Hi gang! I thought I would lighten the mood around the morgue and talk about a subject I know a little about. Beards. As I was looking through my baseball cards, I noticed the obvious. There is a lot more facial hair in the game today than when I first started watching the game.
Clean faces were the thing. Back in the 1800’s, a lot of players favored wearing a moustache. In fact in a team photo of the 1890 Brooklyn team, they all have them.
Not sure when the trend changed, but after the turn of the century they seemed to die out. Most cards of the era show players with clean shaven faces. This continues into the late 60’s when Finley’s A’s started to bring back the hair.
I do not recall having a single baseball card that showed any player with any kind of facial hair whatsoever. Most teams had dress codes. Suits and ties when traveling and no facial hair. I know Sparky Anderson was pretty vocal about that when he was with the Reds.
The only Reds player I remember with facial hair from those times was George Foster. And he was allowed that because he had a serious skin condition that would not allow him to shave.
Today, it is totally different. I cannot think of a single team, except the Yankees, who do not allow facial hair at all, who does not have some bearded up or mustachioed player. Some are quite extravagant with their beards. The flowing handlebar moustache that Rollie Fingers had was one of a kind.
But today’s players sport thin, or bushy, or maybe a goatee type, and some might even go the Van Dyke route. The Dodgers have several. Of course Turner, who’s is the most impressive and full, and since it is red, it stands out a lot. Kershaw looks like he just rolled out of bed and decided not to shave for a while.
May’s is shorter than Turners, but no less red. Gonsolin had a full beard, but somewhere along the way removed most of it. Smith has peach fuzz. Cody’s also looks scraggly. Jansen seems like he spends a lot of time at his barber’s, same with Price. Max’s is well maintained and trimmed neatly.
Kike’s attempt at a moustache this last season was rather pitiful. Pollock cannot seem to decide if he wants one or not. Most of the kids are clean shaven though.
I have tried to imagine players like Mays, Ruth, Gehrig, and Musial with facial hair. Just does not compute. If my memory is good, I do not think I have seen a manager with so much as a moustache. I could be wrong, but I think most coaching staff and managers are clean shaven.
Then of course, back in the day there was the House of David. A Jewish team that toured and played other teams for many years, and were featured in Red Skelton’s movie, Whistling in Brooklyn.
It will be interesting to see how long the trend continues. Beards in the summer are itchy and hard to maintain. Moustaches are easier. Of course these guys can afford to go to a barber as often as they like. Some might even have their own hairdressers.
Matt Kemp when he was with the Dodgers kept his trimmed neatly. Last season in Colorado, exactly the opposite was true. It looked very unkempt. If Turner goes elsewhere, we will not only be losing a talented player, we will be losing one of the better beards in the majors.
Discussion (31)
Disagree, not disagreeable
Please do not consider this a negative or insensitive question, Bear. I just wondered if children thought you might be Santa Claus at some time in your life. I am sure you would be a great one with that beard and your jolly personality.
Former Dodger and A, Dave Stewart has placed a 120 million dollar bid to buy the City of Oakland’s half of the coliseum. The A’s own the other half. A’s have plans to build a new stadium 7 miles to the north. Stewart has plans on developing the area where the coliseum now sits.
Outstanding beard Bear… You could pass as my brother from a different mother… In the late 60’s Admiral Elmo Zumwalt Jr. relaxed beard bans and the rest was history… I was in an Anti-Sub Warfare group stationed out of Los Alamitos, Ca… With the exception of the old timers (lifers), this was a magical day…
It’s a gut feeling, but well land JT on a 2+1 contract.
I really hope Belli works on his swing, becuz it’s a swing waiting for a DL stint…
This will be a telling year for Belly. Is he a good player or a superstar! We need him to be the latter! How much longer before we sign Turner. No one is giving him 4 years or 20mil/yr and he’s not leaving the Dodgers for a couple extra mil. AF will make it happen. Two years 26 mil with a mutual 3rd year option or a deal like DJLM. 4 years 35 mil because he can dh.Opening day he’s our third baseman!
Snow in the forecast for the next two days. Cmon spring training!
Top Five Players in Baseball in WAR for 2019 season and 2020 partial season:
1. Trout – 11.2
2. Rendon – 9.7
3. Betts – 9.6
4. Bregman – 9.4
5. Bellinger – 9.0
FYI – Max Muncy and Corey Seager are tied for #37 at 5.2
I just saw that Cody Bellinger was ranked the #2 CF’er in baseball. That smells fishy to me… like Trout!
FWIW – Per Buster Olney – “Because Cody Bellinger had shoulder surgery after the World Series, he hasn’t yet had a chance to work on the swing that gave him trouble for a lot of the 60-game season.” Some have taken that comment and said that Belli has not swung a bat since the end of the WS. That is not what Olney wrote.
Reportedly, Toronto has offered a five year deal over $100MM for Springer. The Mets are within $27MM of the threshold. Are they willing to go more than $20MM-$21MM for Springer? I am guessing that they may find a better deal for Jackie Bradley Jr. or trade for Kiermaier. JBJ and Brad Hand will probably be better for NYM than just Springer. The problem with both of those guys is that they are LH hitters. With Conforto and Nimmo, they could use a RH batter. I still say they should look at Kike’ in CF. He is a big defensive upgrade over Nimmo, and with their offense, they could deal with Kike’s weak attack against LH pitching. Against a tough lefty pitcher, they could always move Guillorme to 2nd and McNeil in the OF. And they could still improve their pen even more with Hand and stay under the threshold. How much fun with Lindor and Kike’ would that dugout be?
I am not sure that Springer is going to get a better offer. Toronto with Springer and Bauer? If they can get Springer for $20MM AAV, that sets them up for a Bauer offer that no other team will be able to match. It is all starting to come together now that the players are realizing that there opportunities are not as wide as they thought.
Bear, I have to admit, when I was putting this together for you, I knew I had to find a special place for your picture with that beard. What better place than at the top. That is a very impressive beard. Good fun article as well. We need more of these when all we generally do is pontificate about roster construction. BTW, which is also fun.
Smith has peach fuzz
Very funny Bear
I am good with what we have
Assuming we get JT back which I believe we will.
Let me join the others in complementing the beard Bear.
Don’t want to ruin your day but I just saw on Twitter that Mark is working a deal with the Yankees to trade you over to their blog. Will you shave the beard or retire?
Fun fact: Davante Adams wasn’t the best WR on his high school team. The other receiver, Joc Pederson, had better stats!
https://www.sportscasting.com/packers-star-davante-adams-was-the-second-best-wide-receiver-on-his-high-school-team-behind-a-guy-who-just-won-a-world-series/
Williams and Koufax must have traded gloves as a joke….
Podres, Snider, Erskine, Zimmer.
That’s Bob sitting behind them.
Bear now that’s a beard Santa would be jealous of! Not just the players of old but I always get a kick out of how dressed up the fans were. Ties and jackets with a nice hat! Different times today!