For Naruto Uzumaki, his Nindo or “Ninja Way” means he never quits, a message that has long resonated with Mariners star Julio Rodriguez.
“That character really inspired me in a lot of ways,” Rodriguez told the Mariners' website. “He just continued to chase his dream no matter what. Even when people told him he was not going to be able to do it, he kept believing in himself, and he made it.”
On the field, Rodriguez’s Nindo is helping the Mariners win games however he can. Off the field, he’s dedicated to bettering the lives of young children, which is why the Mariners Cares Foundation is combining Rodriguez’s star power and his love of anime to create some unique auction items.
Starting Friday and running through Monday, the foundation is auctioning off four anime collectibles — three Funko Pops and one comic book — signed by J-Rod and teammate Gregory Santos as the centerpieces of their team auction, with 100% of the proceeds going to the foundation’s charitable causes.
The team’s foundation, which was founded in 1991, has raised more than $30 million and focuses its charitable work on three main pillars:
- Ensuring access to baseball and softball for all
- Advancing equity and justice
- Making our hometown healthier and more vibrant
“This auction is about paying tribute to the areas that Julio is focused on,” said Nova Newcomer, the director of Mariners Care. “And that's really about underserved youth, whether it's access to baseball and softball or, again, providing support for organizations that do work with underserved youth.”
During the offseason, Rodriguez hosted a youth foster activation at the University of Washington as well as organizing a toy drive in December.
Whereas so many team auctions center around game-used items, the Mariners try to deviate and combine their players’ off-field interests to appeal to a wider audience of collectors.
“The idea was really born from that passion and energy that young people are showing about where their interests are, and how we can connect those,” Newcomer said. “When we can share these passions together, it just makes collecting more fun. It makes enjoying the game more fun.”
Everything about it has to be organic, Newcomer said, emphasizing the importance of highlighting something the players are actually passionate about.
The idea to showcase Rodriguez’s love of anime actually came from a 70-second video the team put on its social media last fall, asking the All-Star center fielder his three favorite anime characters. And Newcomer discovered the video just “like any other fan.”
When Newcomer and the team approached Rodriguez with the idea, he showed immediate interest, but when it was time for the actual signing to take place, Newcomer knew they’d hit a home run.
“He walked into the room for the signing day and immediately picked (the comic book) up and started reading it,” Newcomer said. “So it just confirmed for me that we were hitting just the right spot, because he's like any other fan of anime — passionate, excited. At one point he was kind of talking through the plot with the player sitting next to him, and just you could see how excited he was.”
The comic book up for auction that Rodriguez signed is No. 44, a tribute to his uniform number.
The Mariners began their pop-culture auctions with rock music legends Mötley Crüe. A helmet signed by the entire band was sitting in a memorabilia closet.
“We thought it was cool,” Newcomer said, “and we said, ‘Let's try this.’”
The helmet sold for more than $4,000.
“It just kind of helped me understand that when an item is not only baseball specific, you have a much broader audience that you're speaking to who want to come in and participate,” Newcomer said. “And we don't know if this item is going to go to a massive anime fan, or a massive Julio fan or both.”
And this is just one of many personalized giveaways this season from the Mariners.
The team auctions off each year players’ “favorite things” gift baskets, and last season J-Rod included anime items in his gift basket.
The club is also hosting an Anime Day, complete with a Mariners-themed anime Hawaiian shirt giveaway, for its game against the Texas Rangers on Sunday. The promotion coincides with Sakura-Con, a three-day anime convention held April 18-20 at the Seattle Convention Center.
“It's about the connection to the fan,” Newcomer said. “Learning something about them that makes a difference.”
It's the Mariners' Nindo.
Matt Liberman is a reporter and video producer for cllct, the premier company for collectible culture.