This story was excerpted from Jessica Camerato’s Nationals Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.
WASHINGTON -- Pitching in the Major Leagues is an out-of-this-world experience for Kyle Finnegan. So is meeting with U.S. Space Force members and having a Star Wars bobblehead designed in his likeness.
The Nationals created the X-Wing Pilot Finnegan bobblehead for Star Wars Weekend. The replica, Finnegan’s first, was designed with him wearing a Rebel Alliance starfighter pilot uniform.
Ahead of the bobblehead distribution at Saturday’s game, Finnegan visited members of the U.S. Space Force, including Chief Master Sergeant of the Space Force, John. F. Bentivegna, at the Pentagon.
“It was really cool,” said Finnegan. “When the floor was open for me to speak, I was like, ‘I'm more nervous to be here than pitching in any game.’ But it was a lot of fun. They were all super welcoming and excited to be there. A lot of Nats fans, a lot of baseball fans.”
Finnegan learned more about the U.S. Space Force, answered questions and signed bobbleheads. He plans to return for a tour of the Pentagon with his family.
“I was thanking them for their service and talking about how it's a privilege to play in the nation’s capital,” Finnegan said. “We hope we're making them proud every night.”
Finnegan, 32, appreciated the unique experience in his fifth big league season.
“You get a lot of really cool opportunities doing this job,” Finnegan said. “It took me a while to get here, but I always thought that I would. To see a lot of the things that I thought I might have the opportunity to do coming to fruition is really cool.”
As for the theme of the weekend, Finnegan’s favorite Star Wars movie is "The Empire Strikes Back."
“You get introduced to Yoda, you find out that Darth Vader is Luke's father, Han Solo gets frozen in the carbonite, that's when we learned the way of the Jedi and the Force.” Finnegan said. “Just a lot of iconic scenes.”