Baseball fans got a bit of a surprise Monday night in Milwaukee when the scoreboard at American Family Field flashed an unexpected message for someone named Mark.
It said, “Mark — your friendship means the world to me — Let’s not wreck it,” according to a photo shared later by the Milwaukee Brewers.
The message, which came alongside a series of birthday greetings, had a darker tone than most scoreboard dispatches. People are more likely to participate in a public proposal at a sporting event than a public friend zoning.
“According to Oxford Languages, the friend zone is ‘a situation in which a friendship exists between two people, one of whom has an unreciprocated romantic or sexual interest in the other.’ ‘Mark’ might be there after that in-game announcement,” ESPN reported.
Although it’s unclear how Mark felt about the message, Brewers players have said it inspired them to pull out a win against the Pittsburgh Pirates on Monday.
“Down 2 in the 8th inning, the dugout looked up, saw (the message), and said, ‘Let’s win one for Mark.’ We got you man,” tweeted Brewers’ star Christian Yelich the next day.
The Brewers scored twice in the eighth inning and twice in the ninth, according to ESPN.
On Tuesday, the team Twitter account shared a new message for Mark.
“Mark, we’ve all been there. If you need someone to talk to, we’re here for you,” the Milwaukee Brewers said.