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A gritty beard, worn proudly on the face of a sweat soaked athlete. It is a species of facial hair that has recently become ever present in a ball park that is anything but new.
You see while the traditions of beards in sports like hockey is something long established in sports history, these peculiar beasts are a new comer amidst the jungle of the Boston Red Sox dugout. They hitch hike on the faces of Sox players and hear the elected yells of their hosts as the Sox continue to rack up the wins.
While new names, a re-born culture of winning in Boston, and almost 8,00 runs on the year remain some of the most obvious ADDITIONS in this 2013 Red Sox team that has already seen so much success, one SUBTRACTION stands out as one of the biggest cultural impacts that this team has had on is city. That subtraction is that regarding the use of a razor.
While the Yankees insist on their players bearing shaved heads as well as clean cut and limited facial hair, the Red Sox have embraced the very opposite of that allowing the mighty beard to effectively take over this scruffy city of Boston.
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Fact is we don't really know for sure when it all started, but slowly but surely, the hair added up and before long it seemed that everyone on the Red Sox starting nine came to the park wielding the unfathomable power of the beard.
Johnny Gomes and Mike Napoli are two of the ringleaders in this far from select group of beard bearers.
"All right, I know you want to know what’s up with the beard I have. I’ve been keeping it trim. Believe it or not, you would think a long beard is low maintenance but it’s actually high maintenance. Everyone is trying to dig up what’s going on with it. These beards haven’t gotten a hit or thrown a strike all year, it’s still us behind them. We’re just having fun with it. It’s more a team chemistry thing." Gomes said in an ESPN "diary" entry he made back on September 1st.
Gomes then went on to acknowledge the fact that he and 1st basemen Mike Napoli look alike. "Honestly, if you’re looking for a difference between us, I'm an outfielder, he’s and infielder," he said before further eluding to a now regular situation at home when his young children get confused when "daddy is batting while he is also on the bench."
I feel you mini Gomes, it takes a whole lot of stare to look past the beard.
"We’re just having fun with it." Gomes said, but while confusing toddlers and growing itchy forests of scruffy hair on your face is undoubtedly one of the greatest joys a ball player can indulge in, there is another aspect of this all that's has actually had an effect on the game. *wink*
Much like the "Cowboy up" trend back in 2003 and the "Idiots" theme a year later, it seems that good teams use little gimmicks like these not simply to up ticket or promo sales but to also unify their clubhouse hand build the kind of camaraderie that wins you championships.
Another note, of the major beard growers on this Red Sox team, the large majority of them have put up some pretty good numbers. Obviously you have Johnny Gomes with the slew of pinch hit homers and Mike Napoli with his 22 homers period but when you delve even deeper, the growing number of "Soggy Bottom Boys" as they are referred to by ESPN, have all be excelling and thriving off of their claim to fame.
Mike Carp has put up stellar numbers in the less than 80 games he has played this season all while Shane Victorino has put up a career year in Beantown, David Ortiz has come back from an Achilles injury better than ever and heck, even Boston's once pathetic pitching staff is finally preforming at the level that it has the possibility of playing at.
2 years ago when they were under Terry Francona and 1 season ago when the Sox were caught up in that seemingly endless nosedive of a season, the gamesmanship simply was not there. Adrian Gonzolez would not have grown a beard along with his intentionally childish teammates, neither would Josh Beckett or even Dustin Pedroia who I point out, has a beard now.
In a way these beards are a testament to the character that Ben Cherrington has brought in and the feeling of fun an understanding of what it takes to win that has been cultivated by John Farrell. You see the bread tug that waits a player who returns after hitting a home run, but that is not all. Back in game two of that mid-August series with the Jays, the Red Sox were down 2 nothing in the top of the 9th. 2 outs had already been recorded against the Sox and with a Mike Napoli who had not been playing well for almost an entire month now striding to the plate, the game seamed over.
Sox fans made a soda run, grabbing thee remote and preparing to turn off the tv when they assumed that Napoli would strike out. But he didn't on the 1st pitch of his at bat, Napoli crushed a high fastball, driving it high but not very deep to right field. He rounded first thinking it was gone but when you looked to the dugout, there perhaps the most heartwarming moment shared by Sox players was unfolding. As they stood, eyes fixated on the tiny speck of white clear against the silver roof of the closed Rodgers Centre Dustin Pedroia was gleefully pounding his open hand against David Ortiz's shoulder. The ball was deep back, and gone, the game was tied and it was at that very moment that many fans finally realized the spectacular connection between the players, their beards and the product that was historically unfolding on the field before them.
The Red Sox have won 92 games, are 9 secure of the Rays for 1st in the east and have a team full of guys with greasy beards that will likely be no match for a peaty razor when their day ends. At this point in time I think no one in their right mind would ask the Sox to trim their beards but needless to say when the off-season rolls around, I would like to note that Craftsmen has some really nice chainsaws that might serve as a perfect tool for deforesting those overgrown chins.
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