"Fear
the Beard".
In the 2010 postseason Brian Wilson begin to grow his [ now epic] beard and as the postseason progressed, Wilson's beard grew, he secured save after save and Giants fan cheered chants of "fear the beard" which grew louder and louder with each of Wilson's mound appearances.
In the 2010 postseason Brian Wilson begin to grow his [ now epic] beard and as the postseason progressed, Wilson's beard grew, he secured save after save and Giants fan cheered chants of "fear the beard" which grew louder and louder with each of Wilson's mound appearances.
Nearly
three years later, Wilson hasn't touched his beard, which now has a braid of its
own and is still tanning in the California sun. Meanwhile Wilson has found a
home with the Giant's NL rival the Los Angeles Dodgers and Wilson is still
doing what he's paid to do - get strikeouts, he even claimed in an interview he
just wants to pitch in the majors, he doesn't care who he pitches for. That
folks is the words of a die-hard baseball
player.
[Brian Wilson and his Beard via CBSSports.com]
[Jason Werth and his beard via The Washington Post]
With
Wilson started a trend of bearded all stars, players who looked more like
homeless men than actual baseball players. It merely started with Wilson because of the Giants World Series run [and win] that allowed those who weren't "die-hard" baseball fans to see such charisma of the likes of Wilson. Wilson's beard was followed by the
likes of Jason Werth, Josh Reddick, and John Axford.
The homeless-chic beard that Jason Werth dawns came into existence around the same time as Wilsons [if not before, but sometime in 2010, it's also important to note that Werth has had facial hair for about 10 years, but not as "wild"]. His beard even has its own twitter handle [@JWerthsBeard] that posts humorous tweets and has somewhat of its own occult following.
Josh Reddick's beard came about during the 2012-2013 offseason and even at one point he had a "beard-off" with WWE superstar Daniel Bryan [though Reddick more or less ended it when he shaved his beard during a slump]. Reddick [like Werth] has a beard that compares to that of a homeless person.
The homeless-chic beard that Jason Werth dawns came into existence around the same time as Wilsons [if not before, but sometime in 2010, it's also important to note that Werth has had facial hair for about 10 years, but not as "wild"]. His beard even has its own twitter handle [@JWerthsBeard] that posts humorous tweets and has somewhat of its own occult following.
Josh Reddick's beard came about during the 2012-2013 offseason and even at one point he had a "beard-off" with WWE superstar Daniel Bryan [though Reddick more or less ended it when he shaved his beard during a slump]. Reddick [like Werth] has a beard that compares to that of a homeless person.
[Image via whitesoxinteractive.com]
St. Louis Cardinals reliever John Axford holds the claim of mustache aficionado [according to his twitter bio @JohnAxford], and while he doesn't sport a beard like a homeless person, his ability to grow anything from an epic 'stache to a set of handlebars is impressive in itself, it's arguable that Axford grows the best all-around facial hair. Axford was working as a bartender and a cell phone salesman when he signed a minor league deal with the Brewers. Axford went to convert 26 consecutive saves in 2011 [which became a Brewer's franchise record] as well as 46 season saves [which too is a Brewer's franchise record].
St. Louis Cardinals reliever John Axford holds the claim of mustache aficionado [according to his twitter bio @JohnAxford], and while he doesn't sport a beard like a homeless person, his ability to grow anything from an epic 'stache to a set of handlebars is impressive in itself, it's arguable that Axford grows the best all-around facial hair. Axford was working as a bartender and a cell phone salesman when he signed a minor league deal with the Brewers. Axford went to convert 26 consecutive saves in 2011 [which became a Brewer's franchise record] as well as 46 season saves [which too is a Brewer's franchise record].
[Image via Yahoo Sports]
During the 2012-2013 offseason Josh Reddick's beard made an appearance on MLB's Intentional Talk. He had facial hair before the off-season but he sort of "let it go" during the off-season.
During the 2012-2013 offseason Josh Reddick's beard made an appearance on MLB's Intentional Talk. He had facial hair before the off-season but he sort of "let it go" during the off-season.
