Seems like the buzz the Astros have been hearing was from a tattoo gun.
On Saturday, Astros shortstop Carlos Correa defended teammate José Altuve over the Astros buzzer controversy. The team has been accused of wearing buzzers under their jerseys — in addition to their trash can and video schemes — to learn what type of pitch was coming. A widely circulated video — which shows Altuve asking teammates not to rip his shirt off after a game-winning home run in the 2019 ALCS — fueled these rumors.
"The second reason that he don't want me to talk about this, but I'm gonna say it, is because he's got an unfinished tattoo on his collarbone, right here, that, honestly, looked terrible,” Correa told The Athletic regarding that video. "It was a bad tattoo. And he didn't want nobody to see it. He didn't want to show it at all."
Fans raced to Twitter to comment, and many had their own ideas about Jose Altuve's tattoo.
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Some fans thought that Correa was making the whole thing up.
JOSE ALTUVE: Wait, what did you say?
— Mike Beauvais (@MikeBeauvais) February 15, 2020
CARLOS CORREA: You need to get a bad tattoo.
JOSE ALTUVE: What? No. I don’t want to.
CARLOS CORREA: You kinda hafta now. On your collarbone. A really shitty one.
JOSE ALTUVE: No, I don-
CARLOS CORREA: Like today. I’ll drive you. pic.twitter.com/cEoVTP7lhU
random astros staffer just wildly driving around trying to find a place to buy kids temporary tattoos
— matt (@MattF15) February 15, 2020
Other fans did a little detective work to find said tattoo.
This pic is from 2019. Where’s the unfinished tattoo..? pic.twitter.com/CQcDoSkCha
— Tyson (@theR34Lbiscuit) February 15, 2020
Looks like he has the tattoo on his chest here. Some cursive writing pic.twitter.com/wgdQA63744
— Jomboy (@Jomboy_) February 15, 2020
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Several people pointed out that Altuve was hardly the first baseball player to have bad ink.
You can't tell me that Jose Altuve was embarrassed over a tattoo when Brandon Inge, Jose Tabata, and Scott Spiezio routinely showcased THESE: #Astros pic.twitter.com/LIZZwioMHr
— Geoff Magliocchetti (@GeoffMags5490) February 15, 2020
If Dereck Rodriguez can proudly display this forearm tattoo of Michelle Pfeiffer as Catwoman, then Jose Altuve should have no qualms about anything inked on his collarbone. #Astros pic.twitter.com/cVEc8Ron3R
— Matt Leland (@MattLeland) February 15, 2020
Most fans just decided for themselves what the tattoo was.
That tattoo does look really bad I get why Altuve and his teammates wanted to cover it up pic.twitter.com/j4FL6ORf0D
— David Mendelsohn (@BigBabyDavid_) February 15, 2020
We have found a picture of Jose Altuve's tattoo 😬 pic.twitter.com/XD5U0oVTkQ
— SNY (@SNYtv) February 15, 2020
When Carlos Correa says a crappy tattoo was why Altuve wouldn’t take his jersey off pic.twitter.com/lSmAWNYSko
— Jon Tayler, Smiling Politely (@JATayler) February 15, 2020
BREAKING: Leaked image of Altuve's tattoo which is cited as new excuse for not removing jersey after walk off HR to go to WS. pic.twitter.com/ObhaREiAiG
— DZ (@YankeesFan4299) February 15, 2020
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Reporters in the Astros clubhouse did confirm that Altuve does have a tattoo, however.
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
Melanie is the name of Altuve's 3-year-old daughter. Mystery solved? Maybe for now. ...