HAIR-RAISING
Last week Yankees outfielder Clint Frazier made the front page of the New York Times, on account of his unruly mop of red hair. Since George Steinbrenner’s leadership, the team has forbidden voluptuous hairstyles and facial hair, and fined players, including former captain Don Mattingly, who defied the rules. In vivid contrast, Mets star pitchers
Noah Syndegaard, Robert Gsellman and Jacob de Grom are all now, without controversy, sporting ungroomed, free-flowing locks, for a look that’s both hippie and hipster.
Unlike basketball, a game with awesome street credibility, baseball’s appeal remains stubbornly entwined with tradition, and its leaders have been uneasy to embrace the counterculture. Yankees pitcher Jim Bouton’s 1969 memoir, Ball Four, shows how difficult it was for an honest, feeling young player of that time to honor both the traditions of the game and the feelings in the air. Attitudes haven’t shifted all that much, at least within the Yankees organization. Frazier cut his hair just days after the Times article. In many ways baseball culture seems more laced-up now than it was four decades ago.
Let us now remember Dock Ellis, the storied Pirates pitcher who threw a no-hitter in 1971 under the influence of LSD. He sometimes wore his hair, on gameday, in curlers. The documentary No No: A Dockumentary gives an engaging account of Ellis’ personal journey and clubhouse antics. The Pirates teams of the late 1960′s and early 1970′s, where he made his mark, were deeply integrated, more black than white. And, in 1971, the franchise became the first in Major League history to start a game with an entirely non-white lineup. That team management embraced both Ellis – with his abrasive, wildman, showmanship – and teammate Roberto Clemente – with his righteous, elegant, calm – speaks volumes. Why can’t the Yankees foster the same diversity – in culture and in character – on their team? And, if not, why can’t they just let their players grow their hair?
#DockEllis #NoNoDocumentary
#Pirates #Mets #Yankees #hairstyles