Madison Bumgarner’s cover as a successful rodeo and team-roping competitor named “Mason Saunders” was blown on Sunday when The Athletic reported that the newly acquired Diamondbacks pitcher had been competing under an alias for years.
It wasn’t much of a secret around the rodeo and roping community — they all knew that “Mason Saunders” was really the three-time World Series champion. The Diamondbacks, though, were not privy to Bumgarner’s second (and secret) professional sports life.
Diamondbacks general manager Mike Hazen spoke to reporters on Monday about the star pitcher’s rodeo career, and he said that the team wasn’t aware of it until The Athletic published its story.
Obviously, the Diamondbacks would have preferred to know about Bumgarner’s rodeo career before they gave him a five-year, $85 million contract. But Hazen wouldn’t go into details about what sort of activities Bumgarner’s contract prohibits. Sports contracts often prohibit high-risk activities like motorcycles, skydiving and horseback riding.
But it also doesn’t sound like the Diamondbacks will stop Bumgarner from participating in such events.
Yet with the secret out in the open, Mason Saunders’ time on the rodeo circuit could be over. It just won’t be the same for Bumgarner anymore.
