MLB Star Madison Bumgarner Has Been Secretly Competing in Rodeos Under an Alias

Not only is MLB star Madison Bumgarner a three-time World Series champion, but he’s also a successful rodeo competitor — albeit under a different name.

The Arizona Diamondbacks pitcher, 30, admitted to secretly competing as a professional cattle-roper in a report by The Athletic published on Sunday, telling the sports outlet that he has been taking part in rodeo events under the alias “Mason Saunders” to avoid attracting attention for some time.

The baseball player’s rodeo identity is a nod to his wife Ali, according to Bumgarner, who used her maiden name as his alter ego’s surname and “Mason” — a shortened version of Madison — because it’s “something for my wife to call me when we were out in public to keep people from recognizing me.”

“But you’re going to ruin that for me,” he told The Athletic.

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In December, Bumgarner’s “Mason Saunders” persona won $26,560 with partner Jaxson Tucker after roping four steers in 31.36 seconds, according to the Facebook page of Rancho Rio, an Arizona-based equine facility that hosts cattle roping competitions. He also came in second in another event, earning him an additional $8,080 with Ranger Hill, according to the organization’s official website.

Rancho Rio shared photos of “Saunders” on social media following the rodeo competition. When shown to Bumgarner, the athlete joked to The Athletic, “This is ruining my alias.”

Bumgarner previously spoke of his passion for roping in a 2016 interview with MLB.com, revealing that he learned the skill from his future father-in-law when he was a teenager growing up in North Carolina.

“I grew up in a rural area. We have a few horses and rode, but it was more trail riding. I met my wife when we were 16. Her family had a few more horses, performance horses. Her family team roped,” he said at the time. “I wanted to try it, but I wanted to know somebody really good to learn from. That was her dad, Mark Saunders, and brother, Tanner. Tanner rodeos.”

He continued, “It’s tough. Before you learn, I’d say you need to just rope for a good month — and that’s only the start. It took maybe a year to get good at swinging the loop. I thought it would be just as hard as it is. I’d watch people roping.”

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Bumgarner, who previously played with the San Francisco Giants for 11 years, was a free agent at the time of the December competition. He signed a five-year, $85 million contract with Arizona Diamondbacks just weeks after his rodeo win.

Diamonbacks general manager Mike Hazen said on Monday that he was unaware of the pitcher’s rodeo success prior to the new report.

“Madison is a grown man and we know he’s committed to helping us achieve our goals as a team,” he told the Arizona Republic. “Those have been the conversations that we’ve had, from the time we first talked to him until very recently.”

It’s unclear if Bumgarner’s contract forbids him to participate in rodeo activities, though Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo characterized the situation as “a non-issue” to MLB.com.

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“Everyone wants to know if I talked to Madison or had to call him in and that’s not the case,” he said. “We have daily conversations with Madison. Still getting to know him. I enjoy those conversations. What those are and what direction those go in are private to me. It would be the same if it is a topic like it is or a topic we normally go over. He’s here to compete. He’s here to help us grow and learn and win a championship. He’s a great teammate and we are getting to know him.”

A rep for Bumgarner did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment. Mike Hazen, the Dimondbacks executive vice president and general manager, told PEOPLE, “I am not going to get into discussing specific contract language.”