The unique partnership began in a battery store in suburban Phoenix.



There’s the ballplayer, who hasn’t officially retired but has taken up woodworking, which sounds like he’s retired. He’s jumped into the hobby with the same passion that made him one of the most popular Baltimore Orioles of the past few decades.



Then there’s the musician who has a life story that reads like a novel: A second chance that turned into several whirlwind careers, which ultimately led him to rub elbows and to play tunes with rock ‘n’ roll royalty.



For a while, neither knew the other’s full backstory.



They didn’t talk about music or baseball. They chatted mainly about electronics.



One day, the ballplayer mentioned how much he loved woodworking. The musician countered by asking whether he’d ever thought about building a guitar for charity.



That’s how it all started.



A strange...