Joe Kelly traded his Dodgers jersey for a mariachi jacket

One of the great joys of Sundays at Dodger Stadium is Viva Los Dodgers, a celebration that in past years was in the parking lot just beyond the outfield. But now, the festivities are within the stadium itself, in the new center field plaza.

Sunday before the series finale with the Cubs was the first Viva Los Dodgers of 2021, the first since capacity restrictions at Dodger Stadium were lifted. Mariachi Garibaldi was the musical guest on Sunday, a usual performer at Chavez Ravine.

But in addition to Viva Los Dodgers, the group was brought onto the field to serenade the Dodgers during warmups. This was not pre-planned, which led to a Dodgers employee walking into the press box frantically saying into their phone, “The mariachi band is where?” before a big sigh of relief when they spotted the band in the left field corner.

Kenley Jansen was the culprit who guided the band from the center field plaza onto the field, but it was another Dodgers reliever who added a layer to the story.

Joe Kelly worked out a trade with Mariachi Garibaldi trumpeter Grover Castro. Kelly received a custom mariachi jacket in exchange for his Dodgers jersey.

Links

• Trevor Bauer, the 2011 Golden Spikes Award winner as the best player in college baseball, was named on Tuesday to the UCLA Athletics Hall of Fame.
• Dodgers-Giants is the best west coast rivalry, says Molly Knight at The Athletic.
• Nationals manager Dave Martinez, who won the 2019 World Series but didn’t get to manage the All-Star Game last year because it was canceled, lamented to Britt Ghiroli at The Athletic that he hasn’t been asked to be involved in this year’s All-Star Game. Martinez was a member of Dave Roberts’ All-Star coaching staff in 2018.
• ESPN recounted the first week of MLB’s enhanced enforcement on foreign substances, including Seattle pitcher Hector Santiago getting suspended 10 games.
• Mookie Betts promoted getting the coronavirus vaccine in downtown LA this week