Arizona Diamondbacks left-hander Madison Bumgarner says he has been competing in rodeo events under the alias Mason Saunders. Bumgarner has discretely competed in rodeos for a while, including in March of last year – just two days before pitching for the San Francisco Giants in a Cactus League spring training game. He has been roping since he was 15 or 16 years old and said he’s been at it so long that “it’s just part of who you are.” Bumgarner even won $26,560 in a team-roping competition last December.
Diamondbacks general manager Mike Hazen said he was “not going to get into discussing specific contract language” when asked about Bumgarner’s hobby.
The 2014 World Series MVP agreed to an $85 million, five-year contract with the Diamondbacks in December, about two weeks after winning the rodeo competition in Wickenburg, Arizona. Bumgarner infamously injured his shoulder in 2017 in a dirt bike accident and missed three months of San Francisco’s season. He apologized at the time and called it a “stupid” decision that likely violated his contract.
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