Star Wars Stands Up To Cancer At Citi Field
Fans Jennifer and James join Darth Vader as they Stand Up To Cancer.
Not so long time ago in city not so far away, there was a legendary place called Shea Stadium in New York. Rumor has it that the evil Empire destroyed it. The Rebel Alliance helped to rebuild it and called it Citi Field. On September 13th, 2011 the Galactic Empire and Rebel Alliance called a truce and joined forces to Stand Up to Cancer as they raised funds for cancer research. They also celebrated the September 16 North American release of the nine-disc Star Wars: The Complete Saga on Blu-ray, which contains deleted, extended and alternate scenes, new documentaries, interviews and more.
The New York Mets announced they were teaming up with Lucasfilm to host the first Star Wars Night at Citi Field when the Mets hosted the Washington Nationals. The evening started off with a costume contest for the young Padawans and creatures from throughout the galaxy. Celebrity judges included Darth Vader and his stormtroopers, Chewbacca, Boba Fett, a Tusken Raider and two Rebel pilots. Afterwards they all hung around for photo ops with eager fans.
As the characters left, we felt a disturbance in the Force, it guided us up to the second level where the characters reappeared for more photos with the fans. Between innings of the Mets-Nationals game, stormtroopers and Boba Fett appeared with three beautiful Earth women on the Kiss-cam. Many fans made a donation to Stand Up to Cancer and received a Use the Force for Good T-Shirt. Boba Fett captured a fan with a bounty on his head and then left with the other Star Wars characters to go onto the playing field and assist in the T-Shirt toss.
The Force then led us to the first base side of Citi Field where the Star Wars characters helped a Mets fan answer a Boba Fett-related trivia question. Darth Vader appeared on the Diamond Vision and threatened a Mets player, he then filled the screen with scenes from all six Star Wars movies.
The night was a success for both baseball and Star Wars fans, and helped raise money for a good cause.
Article and Images by Jim McLernon with special thanks to Jennifer Drucker
| Star Wars Celebrates Blu-ray Release at Citi Field | ||||
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| Rebels and Empire characters gather before the game to greet fans and take pictures. | Star Wars characters roam to different sections of the stadium for photo opps with the fans. | There is a disturbance in the Force as James square offs against Boba Fett. | ||
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| Boba Fett takes over for a security guard and escorts a fan from the stadium | The Star Wars characters and fans Stand Up to Cancer in the 5th inning. | Stormtroopers prepare to cart a fan away if he gets a wrong answer in the trivia quiz. | ||
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| Darth Vader capters a Mets player during the game. | Use the Force for Good T-Shirts were sold to raise money to help fight cancer. | Stormtrooper security | ||