ESPN, Jennifer Lopez ‘Surprise’ Alex Rodriguez With Very Natural On-Air Birthday Bash

Sunday night’s game between the Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees was pretty important.

The Red Sox are doing all they can to climb back into the American League East race, and a win Sunday night would have given them a much-needed sweep. Yet, as the seventh inning of a three-run game began, ESPN viewers were treated to an impromptu birthday party in the broadcast booth.

Longtime Yankees infielder and current ESPN broadcaster Alex Rodriguez recently celebrated his 44th birthday, and his current employer “surprised” him by bringing his fiancée, Jennifer Lopez, and his daughters into the booth to “celebrate.” The polarizing star was given a cake addressed to, well, no one, and then tried to make awkward small talk with his real-life family and broadcast family — all while a baseball game was playing out below them.

Very natural!

As for the cake itself, it left a little to be desired in the design and decoration departments, as evidenced by this tweet from The Boston Globe’s Julian McWilliams.

As A-Rod himself points out, there has been no shortage of cake in his life this week, after J-Lo brought him on stage at a recent concert to present him with a lavish Yankees-themed cake.

J-Lo, meanwhile, turned 50 less than a week ago. Rodriguez presented her with a modest gift: a brand-new Porsche.