GARY | Peter Mayhew has one piece of luggage that always is double-checked at the airport.

Screeners will pull aside the long object with a silver handle and a clear, green body. Mayhew, at 7-foot-3, walks long distances -- like through an airport -- with this 48-inch-tall caned styled as a lightsaber.

At 66 years old, Mayhew, who played the Wookiee sidekick Chewbacca in the original "Star Wars" trilogy, needs the cane. It was designed by a fan of the actor, who made his first visit to Northwest Indiana on Tuesday.

"It probably has more mileage in the closet of an airplane than most people," Mayhew said of the lightsaber. "I was in the London airport and someone said, well, that's a dangerous weapon. I said, 'Yeah, in the wrong hands it is. To me, it's a cane.'"

Mayhew was on hand for the RailCats' Science Fiction Night promotion, throwing out the first pitch and signing autographs for fans.

Flanked by members of the 501st Bloodfin Garrison, a selection of Star Wars fans with screen-caliber replica costumes, Mayhew took pictures and posed with fans, who kept the line to his autograph table streaming into the third inning.

"Anything that brings fans in, I've done hockey faceoffs and that kind of thing, it's something different and unique," Mayhew said. "Hopefully it encourages people to then come to the conventions."

Mayhew, whose career was made by his portrayal of Chewbacca, said he wouldn't have imagined when the first film in the series of six was first released in 1977 that three decades later the characters still would have life.

"It was a B-movie for starters. It was just a matter of how long it would last," Mayhew said. "I think the reason it has lasted is because there was nothing around like it at the time -- and nothing to come close to it."

As part of the day honoring Mayhew, the RailCats staff changed the player's photos on the video board and assigned each RailCat a "Star Wars" character -- such as outfielder Mike Massaro as Luke Skywalker and manager Greg Tagert as Yoda. The visiting Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks were changed to Storm Troopers, except for former RailCat and Hammond High School product Mike Coles, who appeared on the board as Darth Vader.