Tattoo artist Brandon Bond has left his mark on many ballplayers, including members of both teams that met in the home opener Monday at Turner Field.
His clients on the Braves and Phillies are sporting new ink this year, some of it visible, some of it undercover.
But Bond, 38, will forgo sending back any starting pitchers with sore, newly inked arms before major games this year.
“Roger McDowell, the pitching coach for the Braves, he and I have gone back and forth about it,” said Bond, the owner of the All or Nothing studio in Smyrna. ”I’ve sent some of his guys back to him pretty swollen up at inopportune times throughout the season.”
Among the Braves that bear Bond tattoos are starting pitcher Kris Medlen and outfielder Jordan Schafer. Among his current and former Phillies clients are first baseman Ryan Howard and onetime first baseman Ross Gload.
Schafer, just back with the Braves after being traded to the Astros, was suspended 50 games in 2008 for using human growth hormone and was also arrested in 2011 on marijuana charges. One of his tattoos from Bond attests to his ability to recover from troubles: “Our greatest glory is not in rising but in the rising after the fall.”
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