New Red Sox starter Walker Buehler celebrated shirtless in the Dodgers clubhouse after Los Angeles clinched the NL West title last Sept. 26.
A TV camera caught a glimpse of his gigantic back tattoos, including the inscription “St. Christopher” at the top.
Some fans posted photos of it on X with one user, writing, “ok but can we talk about Walker Buehler’s back tattoo because” …
Buehler — who recorded the final out of the 2024 World Series and has a 3.04 ERA in 19 career postseason games (18 starts) — discussed the tattoo and much more in a Q&A Thursday at JetBlue Park.
The 30-year-old righty signed a one-year, $21.05 million contract with Boston in December.
He returned from Tommy John surgery last season. He struggled some during the regular season but he finished strong. He then posted a 3.60 ERA (15 innings, six runs) in the postseason. He tossed 10 scoreless innings and allowed just five hits in the NLCS and World Series.
Smith: The first time you ever talked to a group of reporters after you got drafted, you told them you were a fan of Zack Greinke. Why is that?
Buehler: “Zack’s obviously built similar to me like frame-wise and all that kind of stuff. But he was one of those guys that could pitch at 90 or 100 (mph) and he kind of did both — and had success both ways. And growing up I just liked watching him. I had a few guys.”
Smith: Who else?
Buehler: “We watched a lot of (Justin) Verlander growing up. Then a bunch of the Reds guys just because I went to a lot of games up there. Bronson Arroyo, (Mat) Latos. (Aaron) Harang. (Johnny) Cueto. (Edinson) Vólquez. All those guys.”
Smith: You’re from the Lexington, Kentucky area right?
Buehler: “Yeah, my dad lived in Cincy though.”
Smith: Who was your favorite Reds player?
Buehler: “Probably Austin Kearns. He’s from Lexington. So he was kind of all of our favorite players growing up.”
Smith: I think your cutter is your second most used pitch (behind the fastball) and your third most used pitch is the knuckle curveball. What do you consider your best secondary pitch?
Buehler: “Probably now my cutter. Earlier in my career I didn’t really throw one. I had like a little harder slider and didn’t throw the big sweeper. So the cutter and sweeper kind of went hand in hand in terms of the development of them. Yeah, I certainly throw a lot of cutters. And I think it’s helped me have a little bit more success than I would have against left-(handed hitters) without it.”
Smith: And when you’ve been on in your career, the fastball has been extremely big for you.
Buehler: “Yeah, the first couple years of my career I was one of the harder-throwing starters. And I’ve always had decent characteristics on the stuff. But I think when you’re young there’s a little bit of that fearful ignorance where you’re facing your heroes and kind of all you can do is try and throw as hard as you can and hope it works out.
“It’s obviously a little bit different now just having aged and kind of the surgeries and stuff like that. But at the end of the day, I still want to throw fastballs and kind of work off of that.”
Smith: When you guys were celebrating after (clinching) last year there was a photo on Twitter of your back tattoo with St. Christopher at the top. Why St. Christopher?
Buehler: “My parents split up when I was really young and my dad lived two hours away from where I live. So he lived in Cincy and I lived in Lexington. And so I was traveling a lot to see my dad. And my great grandfather gave me a St. Christopher medal, the Patron Saint of Travel. And as sad as it is I kept losing them. I probably lost six or eight of them over the years and finally just got it tattooed on me so I can’t lose it.”
Smith: How old were you when you got that one?
Buehler: “I started that one in 2020 and got it finished in 2022. And then I had the other giant one that I got done this past April.”
Smith: What is that of?
Buehler: “It’s an eagle holding a snake.
“Yeah, there’s some personal stuff to it that I don’t really want to go into.”
Smith: Your Vanderbilt college profile lists owning a gecko as your oddest talent. I don’t know if you really owned one or you were kidding.
Buehler: “No, I did. I had one in college. He ended up passing away. There may have been a mishap on a weekend that may have injured him. And yeah, we lost him. But he was kind of our team gecko back in the day.”
Smith: What other animals have you owned? Is that the most …
Buehler: “(Most) obscure one, for sure. Yeah, we’re dog people. My wife and I have three dogs.”
Smith: What kind of dogs?
Buehler: “We have two French Bulldogs and then I have a Boykin Spaniel, just kind of like a little hunting dog.”
Smith: And on that Vanderbilt profile you also said that if you weren’t playing baseball you would be either a lawyer or a politician. Does that still stand?
Buehler: “I mean I don’t think I would want to go back and do school now but at the time that certainly was what I was interested in. I was a poli-sci major so I think it kind of still tracks.”
Smith: What was your favorite part of Cape Code when you were down there playing in the Cape Cod League?
Buehler: “It was just a fun experience. It’s a fun way to play baseball. I think largely when you’re playing high-level SEC competitive baseball, to go and show up and have fun and play with the new team is a refreshing thing.
“We were pretty successful and won the Cape that year. So the group we were with was great and played in YD, which was awesome. And played a lot of putt, putt while we were up there.”
Smith: Favorite sport besides baseball?
Buehler: “Golf, for sure.”
Smith: How long have you been golfing for?
Buehler: “Forever. My dad was better at golf than anything else and got me into it pretty young. I’m still not very good but…”
Smith: What’s your handicap?
Buehler: “I’m a 9 or 10.”
Smith: That’s good?
Buehler: “I don’t know about that. A lot of the guys I’ve played with over the years are a lot better than me.”
Smith: What other hobbies do you have?
Buehler: “Not a ton. We do a lot of duck hunting back home in the offseason. We own an 84-acre farm and kind of mess around with that. Yeah, that and getting ready for the season is about all we do.”
Smith: I didn’t even ask anything about Ferris Bueller, so that’s pretty good. But what is your favorite Matthew Broderick movie besides that?
Buehler: “I like the Painkiller (miniseries) thing that he was in a couple years ago. But yeah, the Ferris Bueller thing has been pretty funny my whole life.”
Smith: And you used to wear Ferris on your jersey for Player’s Weekend.
Buehler: “Yeah, I wish they would do that again. I thought that Players’ Weekend thing was cool.”
- BETTING: Check out our MA sports betting guide, where you can learn basic terminology, definitions and how to read odds for those interested in learning how to bet in Massachusetts.
