LAKELAND, Fla. — There are big tattoos and small ones.
Images and words and numbers.
They seem to be everywhere in the Detroit Tigers clubhouse. Down forearms. Across wrists. On the back of hands. Many of the tattoos are visible to viewers when the Tigers are playing on TV. But I was intrigued by one that most fans have never seen, and I noticed it only because Casey Mize was sitting shirtless at his locker, but I couldn’t quite read it from across the clubhouse.
“What does that say?” I asked the injured Tigers pitcher.
The tattoo climbed the right side of his torso.
“It’s Isaiah 41:10 and it’s my favorite Bible verse,” Mize said, sitting at his locker in the Tigers clubhouse at Joker Marchant Stadium.
He started to recite the verse from memory: “Do not fear for I’m with you. Do not be dismayed for I am your God. I will strengthen you and I will help you. I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.”
Mize got the tattoo when he was a sophomore at Auburn, where he became a two-time All-American. The Tigers took him with the first pick in the 2018 draft.
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Kirthmon F. Dozier, Detroit Free Press
“For me, I think it covers a lot of things,” Mize said before repeating the verse and explaining how it applies to his life right now. “Do not fear for I am with you — I think as players, or even as people in life, there’s some worry sometimes or fear sometime. So, just having that faith in God and allowing me to kind of throw all my troubles upon Him and believe in Him has helped me get through a lot of really difficult times, especially in a season I’m kind of in right now.”
As he talked, he sat on a stool, busy at work, moving a device over his elbow, breaking up scar tissue.
Mize had Tommy John surgery last June, and then he had back surgery to address a longstanding issue. He is not expected to pitch for the Tigers anytime soon.
“Then, it’s — do not be dismayed for I am your God,” Mize said. “I think if you look around society, there’s a lot of idealization that goes on in our society that I don’t really believe in. I believe in one true God and so I think, just don’t be dismayed in that.”
Mize is progressing through rehab, playing catch three times a week.
Without any prompting, Mize dissected the rest of the verse: “Who will uphold me with his righteous right hand — so for me, if I ever have any struggles with anything, I know He’s there to pick me up. So that’s my favorite verse, has been forever.”
And it’s been helping him through his rehab.
“It’s tough but I prefer to be playing,” Mize said, smiling.
Momma bear and her cubs
So, I worked my way around the Tigers clubhouse, talking to different players about their ink.
And each one revealed what they cherish the most.
Eric Haase’s arms are covered with several tattoos that depict nature scenes.
Remember that TV program “Michigan Outdoors” with Fred Trost? Haase’s arms look like a montage from that show, complete with a wolf, an owl and a snake.
“I love being outside, so this is all nature,” Haase said, looking at his arms. “It’s all pretty much nature stuff. I really like nature. I try to be outside as much as possible. We’re in big city after big city, and I just like to go out to nature and just be quiet for a little bit.”
Tigers catcher Eric Hasse loves the outdoors and bears. One of the tattoos on his arm represents a mother and father bear with the cubs walking behind them. “That’s my wife and kids, you don’t mess with mom and cubs.”
Tigers catcher Eric Hasse loves the outdoors and bears. One of the tattoos on his arm represents a mother and father bear with the cubs walking behind them. “That’s my wife and kids, you don’t mess with mom and cubs.”
Kirthmon F. Dozier, Detroit Free Press
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Interesting, no? When you think about professional athletes flying all over the country, playing games in New York and Chicago and Los Angeles, you don’t think about how some of them relish the moments out in the woods. How they miss it. Especially a kid who grew up in Michigan.
“So what’s your favorite place in Michigan?” I asked him.
“Northern Michigan for sure,” he said. “Northern Michigan is incredible, especially in the summertime.”
One of his tattoos caught my eye. It’s a momma bear and a father bear, followed by three cubs.
“Tell me about that one,” I said.
“The first thing is, I like bears,” Haase said. “I think they’re just cool. You don’t mess with mama and her cubs. So that’s my wife with the kids. Family is everything to me.”
And he takes his family along with him, if only symbolically, to every stop along the way.
“The fact that they’re able to experience this with me is really cool,” Haase said. “My wife and I didn’t want to wait to start a family. I knew that I wanted to be with her and have a family, and baseball has always been up and down. And you know, there’s been good times, bad times and everywhere in between, but they’ve been there with me every step of the way.”
