Kathy Willens, Associated Press Justin Miller, a pitcher in the Toronto organization, and his tattoos. Click photo for larger image.

SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- Wherever he pitches, Justin Miller is a marked man. Literally.

Multicolored tattoos of clowns cover almost his entire his left arm. This spring, umpires ruled the tattoos were a distraction to hitters and ordered the Toronto pitcher to wear a long-sleeved shirt under his uniform to cover them -- even though he throws right-handed.

"For me, my left arm shouldn't even be counted as a distraction. It's not part of my uniform, it's part of me," said Miller, who also has the words "love" and "hate" written on the knuckles of his pitching hand. "Right now, I just go along with what they tell me. The situation will take care of itself."

Miller spent most of 2002 as the fifth starter for the Toronto Blue Jays, then missed most of last season recovering from shoulder surgery. The flap over the tattoos surfaced in a spring training game in March.

Umpire supervisor Jim McKean said someone had complained. Miller said he saw it coming.

"It was something that always was in the back of my head," said Miller, who got his first tattoo at age 16 and someday hopes to have his whole body covered. "So when it came, it wasn't really that big of a shock, but at the same time I couldn't understand why."

Neither could Miller's teammates on the Class AAA Syracuse SkyChiefs.

"I thought it was a joke at first," Australian-born infielder Glenn Williams said. "But I guess that's the decision the umpires and Major League Baseball's made, and he just has to deal with it."

In this age where athletes in many sports show body ink, Miller is the only pro to face any consequences, even though he is not violating a baseball rule.

"They're concerned, as they are with jewelry, that it would be distracting to the hitter," said Rich Levin, a spokesman for Major League Baseball. "It's just because he's a pitcher. Players said they were having a hard time picking up the ball."

Miller might be the inspiration for the "Justin Miller Rule."

"If necessary, it probably will be addressed with some sort of rule change if our existing rules cannot be made applicable," said Sandy Alderson, executive vice president of baseball operations in the commissioner's office. "It's an unusual situation because the tattoo is so extensive. In the minds of some umpires, it's a legitimate distraction."

Miller, on the disabled list with a leg injury, couldn't care less.

"Just give me the ball every five days," he said. "I pitch with or without sleeves. Naked. Whatever."