Friends and Family have asked me to draw tattoo art for them on occasion. My brother James recently asked me to do the Robot Observatory sleeve art for his next tattoo adventure. It was definitely fun and a cool idea. I guess it's going to wrap around his arm so the eyeglass at the end is peeking into his ear.

Since the art of tattooing has snowballed taking the plunge and getting tattooed is a little less intimidating. That's why I told the players on my little league team that if they beat one of our arch rivals I would get a tattoo. I guess I decided that I could handle getting one before I ever promised it so it wasn't that big a deal to offer it up during the all-star tournament in 2010. They didn't beat them that year, unfortunately, so I was off the hook.

As the new season started in 2011 many of the same players joined my team and when they found out that our arch rivals were once again on the schedule they called me out. “So if we win are you getting the tattoo?” I was somewhat taken aback and acted non-committal, but they kept at me until I relented. “Yeah, I'll do it,” I said. Naturally they went out and won the game. So now the proverbial ball was in my hands. I stressed a little about the whole ordeal knowing that this thing was permanent.

Toward the end of the season I came to grips with it all and made an appointment at the local shop. My son and his teammate joined me as witnesses and I went for it. I had drawn up the art the previous year and pulled it out of the archives. The tattoo artist made the stencil the night before and was ready to dig in when we arrived. As soon as she started I relaxed. It was a done deal.

It was nice work and I'm glad I did it. It reminds me of my lifelong love for the game of baseball and also of the 14 years I've spent coaching little league. It's a tribute to the kids that have played for me and the kids I'll surely coach in the future. The players on my team were impressed, but the take home message I wanted them to know is that I'm a man of my word and they can count on me in baseball and in life.

To quote a friend, "Same thing makes you laugh, makes you cry." – Mark Barnes