The casual observer who stumbles across broadcasts of baseball's World Series, which begins on Wednesday, likely will be impressed by the beards cultivated, as a team-building exercise, by the Boston Red Sox. Paul Oberjuerge examines five of the most impressive.
1. Mike Napoli: The burly catcher reminds Americans of photos of 19th century Civil War generals. Napoli's luxuriant growth seems to have a life of its own, and may even get some of the credit for his two game-deciding home runs in the American League Championship Series last week.
2. Jonny Gomes: The outfielder was Napoli's co-conspirator at the start of the Boston beard trend, even before the current season began. Gomes said facial hair is about sending a message. "Guys with beards and beards in general are pretty tough," he said.
3. Dustin Pedroia: The diminutive second baseman and 2008 American League MVP has worn a beard for several years, but it appears longer now. A writer at the website bostonmagazine.com wrote: "The Red Sox's record improves with the length of Dustin Pedroia's beard."
4. David Ortiz: The veteran Dominican known as "Big Papi" has worn a beard most of his career, during which he has hit 431 home runs. Ortiz is known for tugging on the beards of teammates who have made key plays. Said Gomes: "It doesn't hurt as much as you would think."
5. Clay Buchholz: Gomes said teammates with lesser beards can blame their parents for not passing on "the facial-hair gene", but Buchholz is making do with a sparse-beard/long-hair package that brings to mind Gary Sinise as the deranged Lieutenant Dan in the film Forrest Gump.
