This story was excerpted from Sonja Chen’s Dodgers Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.
The lights went down as anticipation rose on Friday night at Dodger Stadium. The Dodgers had a one-run lead in the ninth inning, and their newly signed closer, Edwin Díaz, was about to make his first appearance of the season, to the tune of his trademark trumpets.
As the intro to "Narco" by Timmy Trumpet and Blasterjaxx built, Díaz punctuated the beat with each step he took out to the mound. When the iconic trumpet riff began to play, the fans in the crowd roared their approval. And then the noise reached another level when the video scoreboard revealed that the Dodgers had brought in a live musician to perform Díaz's electric entrance music.
Her name is Tatiana Tate, and you could very well be seeing more of her at Dodger Stadium this year.
Tate's first performance at the ballpark was a secret, so much so that she could not tell her friends and family about the gig. It was a surprise for the Dodgers' players as well, and Díaz himself recounted thinking, "No way, they got a live trumpet," as he took the mound.
Tate made a second appearance on Saturday, heralding Díaz's entrance before he converted his second save in as many chances. She could not confirm nor deny whether she'll be stationed by the bullpen at future home games, but if she gets the call, she knows what her answer will be.
"I can't say whether I will be back or not," Tate said in a phone interview with MLB.com. "But would I like to be back? Absolutely, in any capacity. I bleed blue, so I'm just excited to be a part of the Dodger family."
She certainly has manager Dave Roberts' stamp of approval.
"She needs to be there every night," Roberts said. "She's legit."
Born and raised in nearby Long Beach, Tate is a jazz artist, composer and bandleader. She founded the Melanin Horns, an L.A.-based horn-section project, and has appeared in major festivals and televised awards shows, playing alongside the likes of Stevie Wonder, Doechii, TLC and Macklemore.
Tate's love for music began young, when her parents enrolled her and her brother in a program called Rhythm Regiment Drum Corps. There, Tate learned to play drums from all over the world, taught by program director Terry Moore. When Tate was around 7 years old, Moore encouraged her to pick up a new instrument. Her arms were too short for a trombone, and she didn't like the sousaphone. When she tried a trumpet, something clicked.
"I can still remember the moment the cold metal touched my hands," Tate said. "I felt like a different person. … From that moment, I've never put the trumpet down."
As someone who has dedicated her life to the trumpet, Tate may understand better than most why "Narco" has made such an impact on fans, from Díaz's time in New York to his new beginning in L.A. She counts Timmy Trumpet among her favorite trumpet players and producers, but she also believes that the trumpet has a power of its own that makes it especially compelling.
"The Bible says, 'Let the trumpet sound.' You think of the call to war. You think the call to anything, it's the trumpet," Tate said. "I know the saxophone gets all the love. The trumpet is an anointed instrument. I feel like when you hear something like a trumpet, it just draws you in. It kind of lets you know that something is going to happen. And I think that's the reason why fans resonate with it."
From the very first note she played on Friday, Tate was blown away by the Dodgers fans' energy, and she felt it again later that night, when she put on an impromptu performance for fans who stopped her as she was walking out of the ballpark. It continued on Saturday, when her dad -- who took her to games at Chavez Ravine as a child -- got to be there to see her play.
Throughout her career, Tate has played in ensembles and touring groups, at intimate gatherings and large venues alike. She's no stranger to performing for massive audiences, but there was something special about getting to do it at Dodger Stadium.
"It's definitely like a once-in-a-lifetime experience," Tate said. "... One thing about playing in Dodger Stadium is that it's home. The love that I received made me feel like I was playing for my family."