The worlds of professional sports and comic-con/sci-fi culture don’t often intersect—which makes next weekend’s series of gatherings at Miami’s loanDepot Park so interesting. For its three-game series against the Seattle Mariners, the Miami Marlins will welcome fans of comic books, anime and “Star Wars” to enjoy the games and their fellow-enthusiasts under the rubric of Pop Fiction Weekend.
The June 21 evening performance is DC Superhero Night, where a ticket package includes an exclusive T-shirt in which a vintage Batman is taking to the diamond. The June 22 afternoon game is Anime Day, and its ticket package features a specialty T-shirt with anime icons, Japanese lettering and a Marlins logo; on June 23’s matinee, fans of “Star Wars” can close out the weekend by buying a ticket package that includes a themed jersey.
As far as we know, that’s the extent of the pop-culture immersion—the focus is still largely on baseball, as it probably should be. But devotees of Wonder Woman, Dragon Ball Z and Baby Yoda, identifiable by those T-shirts and jerseys they’re encouraged to wear, will have the opportunity to commune with like-minded attendees. And let’s face it: Getting some new faces to cheer on the struggling Marlins in a tough National League East season can be only a good thing.
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