THE CHEAP SEATS with STEVE CAMERON: The moment where it might have clicked for Julio

Just one at-bat can change your week.

Your month.

Your season.

Your career.

It’s astonishing what a single plate appearance can do for the man with the bat.

For the pitcher hoping to get him out, too, for that matter.

Dennis Eckersley is deservedly enshrined in the Hall of Fame, but any fan who is hold enough probably remembers him most for giving up that dramatic, ninth-inning home run to an injured Kirk Gibson in the 1988 World Series.

Almost forgotten …

Eck produced a four-year stretch from 1989 through ’92 in which he struck out 308 batters and walked just 22.

Ah, but the Gibby home run!

The same thing has worked in the other direction, as it did for Bill Mazeroski – whose walk-off homer handed Pittsburgh a Series victory over the Yankees in 1960.

Even though the stakes aren’t quite as high, bolts of magic in the All-Star Game can stick in memories forever.

Ted Williams’ plaque at Cooperstown notes that he hit .406 in 1941, but Williams himself always recalled a bigger moment from the same season.

WILLIAMS walloped a three-run home with two outs in the ninth to hand the American League a 7-5 triumph in Detroit – and the famously grumpy Williams clapped his hands and skipped like a kid all the way around the bases.

“Oh, boy,” he said years later. “That was the biggest thrill of my life. No doubt. I’ll never forget it.

“It was just the right time for a young kid. It really meant something.”

Now, fast forward to Tuesday night …

Julio Rodriguez had something exactly the same in mind with he came to the plate in the ninth inning against Phillies closer Craig Kimbrel with AL down 3-2.

Houston’s Kyle Tucker had walked to prolong the inning and give Julio a shot at history with more than 47,000 Mariners fans going crazy.

J-Rod didn’t deny what he was thinking.

“Oh my god, that was unbelievable,” Rodríguez said of his chance to hit a game-winning bomb.

“That was an unbelievable feeling. I would say we’ve had the playoff games and all that, but there was just something different about having an event with this crowd.

“I was definitely trying to win it, but I was given a situation where I needed to pass the baton,” he said. “Once I saw (Tucker) get on first, my thought was to just get a good pitch to drive, and let’s try and win this game.”

Kimbrel is a wise old character, however, and he didn’t want anything more to do with Julio than he had with the clutch-hitting Tucker.

The 35-year-old Kimbrel has saved 408 games (against just 48 blown chances) because he’s no dumb bunny just simply throwing strikes and hoping the ball gets hit right at somebody.

He got Julio to a 1-2 count, but then it went to 3-2.

An aggressive young power hitter like Julio might be thinking he’d see a fastball in that spot – especially with switch-hitting banger Jose Ramirez on deck.

Kimbrel assumed that, too.

The next pitch was a slider that looked it would get a lot of the plate, but it began drifting outside.

Rodriguez, as it turned out, was thinking right along with Kimbrel – and he took the pitch.

“My job was to keep passing the baton,” he said.

Unfortunately for the American League, Kimbrel struck out Ramirez to close it out with a thrilling finish.

NOW, LET’S go back to original premise here – that a single at-bat can have a profound effect on both pitcher and hitter.

I was not as wrapped up in the outcome of the game as the players were – remember that the AL had won 10 straight All-Star matchups.

No, I was totally absorbed by Rodriguez’ at-bat in the ninth.

The veteran Kimbrel, who is eighth on the all-time list of saves, was probably pretty sure he could get Julio to bite on a pitch that looked for all the world like a strike.

But the young guy proved wise to it.

Remember, this came at a time when Julio wasn’t having the same electric results that lit up the league a year ago.

And, sure …

You KNOW he wanted to deliver a blast to win the game and feel T-Mobile Park rockin’ and rollin.’

Still, he stayed calm enough to recognize the 3-2 pitch and draw a walk.

I guarantee you that Mariners manager Scott Servais, who was spending the evening on Dusty Baker’s staff, was thrilled to see Rodriguez take that pitch – instead of trying to play “hero ball.”

In fact, that pitch …

That at-bat …

We might have seen the moment that Julio Rodriguez became a true big-league hitter.

Not just a talented kid who is up there swinging hard.

Nope, a true professional hitter.

Keep it in your memory.

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Steve Cameron’s “Cheap Seats” columns appear in The Press four times each week, normally Tuesday through Friday unless, you know, stuff happens.

Steve suggests you take his opinions in the spirit of a Jimmy Buffett song: “Breathe In, Breathe Out, Move On.”