May The 4th Be With You: Fans Celebrate Star Wars Day At Target Field
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- Star Wars fans didn't have to venture to a galaxy far, far away on Monday night.
The Twins welcomed fans of the classic Star Wars movies to Target Field for Star Wars Day, May 4 -- as in, "May the Fourth be with you." Fans dressed up as Luke Skywalker, Princess Leia, Darth Vader and many more.
As the father-daughter bounty hunter team of Gary and Paige Lolling put it, their inner baseball geek joined forces with their Star Wars geek at Target Field.
"We are dressed as Mandalorian bounty hunters," Gary said. "It's a lot of fun, but it's warm. It's perfect out here with the breeze but it's warm."
Former WCCO employee Peter Nelson, who now works for the Twins, made sure he had all his bases covered. He was wearing clothing from the original Star Wars trilogy.
For Peter, Monday night was Christmas and his birthday rolled into one.
"This is the big one. You mix the two together and I can't think of anything better than Star Wars and the Twins," Nelson said. "It's a big night."
It was a big night for 2,500 lucky fans who were part of a special giveaway.
It just so happened that the galaxies aligned for Phil Hughes to be the starting pitcher on "Hughes the Force" bobble head night.
Four fans who best represented the Force and the Twins even got an autographed Phil Hughes baseball.
The Force has been strong with the Twins lately. On Monday night it was strong with all seven of the Kortum family members too. They drove all the way from a galaxy called Northfield to celebrate their favorite players and their favorite characters.
"We were down at Universal Studios and our daughter fell in love with Star Wars," Gabe Kortum said. "We've been doing Star Wars stuff ever since." said Gabe Kortum.
The Twins also selected a lucky Star Wars fan to throw out the first pitch -- Julianna Degerstrom, 8, drove all the way from Duluth dressed as a Padawan.
The last name of the A's starting pitcher on Monday night was "Hahn"….same pronunciation as "Han" Solo.