Tat's all, folks! Dodgers fan gets Beaty ink, Beaty gets dealt

March 30th, 2022

Earlier this spring, Matt Beaty and Cody Bellinger made headlines when they received -- and granted -- an unusual request from a Dodgers fan at Camelback Ranch.

The fan asked both players to sign his forearm, promising Bellinger he would have both signatures tattooed. Later that evening, he did just that.

A little more than a week later, on March 23, owing to the Dodgers' loaded roster, Beaty was designated for assignment. The Padres acquired him on Monday in exchange for INF/RHP River Ryan, leaving that devoted fan with the permanent autograph of a division rival. To add insult to injury, Beaty signed his name with his uniform number -- which he swapped for a new one after the trade.

ā€œWell, if he wants to scratch out the No. 45 and put in No. 27, I’m happy to do that for him,ā€ Beaty joked. ā€œIt’s crazy. I didn’t even know what was going on. You know how it is at Camelback [Ranch], there are so many fans there, and I like to sign as many as possible because I was a kid that was a Braves fan and tried to get as many signatures as possible.

ā€œThis guy sticks his arm with Cody’s [autograph] and he’s like, ā€˜Hey, sign my arm, too.’ And I’m like, ā€˜Sure,ā€™ā€ Beaty continued. ā€œThen later that night, of course, I get notifications [of the tattoo] and I’m like, ā€˜Geez, what is this guy thinking?’ It’s going to be with that guy for a long time.ā€