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Oakland A’s host Major League Baseball’s first drone light show

People who still contend professional baseball is too tradition-bound for its own good should have been at Oakland’s Ring Central Stadium last Friday (or look into some of the recent eyebrow-raising rule changes made). If they had, they would have gotten a gander at the first drone light show ever organized at a Major League Baseball (MLB) game.

Traditional-bound baseball hosts its first-ever drone light show

The unprecedented MLB drone light show was hosted by the Oakland A’s following their twilight game with the visiting New York Yankees. That innovation in baseball entertainment didn’t get too wildly imaginative in its execution, however. It featured a favorite theme of special events across all ballparks – a Star Wars tribute – and called on accomplished drone light show company Sky Elements to work its aerial magic. 

By most accounts, it wound up doing just that, with illuminated Star Wars characters and images morphing into those associated with America’s other favorite pastime. As the show neared its climax, the 200 craft used in the performance staged a battle between two light sabers, before transforming into a baseball bat to destroy a lit-up Death Star. 

Sky Elements, which provided still photos of the event on its Instagram page, described the show this way:

Fan favorite characters such as R2-D2 and Yoda were featured as well as an exploding death star. 

The Sky Elements team had a blast creating this drone show and ran with the concept of Star Wars and baseball, displaying the similarities between the two. Light sabers turning into baseball bats, and a baseball turning into the Death Star are among some of the creative ideas that play out in the sky above Ring Central Stadium. Of course we had to start the show off with the Star Wars logo rising up from behind the stadium to start the show.

It’s unknown whether Mark Hamill – aka Luke Skywalker – is much of a baseball fan, but it’s more than likely the Oakland-born actor approved of the galactic summertime tribute.

Sky Elements indicates it plans to make full video of the baseball’s first drone light show available soon. Awaiting that, there are several nice fan videos for viewing online.

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Avatar for Bruce Crumley Bruce Crumley

Bruce Crumley is journalist and writer who has worked for Fortune, Sports Illustrated, the New York Times, The Guardian, AFP, and was Paris correspondent and bureau chief for Time magazine specializing in political and terrorism reporting. He splits his time between Paris and Biarritz, and is the author of novel Maika‘i Stink Eye.

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