‘What the f— is that?' Jake Arrieta proves he paid off tattoo bet with Cubs teammate Tommy La Stella   

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MESA, Ariz. – Even in a Cubs clubhouse filled with big-name personalities and Joe Maddon’s be-yourself, laissez-faire philosophy, Jake Arrieta stands out as a true original, an independent, somewhat eccentric character. 

So when a reporter on Wednesday morning asked Arrieta about paying off a bet to teammate Tommy La Stella, he turned around, lowered his blue shorts and showed the group the new tattoo on his right butt cheek. 

Welcome to Day 2 in Arizona.

“Sometimes I forget I have it,” Arrieta said before pitchers and catchers went through their first formal workout at the Sloan Park complex. “People in the shower will be like: ‘What the f--- is that?’”

“That” is the “CCU ’16 CHAMPS” tattoo to commemorate La Stella’s Coastal Carolina Chanticleers – a rooster would have been too big – beating Arrieta’s Texas Christian Horned Frogs in last year’s College World Series.

La Stella – the role player who thought about retiring last season rather than report to the minors – said he had forgotten about the bet when he visited Arrieta’s family in Austin, Texas, just before Christmas.

But the Cy Young Award winner is a man of his word, going to at least two tattoo parlors with La Stella before settling on the design and sending out the image through a Twitter account that now has more than 397,000 followers. 

“I don’t mind tattoos,” Arrieta said. “(But) I can’t get too inked up if I got to join the corporate world at some point. I don’t know if the baseball thing is going to work out.”  

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Standing in front of his locker with his toenails painted a shade of silver – a bonding moment with his young daughter – Arrieta couldn’t rule out another wager against La Stella. 

“I don’t know if I’ll bet anymore tattoos,” Arrieta said. “We’ll see. If TCU and Coastal match up again…if I lose that one, I might have to get the rooster.” 

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