Mesa's admiration for Messi stems from classic sibling rivalry. His brother was a Real Madrid fan, so Mesa rooted for Barcelona as the contrarian pick.
When Messi started to come out I was like 5, 6 years old. I liked him a lot. Since then I've been following him.
The first tattoo, which Mesa got in 2021, portrays Messi pointing his index fingers to the sky, his signature celebration.
The second piece of ink shows Messi holding up Mesa's very own jersey. At the time, Mesa was in the Miami Marlins farm system. When Messi visited South Florida in 2021, Mesa tried to meet the legend. The meeting did not happen, but Mesa was able to give Messi's nephew his jersey. Mesa eventually received a photo of Messi holding the jersey with Mesa's nameplate on it.
I come from Cuba and for us it's almost impossible to reach those personalities. For him to have my jersey, and hold my jersey, to me that's everything.
The third tattoo depicts Messi kissing the 2022 World Cup trophy. Argentina defeated France 4-2 in a penalty shootout after a 3-3 draw in one of the most dramatic World Cup finals on record. Mesa got that tattoo on Dec. 18, 2022, the same day Argentina won the World Cup.
As soon as he won the World Cup, Dec. 18, 2022, I went straight to the tattoo guy. The game was like 10 a.m. (EST) and I went straight after the game at like 3 p.m., 4 p.m.
Mesa was acquired from the Marlins in spring training and first called up to the Rays' active roster at the end of May after a hamstring injury sidelined outfielder Jonny DeLuca. He plans to root for Argentina again in the World Cup, with Argentina's next game set for Monday against Austria, and Mesa continues to hope he will one day meet Messi in person.
