CINCINNATI -- Shane Bieber still is not sure who specifically was behind the prank. Before a start against the Tigers in June, the Indians rookie took the mound to warm up and his usual warm-up music was not playing through the Progressive Field sound system.
Instead, Bieber was greeted with the song "Baby," by pop superstar Justin Bieber. Shortstop Francisco Lindor was near the mound and laughing, but insisted that he had nothing to do with it. In Cleveland's dugout, the rest of the Tribe's starters were smiling and laughing, too.
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"I keep hearing new names," said Bieber, when asked who took the lead in pulling off the joke. "I think they were all in on it. We had a rain delay, so they had a lot of time to think about it."
Bieber has had time to think about what nickname to wear across his back as part of Major League Baseball's Players' Weekend on Aug. 24-26. The rookie sent some text messages to a few friends to brainstorm, and the result was one of this year's more entertaining nicknames: Not Justin.
Rather than becoming annoyed by the years of jokes thrown his way, Bieber has learned to laugh along with the instigators. The warm-up song prank was nothing new for the 23-year-old right-hander. He said it happened in opposing ballparks in the Minor Leagues, too, but was most prevalent during his collegiate days with UC Santa Barbara.
"It happened more in college, just because you kind of have that in-conference rivalry aspect," Bieber said. "People want to latch on to that. I mean, I've been hearing it since college. A couple college games, I'd get it every inning until I'd come out of the game."
Bieber said it's no use trying to tune it out, so he decided a long time ago just to roll with the punchlines.
"You know it's there. And it's kind of fun and it's kind of fun to play along with," Bieber said. "I just thought I'd kind of lean into the joke a little bit. I texted a couple buddies and they were like, 'Man, you've got to lean into it.' They said it would be funny, so I went for it.
"A lot of people like to make the joke and try to mistake me for him. So, I thought I'd make it obvious and put it on the back of my jersey to let everyone know I'm not Justin Bieber."
The pitcher laughed when asked if his goal is to eventually become the most famous Bieber.
"I would hope so. I would hope so," the rookie replied. "I don't know. He's kind of kind of got a jump-start on me. He's pretty famous. I'm just having fun with it."