The Hirsute Heads of Baseball

As a decades-old fan of Major League Baseball, I’ve watched the ups and downs of the players’ facial hair.

When professional baseball was in its infancy, mustaches, particularly handle bars, were the norm. Yep, tip-curling handlebars and the like. More than anything other than the game itself, lip hair defined the sport’s image.

Then suddenly, following World War I, they were gone, Speculation is that the nasty monarchs and country leaders who were on the opposite side from the United States all had mustaches. And how could the All-American game endorse something like that?

Most sources I could find cite long-time American League catcher Wally Schang (Philadelphia Athletics, 1914) as the last player to sport facial hair. New rules were set by team owners about grooming; smooth faces were the norm from 1914 into the 1970s.

Then, during the 1971-72 offseason, Oakland Athletics’ all-world outfielder Reggie Jackson decided that he was going to do something different. A’s owner Charlie Finley didn’t like it. He had Athletics manager Dick Williams tell Reggie to shave, but Reggie told Williams where he could shove it.

So Finley engaged in some reverse psychology. He asked A’s pitchers Catfish Hunter, Rollie Fingers, Darold Knowles, and Bob Locker to all grow mustaches.

He even offered a cash incentive—$300—to any player who’d successfully grown a mustache by Father’s Day. The whole team joined in. Even manager Dick Williams grew one. The A’s came to be known as the “Mustache Gang.”

Today, well today, 50 years later, there are too many player beards to count. I’ve especially noticed this since the Covid pandemic started and barbershops were forced to close. But it never crossed my mind to write a blog post about it until I saw a Los Angeles Angels-Los Angeles Dodgers game on TV this summer.

Angels outfielder Brandon Marsh and Colorado Rockies outfielder Charlie Blackmon have the wildest head, face and neck hair of any MLB player I’ve ever seen. And I’ve seen thousands over the years, live and on TV.

I’m thinking of investing in razor blade and electric razor companies, preparing for the day when the trend reverses.