Luffy Mania at the Ballpark! Anime Star Throws a Wild Opening Pitch!
Believe it or not! Monkey D. Luffy, the wild Gum-Gum hero from the mega-anime series ONE PIECE, is taking to the baseball diamond! He'll be throwing out the very first pitch at the legendary Fenway Park in Boston on Saturday, May 3rd – before the Boston Red Sox game against the Minnesota Twins. The reason for this crazy appearance? A completely sold-out Fan Day celebrating the iconic Japanese series!
The Red Sox are teaming up with the anime creators at Toei Animation – and this isn't the first time! This marks the second time such a mega-event is taking place at Fenway Park. It seems the sports world is totally hooked on the ONE PIECE hype! There have already been wild collaborations with the Los Angeles Lakers (basketball!), Borussia Dortmund (soccer!), and the Seattle Mariners (also baseball!).
Fan Frenzy with Luffy and Friends
For the 6,300 fans who snagged the special tickets, the ONE PIECE Day will be a blast! Mascots of the craziest characters will be there, selfie opportunities galore, a trading card game demo, and tons of stuff to snag. Anyone who arrives early (starting at 1:40 PM!) can go wild on the Big Concourse and the Sam Adams Deck: fan meet-ups, photos with Luffy and Chopper, and you can even play the trading card game right then and there!
The awesome first pitch by the Luffy figure is scheduled for just before the game starts at 4:10 PM. And the best part: everyone with a ticket gets a mega-cool Red Sox x ONE PIECE baseball jersey! VIPs even get a special cap. With all this fan action, the Red Sox want to bring anime freaks, baseball fans, and anyone who's curious together. But be warned: only those with a press pass are allowed to film and take photos inside the stadium!
ONE PIECE Conquers the World – Not Just in Sports!
The ONE PIECE creators aren't just super active in sports! There have also been crazy collaborations with LEGO (building blocks!), POP MART (collectible figures!), and Baskin Robbins (ice cream!). And for all the anime junkies out there: the new season of ONE PIECE ("Egghead Island Part 2") has been airing since April 6th!
You have to admit, this ONE PIECE hype is absolutely insane! The fact that even a baseball team like the Boston Red Sox is making such a huge event out of it just shows how incredibly popular this Japanese animated series is. Two completely different worlds are colliding – and the result is just wild!
Source: Press release from One Piece