skill-sets? itza: yes, absolutely. so, you have students that have never danced before ever, and then some that come with experience, so how do you make the class and the instruction relevant to each side so that the beginners aren't feeling overwhelmed being in a fast-paced classroom?

and then the more advanced dancers, they don't get bored having to learn a zapateado again, so making sure that the classes are tailored. separating the class based on ability has been really fundamental in terms of our ability to continue progressing the group forward. damian: and you're a student there tambien? itza: no, i graduated in 2004 with cultural anthropology was my background, so it kind of--i found cultural anthropology because of the dance background and the folklorista in me, so. damian: rafael, do you oftentimes maybe in geography class, are you doing some of this? rafael: oh yes, all the time. in class, i do it all the time. and i can tell some of the students next to me kind of looking down and getting annoyed, what am i doing? but yeah, i do it constantly. and i don't know, once you start doing it, you can't stop. sometimes-- [speaking foreign language] and i'm doing the steps, and so it's something that sticks with you. it's like if you're doing a sport, you're constantly thinking about it. likewise for the folklórico, you're constantly doing the steps, trying to practice it and perfect it. but yeah, it sticks with you. damian: my two girls, malina and isela, ages 9 and 7, they'll

wake up at 6 a.m., they're doing that. "mija, really, at this time?" but i guess when it's in you, it's in you. itza: it is, it is. damian: the color sequence that you've chosen is pretty awesome. it's the color sequence of the spartans. talk about that and then how that came about. itza: so, actually it was really important for us. when we started the group to be part of san jose state, it wasn't just about let's be a folklórico group because, let's be honest, in the bay area, there are so many groups. we needed to be different. and what sets us apart is that we're a collegiate group. these are engineering students, these are business students. they're studying to be scientists and doctors. so, we wanted to make sure that we were spartans and we were folklórico spartans. so, we selected a color scheme for our jalisco costumes that were in the blue and gold to represent our school, that they are part of san jose state, and that they can be proud of that. and so, when they perform, we didn't realize how impactful it would be because not only when we perform for students, like at elementary schools and junior high, that, "oh, it's folklórico, how fun and how nice.

it's a cultural experience," but these are collegiate performers. and so, you're promoting this college-going culture within younger people. and they're latinos in college and what that looks like. so, "i can be that and i can do that," was one of the most profound things that we explored. and it's also provided us opportunities as well. so, i don't want to say it's because of the colors, but it did help that we're actually going to have the opportunity to perform for a golden state warrior game coming up in 2016. so, it's going to be great, and a great experience for the students because the colors obviously match the warriors colors. and the excitement right now, i mean, to be a part of a performance with the championship team, tens of thousands of fans. i mean, those are the experiences that we build for our students, and why they continue to keep coming back. damian: see, this is all planned. you planned this well, 15 years ago, how long did you say? there is their information. you can go to them on facebook or call that number for more information. and rafael, did you--you now have a left foot and a right foot?

because i still have two left feet, but does this help you kind of get your right foot situated? rafael: in a way, it does. you kind of struggle with the weaker foot sometimes. but i mean, with practice, it gets better. it's getting a lot better from when i first started. i was horrible. now it's getting better, but you know, you struggle from time to time. damian: all right, any final thoughts? itza: just you know, to continue our students and supporting our students. and this is a great experience. it builds community on campus, and that's what we're about is building a latiomnity at san jose state, so i'm proud of it. damian: i can tell you're getting great support from the administration there, so that's good to know. we'll be back and actually watch them perform in front of some kids when we continue here on "comunidad del valle." stay with us.

in your comunidad on que pasa. [music]

[music] damian: and our saludos to those celebrating a special day. felicidades. [music] damian: and here's our address for next week's saludos. you can follow me on twitter. my handle is @newsdamian, and you can also pick up a copy of el observador newspaper, and support your bilingual weeklies all across the bay area. we thank you once again for sharing a part of your sunday with us on "comunidad del valle." we're going to leave you now with a taste, some kind of a behind the scenes video of grupo folklórico luna y sol at san jose state university. [speaking in foreign language] [music]

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welcome to the honda nbc sports desk. >> hi again, everyone. jimmy roberts here. coming up in a few moments, swimming, the at&t winter national championships from washington state. both michael phelps and mis franklin in action. we're exactly eight months away from the start of the swimming competition in rio. on a busy sports weekend, we begin with the hottest team in any sport, the nba's golden state warriors. they've yet to lose this season. 20-0 entering last night's game with the toronto raptors. close game throughout. pick it up in the third quarter. some good ball rotation ther