On Sunday morning, Grover Castro opened his closet door in Mid-City, Los Angeles, and removed his navy blue mariachi suit from its hanger.
Castro, a 23-year-old trumpet player in the group Mariachi Garibaldi de Jaime Cuéllar, had gotten little sleep after playing a few backyard gigs late into the night. But Castro was wide awake. He’d been looking forward to this day for weeks. His mariachi band was scheduled to play the national anthem at a “Viva Los
Dodgers” celebration Sunday at Dodger Stadium. Castro pulled on the suit pants and jacket, took one last look in the mirror, then headed to the ballpark.
Five days later, that jacket was inside the White House.
There was no mariachi band in sight, just the jacket. It was worn casually by Dodgers reliever
Joe Kelly — one of baseball’s most colorful characters — over a white dress shirt with its top three buttons undone.