May the Fourth Be with You

Miller Park's roof closing before the
game - no rain, just chilly!  5/4/19 (dwm)

Major League Baseball teams know promotions.  That's why Star Wars Night at the ballpark has become an annual event at nearly all stadiums at the major and minor league level.

Jedi knights, droids, and storm-troopers invade the galaxy of the stadium.  There are lots of Princess Leias and Reys in the crowd.

It usually follows that players on the home team take the identity of one of movie's characters (see Braun Solo below left).

Look for team merchandise with Galactic ties like t-shirts and bobble-heads.  By purchasing theme night tickets our admission included a bobble-head.  This marked a personal trilogy of Star Wars nights for us as our collection includes Jedi Keon, Braun Solo, and the latest - Orlando Calrissian (below right).

No Home run in our
game - Bernie slides
before the game. (dwm)

Yippee!

I've enjoyed the Star Wars franchise since I was 13 and the first movie came out (it started with Episode IV).

The cross-promotion works for me and a whole bunch of serious and casual fans.  Toss in a better performing Milwaukee Brewer team and more than 39,000 were in the seats - the Star Wars Theme ticket was at an extra charge, my guess is 10 - 15,000 were part of that party.

Each Brewer player had a special
name for this game. 5/4/19 dwm

Last season, Star Wars night at Miller Park was May 13 because the team was on the road on 5/4.

If you don't see the significance, that's OK - it is fairly recent that May the force be with you and May the 4 became linked.

My latest Brewer/Star Wars Bobblehead.
5/4/19 at Miller Park (dwm)

 That's a match.

The game was a three-part production as well.  There were three Racing Sausage races and two 7th inning stretches because the New York Mets (the Empire) tied the game in the 9th and the two teams battled 8 more innings before it was over.

The Sausages run in the middle of the sixth inning.  Raced again in the middle of the 12th (below) and once more time before the bottom of the 18th inning.

Last August, we were in the stands for a game against Pittsburgh.  The Pirates tied it up late in the game.  The Brewers won in the bottom of the 14th.

However, that night my wife headed to the ground level in the top of the 9th when the win appeared in hand.  I stayed in my seat until the 11th when I joined her.  We heard the winning run score on the radio when we reached Madison!

The Sausages raced
three times - Polish (leader)
won the first two. The
Hot Dog took the 3rd.
5/4/2019 dwm photo

We didn't split up this time.  Milwaukee seemed in position to win in the 11th, 12th, and 13th - but failed to push the run across.

I think it was in the bottom of the 12th I promised we would leave by 11 if the game wasn't over.  The way things were going - I fully expected the Brewers to get a win well before then.

When Milwaukee failed to score in the bottom of the 16th - it was time to leave and we headed to the car.

By the 17th, each team was down to its last pitcher and no bench players were left.

We were 40 minutes down the road when New York took the lead.  There was one out and the bases loaded for Ryan Braun when he hit it to right field to score the tying and winning runs!

We celebrated in the McDonald's drive-thru.  Go Brewers!