Even as the Houston Astros vehemently denied that they used buzzers or any wearable-cheating device, baseball fans and players remained skeptical this weekend.
They just can’t get over how Jose Altuve behaved following his pennant-winning, walk-off home run.
As Altuve approached home back in October, he shouted at his teammates to not rip his jersey off. He had just hit the biggest home run of his life, but Altuve somehow had the presence of mind to protect his jersey. That raised eyebrows for a variety of reasons, and Altuve blamed the behavior on shyness after the game.
The excuses for Altuve guarding his jersey (and changing in the clubhouse) after that home run continue to develop, though. Most recently, Carlos Correa said that Altuve didn’t want to expose a bad tattoo, and on Monday, Altuve revealed that tattoo to reporters at spring training.
Jose Altuve will speak to reporters after today’s workout. He just entered the Astros clubhouse shirtless, exposing a tattoo on his left shoulder that said “Melanie.”
— Chandler Rome (@Chandler_Rome) February 17, 2020
That in itself launched a flurry of conspiracy theories, suspecting that Altuve could have just gotten a bad tattoo after Correa’s comments. But those conspiracy theories can probably stop now because Altuve did have a tattoo near his left collarbone during the 2019 World Series.
This shot from Getty Images showed that Altuve had a tattoo that started with an “M.” The tattoo that reporters saw on Monday read, “Melanie.”
And a closer look:
Yeah, that’s definitive.
Altuve appeared to have a tattoo as early as Aug. 19 — though it takes a lot of zooming in to see the presence of a tattoo in this photo. But something is there.
It’s impossible to say whether or not a tattoo had anything to do with Altuve’s odd behavior after that home run, but Correa was at least telling the truth about a tattoo existing there.
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