Last night’s story about Diamondbacks pitcher Madison Bumgarner participating in rodeos under an assumed name -- “Mason Saunders” -- definitely got people’s attention. And it did so in kind of an odd way, really.
For the most part the response was laughter and “haha, can you believe this?” That sentiment was particularly prevalent from the baseball media. Just remember that the next time someone does what Yoenis Céspedes did and had the nerve to, like, play golf or work on his ranch or whatever and gets taken to task for it. Maybe if Céspedes had played golf under a funny fake name? I dunno.
There was one person who didn’t have an immediate reaction last night: Diamondbacks general manager Mike Hazen, who just gave his starters/cowpoke a five-year, $85 million deal. And who did not, we just found out, know that Bumgarner was roping steers in his free time:
Arizona #Dbacks GM Mike Hazen says he was unaware of Madison Bumgarner participating in rodeo events in his spare time during his days with the #SFGiants when signing him, and believes it hasn't occurred since signing with the Dbacks after reading the Athletic story.
— Bob Nightengale (@BNightengale) February 24, 2020
I have this feeling that Mason Saunders won’t be participating in rodeo events any more after this.
