This week, Julio put his Dominican hometown of just over 20,000 close to the Haitian border on the receiving end of attention, unveiling a renovated baseball complex he himself invested more than $1.3 million in the town that, in his words, gave him so much.<\/p>\n
It was a joyous occasion, with the event bringing together the people of Loma de Cabrera and a group of fellow MLB stars to celebrate with Julio including Juan Soto, Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Fernando Tatis Jr., Oneil Cruz, Noelvi Marte, Nelson Cruz, Christopher Morel, Ronel Blanco, and Mariners teammates Luis Castillo and Victor Robles.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis field is where everything started for me,\u201d Rodr\u00edguez said in a press release. \u201cBeing able to give back to Loma de Cabrera and create a place where kids can feel proud, feel safe, and believe in themselves means everything. I want them to know there are no limits to what they can achieve.\u201d<\/p>\n
Paying it forward for the next generation.@JRODshow44<\/a> and his No Limits Foundation opened the first-ever public astroturf baseball field in the Dominican Republic, transforming a historic community space into a state-of-the-art, multi-sport complex in his hometown of Loma de\u2026 pic.twitter.com\/vPecsVXZot<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Seattle Mariners (@Mariners) January 6, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n The project was completed through Rodr\u00edguez\u2019s No Limits Foundation and Green Hope, and supported by partners including adidas, Gatorade, T-Mobile, Nintendo, Victus, the Washington Apple Commission, Seattle Mariners, MLBPA, Play Ball, Dynasty Financial and Rairdon Automotive Group. It gives the community a renovated complex of three baseball fields and a soccer field with turf playing surfaces, professional drainage, stadium lighting, batting cages, bullpens and more.<\/p>\n The ceremony was just one part of the two-day community initiative led by Rodr\u00edguez focused on health, wellness, and celebration. In partnership with Oakley and OneSight, free vision screenings were provided to youth and elderly residents.<\/p>\n Rodr\u00edguez also brought in celebrity barber Vic Blends to offer free haircuts to community members, and hosted a basketball clinic with former NBA All-Star and UW Huskies standout Isaiah Thomas and Dominican Republic national team star Victor Liz. Rodr\u00edguez and his foundations also donated more than 7,500 toys and baseball equipment items to children throughout the community in celebration of Three Kings Day.<\/p>\n Get your tickets\u2026<\/p>\n A celebration of another kind will take place on Jan. 31 and Feb. 1 at T-Mobile Park as Mariners FanFest returns after a long absence.<\/p>\n Players scheduled to appear include Rodr\u00edguez, Cal Raleigh, George Kirby, Josh Naylor and others. Future stars, coaches, broadcasters, and M\u2019s legends will also be in attendance signing autographs, taking photos and interacting with fans during the event.<\/p>\n Tickets for Day 1 of the two-day event have sold out, with the Mariners capping the number of tickets sold at 10,000. Tickets for Day 2 remain, costing under $23 for adults and $12 for kids 14 and under. For more, visit Mariners.com\/FanFest<\/a>.<\/p>\n HOF watch<\/p>\n F\u00e9lix Hern\u00e1ndez is primed for a big jump in his second year on the ballot for the Baseball Hall of Fame.<\/p>\n The former Mariners ace has the fourth-highest vote percentage among public ballots for the class of 2026, as tracked by the Baseball Hall of Fame vote-tracking website BBHOFTracker.com<\/a>. Hern\u00e1ndez has 58.6% of the vote from the 140 known ballots, which represents 33% of the overall Hall of Fame voters.<\/p>\n Only Carlos Beltr\u00e1n, Andruw Jones and Chase Utley have received more votes than Hern\u00e1ndez, though just Beltr\u00e1n and Jones are pacing for the 75% required for induction in Cooperstown, N.Y.<\/p>\n Hern\u00e1ndez, who received 20.6% of the vote last year, has gained 28 votes from voters who did not have him on their ballots last year. That\u2019s the highest increase of any returning candidate.<\/p>\n The class of 2026 will be revealed on Tuesday, Jan. 20 on a live broadcast from the Hall of Fame Plaque Gallery in Cooperstown on MLB Network.<\/p>\n Seattle Sports\u2019 Brent Stecker contributed to this post.<\/p>\n More on the Seattle Mariners<\/p>\n \u2022 Details of 1-year contract for Seattle Mariners\u2019 Rob Refsnyder<\/a>
\u2022 Josh Naylor had slowest HR trot of MLB season \u2013 against the M\u2019s<\/a>
\u2022 Why Jon Morosi added F\u00e9lix to his Baseball HOF ballot<\/a>
\u2022 Where Mariners could pivot for an infield bat<\/a>
\u2022 Could Ben Williamson be Seattle Mariners\u2019 answer at 3B?<\/a><\/p>\n
![](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/SeattleSportsEmail-830x100-1.jpg\")
\t