[When I was editing this I discovered it was 2-27-13 and you can see it here:
This interview instantly made me a fan of Reddick and from there his beard began to garner a sort-of cult following [at least from me if not other non-Athletic's fans, I thought it was awesome that a pro baseball player loved the WWE as
much as I do and at the time his beard was phenomenal]. Soon after, I began
following Reddick on twitter and saw him retweet an article about him and [at
the time] fellow teammate Travis Blackley.
The exact article can be found at:
http://www.sfgate.com/
The article described a "bro-mance" of some sort. Both players are as opposite as it gets, Reddick is a redneck from the south and Blackley is from Australia. While Reddick has an impressive beard and a fondness for the WWE, I felt myself more drawn to Blackley, with his sleeves of tattoos and heavy metal music [I'm too scared of what my parents would do to me to ever get a tattoo let alone an entire sleeve, but I do love heavy metal music, Killswitch Engage anyone?] On his twitter bio Blackley describes himself as "just an Aussie bloke trying to follow his dreams" [you can follow Travis on twitter @Travis_Blackley], which to me is a much better attitude than someone like Lebron James [I'm sure the kids on his special had a lot to do with his decision to go to Miami] or Johnny Manziel [or football or whatever else he's calling himself these days while signing autographs in the air and hotel rooms].
[Image via sfgate.com]
As I began to follow Travis and see his various tattoos [Axford, Reddick and Wilson have tattoos as well but not nearly as many or as much as Blackley] of an a-typical of a heavy metal musician, I stumbled upon the twitter account of Benjamin Christensen [he's on twitter as @shakabrodie and was once a member of the MLB fan cave].
Benjamin has a goal to get a tattoo of every MLB and MiLB mascot, past and present [I think, if you're reading this Benjamin, feel free to correct me on exactly what it is!]. While he doesn't have the heavy metal tattoos like Travis Blackley, it's certainly much more original [and awesome!] to get tattoos of every mascot, ever, that certainly takes more thought and devotion than getting a new school American style koi fish [I don't think Blackley has one, though I could be wrong] .
Christensen has his own blog called Hats and Tats: A Lifestyle where he discusses the tattoos he has as well as the hundreds of new era caps which he owns [in a tribute to the long and spectacular history of the game]. It's worth a read for anyone interested in baseball culture.
As I began to follow Travis and see his various tattoos [Axford, Reddick and Wilson have tattoos as well but not nearly as many or as much as Blackley] of an a-typical of a heavy metal musician, I stumbled upon the twitter account of Benjamin Christensen [he's on twitter as @shakabrodie and was once a member of the MLB fan cave].
Benjamin has a goal to get a tattoo of every MLB and MiLB mascot, past and present [I think, if you're reading this Benjamin, feel free to correct me on exactly what it is!]. While he doesn't have the heavy metal tattoos like Travis Blackley, it's certainly much more original [and awesome!] to get tattoos of every mascot, ever, that certainly takes more thought and devotion than getting a new school American style koi fish [I don't think Blackley has one, though I could be wrong] .
Christensen has his own blog called Hats and Tats: A Lifestyle where he discusses the tattoos he has as well as the hundreds of new era caps which he owns [in a tribute to the long and spectacular history of the game]. It's worth a read for anyone interested in baseball culture.
You can read his posts here:
http://hatsandtats.blogspot.
Having people on both sides of the game [Blackely as a player and Christensen on the media side] dawning tattoos and beards [oh yeah, I forgot to mention that Christensen has beard that rivals even Reddick's].
With the charisma of people like Brian Wilson [who claims to mastered the art of a ninja in 12 minutes while dreaming as well as receiving a ligament transplant from BigFoot] the ink of Travis Blackley and Benjamin Christensen, and the facial hair of all three of them [Blackley's beard isn't as "full" as Wilson's or Christensen's]. The game of baseball is still [what it always has been] a unique American pastime for all ages as well as an ever changing culture unique to itself.
*One final note, towards the end of writing this I discovered a "beard awards" on Bill Simmon's Grantland, where Wilson, Werth and Reddick all won awards, the link for the Base-Beards can be found here:
