SEATTLE -- It’s an everyday occurrence at ballparks across America: Hours before the game, baseball players taking batting practice, getting their swings in and warming up.
It turns out that routine can work for pop stars, too.
Saturday was a busy day in SoDo, with Ed Sheeran playing Lumen Field as part of his Loop Tour. With a few hours to kill before going on stage, he popped across the street to T-Mobile Park, to get a quick tour of the field. Most of the Mariners had already left following their matinee win over the Twins, but one player was still in the clubhouse -- star center fielder Julio Rodríguez, who, as it happened, was talking with team personnel about his upcoming gig DJing the Mariners’ Alumni Home Run Derby this Friday.
So right after going 1-for-3 with a pair of walks and an RBI in Seattle’s walk-off win, Rodríguez got to chop it up with a star entrenched in his other passion. While they talked about music production, J-Rod took Sheeran down to the batting cage, letting the singer-songwriter take some hacks off the tee, throwing him some soft-toss and ultimately giving him a crack at the Trajekt machine to get the full experience of hitting off an MLB pitcher.
Rodríguez signed a bat for Sheeran to take with him, but the center fielder got a whole lot more in return. Sheeran promised to send him a guitar, and also gave him suite tickets to his show that night -- before running back across the street to get ready to take the stage.
Rodríguez took up DJ’ing in the offseason and quickly got hooked. After a few months of practice, he started playing the odd set in the Mariners’ clubhouse ahead of games, and has only gone from there. Last Thursday, the Mariners announced Rodríguez (under his stage name, DJ Pleno) would be DJing the Alumni Home Run Derby, as seven former Mariners -- highlighted by Ichiro -- compete for the crown after Friday’s game against the Rays.