Yes, right there on his arm. But I spotted a problem on the canvas, so to speak. There’s no more room.
“Nothing says the need to get snipped more than running out of skin on your arm,” I joked.
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Hey, if you can’t joke about a vasectomy, what can you joke about?
Haase pointed above his elbow and smiled.
“Well, I got another little one up here,” he said, pointing at his latest cub added above his elbow. “I ran out of space. So I had to add him on there.”
Haase smiled.
The Papa Bear.
Faith, family and a clock
Most of the tats center on faith and family.
But José Cisnero might have the most unusual image. He has a tattoo featuring the face of a clock set to 4:07.
“That’s the time when my first son came,” Cisneros beamed.
His son, Jeyden, is now 9.
“So how many tattoos do you have?” I asked.
He started to count but lost track.
“Too many,” he laughed.
Kirthmon F. Dozier, Detroit Free Press
Javier Báez doesn’t know how many he has, either.
“I’m not sure,” he said, shaking his head, looking at his arms and down his leg.
He started to go through them.
“There are different tattoos, not just one,” Báez said. “There is my sister (who died). There is graffiti from one of my best friends who passed away. A little higher, I have my parents and my sister. I have an angel protecting me and my brothers.”
Tigers shortstop Javier Baez doesn’t know exactly how many tattoos he has, but they represent many important parts of his life, including his sister, who passed away, his parents and graffiti artwork by one of his best friends.
Tigers shortstop Javier Baez doesn’t know exactly how many tattoos he has, but they represent many important parts of his life, including his sister, who passed away, his parents and graffiti artwork by one of his best friends.
Kirthmon F. Dozier, Detroit Free Press
He has the MLB logo tattooed on the back of his neck and a Puerto Rican flag on his right forearm.
Before he left for the World Baseball Classic, I asked him what it meant to represent Puerto Rico.
“A lot to represent the island,” he said. “The way that we are connected, it’s just very special. Everything the island has gone through.”
Catcher Donnie Sands’ entire life story can be told by the tattoos on his arms.
On his right arm is a rosary hanging over a skull with the word: “Blessed.” Perhaps a weird combination, but it makes complete sense to him.
Sands, who came to the Tigers organization this offseason in the Gregory Soto trade and was sent to Triple-A to begin the season, has dealt with several deaths in his life, including the loss of his father when Donny was 15.
“Just all the stuff I’ve been through,” he said, looking at his tattoos. “I got my mom’s name right here. And then this is the day my dad passed.”
Tigers catcher Donny Sands has summarized his life story with his tattoos. He has dealt with the loss of friends and family; he also has his mother’s name and and the date his dad passed away on his arms, along with rosary hanging over a skull with the word “Blessed.”
Tigers catcher Donny Sands has summarized his life story with his tattoos. He has dealt with the loss of friends and family; he also has his mother’s name and and the date his dad passed away on his arms, along with rosary hanging over a skull with the word “Blessed.”
Kirthmon F. Dozier, Detroit Free Press
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Michael Lorenzen, a free-agent right-hander, also wears his Christianity on his sleeve. Quite literally. He has the words from Galatians 2:20 inked on his left forearm. Got it during his rookie season.
He begins to recite it: “I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.”
A few days later, I saw Lorenzen sitting at his locker, reading what looked like the Bible — or maybe it was a devotional — before a practice.
Tigers pitcher Michael Lorenzen warms up during spring training on Sunday, Feb. 19, 2023. Lorenzen wears his Christianity on his sleeve, with Galatians 2:20, his favorite scripture, on his left arm.
Tigers pitcher Michael Lorenzen warms up during spring training on Sunday, Feb. 19, 2023. Lorenzen wears his Christianity on his sleeve, with Galatians 2:20, his favorite scripture, on his left arm.
Kirthmon F. Dozier, Detroit Free Press
I didn’t want to bother him to ask. Clearly, his Christianity is more than skin deep.
That’s the lesson in all these tats. It’s more than an image. More than some ink.
They are personal statements about what they cherish the most.
And these tattoos reveal so much.
For all of them.
From bears to clocks to flags to bible verses.
Contact Jeff Seidel at jseidel@freepress.com or follow him on Twitter @seideljeff.
To read Seidel’s recent columns, go to freep.com/sports/jeff-seidel.