Troyan, 36, is a legal researcher and actor in Chicago who wears the full costumes of a stormtrooper or biker scout (from "Return of the Jedi") at games across the Midwest: the Cubs and White Sox, Kane County, the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers, Arena Football's Chicago Slaughter and minor league hockey's Chicago Express. "It's not every game that the nerd culture has its in to a baseball game, you know," he said. Baseball games are family entertainment, and so is "Star Wars." The movies cut across all demographics. He says the team may have been the first to produce its own mini "Star Wars" movies to show between innings. The team has held one every season except one since. Mark Beskid, senior graphic designer for the Lake Elsinore Storm - a confessed "Star Wars" nerd - says he was part of the brainstorming that sparked the Storm to hold its first promotion in 2005. Some simply see the success other teams have had with the nights and launch their own. "This year alone, we have approximately 15 games in the works across multiple sports," she says.īut not all teams work with LucasFilm.
Lynda Benoit, of LucasFilm Ltd., which owns the rights to the movies, says teams have been hosting them for years in a variety of sports. No one seems to be quite sure who had the idea for the first "Star Wars" night. It's a hit with us, so why not give it two dates?" "If, by chance, mom and dad are vacationing with the kids and they're huge 'Star Wars' fans and they can't make the first one, hopefully they can make the second one. Friday’s will be "Episode III," with "Episode IV" on Sept. "Going into this year, we figured we’d open it up twice," says Shawn Touney, public relations director for Kane County, who says the Cougars had "Star Wars" nights in 20. The Omaha Storm Chasers and Toledo Mud Hens also host theirs Friday. The Kane County Cougars on Friday will hold the first of two "Star Wars" nights in 2012. This season, the Mets and Detroit Tigers will host events, and 13 major league teams in 2011 had "Star Wars" nights as part of the Stand Up To Cancer ("Use the Force for good") campaign. In the minor leagues, where teams look for every angle to connect with fans and get people into their parks, "Star Wars" nights are among the most popular annual promotions. The first "Star Wars" nights are scheduled for Friday, May 4, on what just happens to be Star Wars Day - so designated because the date plays off the saga’s most famous line: "May the Force be with you." This season, on the 35th anniversary of the release of the first movie, "Star Wars" nights across baseball will be as plentiful as the moons of Yavin (it's an obscure reference, but trust us).įrom the Lake Elsinore Storm to the Hickory Crawdads, the South Bend Silver Hawks to the Colorado Springs Sky Sox and the Schaumburg Boomers to the Cedar Rapids Kernels, games will feature Darth Vader throwing out the first pitch, stormtroopers marching down the aisles and fans and players in "talk like Yoda" or "roar like a Wookie" contests. "It just really connects with people on a very human level."
"It does seem to be a juxtaposition in one sense, but in another it’s a completely relatable narrative," Dickey says of the "Star Wars" saga. Though he never anticipated his two passions would ever intersect, he understands why they have and why fans flock to "Star Wars" nights.
"Instead of a Bison on the front, it was an AT-AT Walker, and it's got horns on it like bison horns," he says. His favorite minor league jersey - the only one he's saved - is a specially designed Buffalo Bisons "Star Wars" jersey from 2010 that he never had the chance to wear in a game because he was called up to the Mets.
So imagine his happiness when minor and major league teams decided to start mixing his two passions in recent years by staging "Star Wars" theme nights.ĭickey, a 10-year major leaguer who started his pro career in 1996, says he's participated in five or six of the "Star Wars" nights and that he is looking forward to taking part in the Mets’ night July 23 by helping create and act in some skits. Yet Dickey, an erudite former English major and Academic All-American at Tennessee, stands proudly at the intersection of jock and nerd, able to deftly relate to the Jedi mindset while explaining his efforts to master the knuckleball.
Dickey named his first dog Luke Skywalker, owns an authentic Darth Vader suit and says he’s watched "Star Wars: A New Hope" no fewer than 75 times.Īs a professional ballplayer, he hardly seems like the stereotypical hard-core "Star Wars" fan. Nerds, jocks converge at 'Star Wars' nights
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