Bearded baseball players

[stan the man]

What's with all the beards.   Every Boston player
has a full beard. Looks a little ridiculous to me. Playing in
An antiquated stadium with what looks like old men with
Beards.  Bring back Sparky Anderson

[dhornjr1]

I don't know if it's "Duck Dynasty" thing or if it's an homage to Brian Wilson but here is a story about it.

http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/baseball/follicle-classic-mlb-beards-dynasties-grown-built-october-article-1.1482449

Baseball's best beards turning World Series into the Follicle Classic
A quick look into the dugouts of the Red Sox, Dodgers, A's and others show the renaissance of the baseball beard this MLB postseason.

Baseball's postseason, with all its drama and tension, can be a hairy situation any year. But this October is turning into the, um, Follicle Classic.

Teams such as the Red Sox and A's have not only brought their cities playoff buzz, they've also brought playoff fuzz in the form of flowing beards. It's all part of the hirsute pursuit of a dynasty, and we're not talking about those bearded guys on "Duck Dynasty," either, more like part team bonding and, maybe, part superstition.

"I'll shave it off when we win the World Series," said Red Sox catcher David Ross, whose gray-flecked beard is known as "The Wolf." "That's when I want to shave it off."

It's no surprise that players feel woolly camaraderie when they all grow beards together, said Gary Norman, the founder of The Society of Bearded Gentlemen (beardedgents.com), a group whose motto is, "Many beards, one nation."

"There really is a brotherhood of the beard," said Norman, who hasn't shaved in six years and currently sports a 14-inch beard. "It's a journey a man goes through, especially if you're growing a longer beard. You learn what you can deal with, about other people and their reaction.

"All the great men of history had beards."

Maybe not in baseball history, but beards and sports together are nothing new. "Playoff beards" have long been a staple of hockey's chase for Lord Stanley's Cup. The 1970s A's thrived on mustaches.

This year's Yankees weren't fit for the playoffs, both on the field and in another way — team policy doesn't allow the bristly stuff below the upper lip.

Ex-Giants closer Brian Wilson might be The Beardfather of baseball's recent dabbling, considering he jolted fans in 2010 with his long, black beard as San Francisco won the first of two World Series in a three-year span. Giants fans even chanted, "Fear the Beard."

Wilson is back in the playoffs with the Dodgers, and some of their fans have embraced his look now. Before Game 3 of the division series, Ryan Vaughan, a 32-year-old Dodger fan from Bakersfield, Calif., roamed a Dodger Stadium concourse wearing a fake beard like Wilson's. Vaughan bought the beard for "$10 or $15 off eBay" and then Wilson-ized it himself, tying it off on the bottom like the reliever.

"In baseball, you get on a streak, some guys won't wash their socks, others will grow facial hair," Vaughan said. "You can see they take it seriously. Yeah, they're getting paid a lot of money, but they really believe in what they're doing, and the beards are a reflection of that.

"Putting on this beard kind of invigorates me as a fan. I don't want to say it's like a uniform, but you wear a shirt or a hat and this is another step in the process. This beard makes me feel good."

Fair enough. But for the players, sometimes there are complications. Postgame spreads can be a challenge. Eating fried chicken with a beard? Messy. Of course, that was messy for the Red Sox long before they were bewhiskered, if you remember the debacle of 2011.

This year's Red Sox go together like Civil War generals and beards, though. It all started in spring training when a few players decided to grow out their scruff.

Ross initially trimmed his — as a catcher, he has to deal with a mask, remember. But when he did, Mike Napoli looked "like I'd shot his dog," Ross said. "Then he told me not to shave anymore.

"From then on, we started shaping them and it just kind of caught on," added Ross, who now carries a beard comb and says the Sox clubhouse is full of beard care products. "We've all been growing them out since spring training."

Now when a Sox player does something good, his teammates yank on his beard to celebrate. It can be painful and, sometimes, sticky — Napoli once grabbed Stephen Drew's beard while Napoli had pine tar on his hands. "It took him three days to get the pine tar out of there," Ross said.

The beards have been getting all sorts of attention throughout the season. The Red Sox hosted a "Dollar Beard Night" on Sept. 18, where fans with real or fake beards could buy $1 tickets.

Oakland's Josh Reddick traded tufted trash talk with WWE wrestler Daniel Bryan over whose beard was better.

On the Red Sox, it's tough to say whose beard is best. From afar, Norman likes Napoli's. "It's just cool," Norman said.

"Napoli has the biggest, but (David) Ortiz has had his for a long time," Ross added.

"His is trimmed perfectly all the time — it's a classic now because it's his style. Jonny (Gomes) came into spring training with a nice one going.

"Ortiz might be the oldest, but Nap's is the biggest and Jonny's looks the craziest... It's fun."

[KCRazorbackfan]

There are some MLB players out there that have really great looking beards, but man, there are some guys that have some scraggly looking hair on their face; I have hair that grows wild that looks better than some of those guys beards.

[clutch]

Nobody in baseball has a nicer beard than Jamie Garcia. It's not your typical baseball beard because it isn't long, but always perfect. He must carry a barber around with him to keep that thing lined up.

I guess it's not really a beard though, just facial hair.

[TomasPistola]

Brian Wilson has been growing that thing forever. I think his beard predates Duck Dynasty.

[johnny cash]

Johnny Damon started that when he played there when they reversed the curse.

[dacskc]

 The  beards are a source of confusion to some. Somebody on Twitter said that his Grandma asked if the Tigers were playing an Amish team, lol.

[pigture perfect]

The Sons of David were a travelling exhibition baseball team in the early part of last century. They were to baseball what the Globetrotters are to basketball. They all had long beards and were a very popular draw.

[The Boar War]

The Sons of David were a travelling exhibition baseball team in the early part of last century. They were to baseball what the Globetrotters are to basketball. They all had long beards and were a very popular draw.

[Jackrabbit Hog]

Back in the '70s it was moustaches.  The Oakland A's had a team full of them and Charlie Finley actually encouraged the players to grow them.  It's a trend; it will eventually pass like all others.

[Jackrabbit Hog]

Brian Wilson's long lost brother.

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[hoglady]

What's with all the beards.   Every Boston player
has a full beard. Looks a little ridiculous to me. Playing in
An antiquated stadium with what looks like old men with
Beards.  Bring back Sparky Anderson

Antiquated stadium???
Fenway is a wonderful baseball park with a ton of history, they have updated as much as possible. I hope they never quit playing baseball there or Wrigley Field.
The ballpark at Arlington is nice with alot of bells and whistles - but give me Fenway or Wrigley anyday.

[Masshog]

Fenway is wonderful and cool....  Unless you are 6'3" ....  In which case it can be agony after a couple of hours.  Built for much smaller people.  But, I wouldn't trade it.