Five questions with Pittsburgh Pirates' pitcher A.J. Burnett
Q: You're a pretty big "Walking Dead" fan, so what do you think will happen in tonight's season finale?
A: "I don't know what's going to happen. I have nothing. I know you can't kill the dad, because he's the doctor. Something has to be done there. ... I want to trust that lady (in charge of Alexandria) so bad. I want to, I want to. But there's always something. ... It can't be all goody-goody every time they go somewhere."
Q: Which characters on the show do you like?
A: "It's Daryl, for sure. But I'm a leader kind of guy, so I like to see Rick go back and forth."
Q: You, along with some of your Pirates teammates, got a chance to go to the show's set in 2012 when the group was still located at the prison. What was that like and did you chat with any of the actors?
A: "It was amazing. ... It was the prison year. They basically had one wall built and had the prison on both sides. ... We ate with Rick, Carol, Tyreese and Bob because Bob was new. Yeah, those four. Only four that were on the set. Good dudes. They were awesome. Rick (Andrew Lincoln) came over and started talking to us, and we were like, 'No, we want to hear the accent. Get rid of this American talk. What do you sound like?' And he started laughing. ... We saw the burn room where the zombies got burned, but we couldn't say anything because we saw it before it came out. So no pictures, no tweeting. ... It was really cool. I'm going to try to get the guys back out there again."
Q: You also have a passion for fishing. What is it about fishing that you enjoy so much?
A: "You're alone; it frees your mind up a little bit. (Jeff) Locke laughs at me, because I compare it to pitching. One pitch at a time, one cast at a time. You can throw 500 casts out there and not get a bite, but I can make another cast, another pitch. Honestly, I grew up Catholic and when I moved away from home, I stopped going to church. I'm still Catholic and I still pray, but I really don't go to church a lot. And I think that time is me and His time. I really get on the water and just wow. It's peaceful."
Q: You've got a lot of ink. Any of your tattoos have a special meaning, and, if so, which ones?
A: "Some do and some are just what I like. I have a Godzilla on my leg, which is my first full piece and that's because my oldest son is all about it. He's an artist. That's his favorite thing to draw. That's his favorite character. ... This one right there (pointing at the words 'Follow Me' on his left wrist), I used to sing that to my boys when they go to bed, the Uncle Cracker song, "Follow Me." So that's that. And the Pisces symbol is the kids, but the rest is just stuff I like and stuff I enjoy."
-- Jason Dill, Herald sports writer
This story was originally published March 29, 2015 at 12:00 AM with the headline "Five questions with Pittsburgh Pirates' pitcher A.J. Burnett."