Today's featured comment
We aim to please at The Schmuck Stops Here, so when somebody makes a reasonable request, we do everything in our extremely limited power to grant it. This one from Paul R was pretty easy.
Paul R's request: I realize it might be too late, but are there any photos of Luke Scott's grizzly man facial hair?
Pete's reply: Indeed there are, and I'm posting one right here. It's up to you to figure out which one is Luke and which one is manager Dave Trembley.
As you probably know, Luke was this year's ambassador from the facial hair club who tried to convince manager Dave Trembley to change the club's policy banning beards and restricting mustaches to the outer edges of the upper lip. The policy is not Dave's, it has been in effect as long as owner Peter Angelos has owned the club, but Trembley said yesterday that he probably wouldn't change it if he could.
Sun photo by Doug Kapustin
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Comments
So easy, a Caveman can do it.... lolz
Posted by: Televisions Are Needles | February 20, 2009 11:26 AM
Angelos's team, Angelos's rules, end of story.... until next ST when you guys will have nothing better to report on.
Posted by: a fan with delusions of grandeur | February 20, 2009 11:30 AM
Luke looks like he just walked off the set of a Just for Men commercial.
Posted by: Shane | February 20, 2009 11:35 AM
I think it is a good rule, I had the same rule for the 9 year old world series team. No beards, no chewing tobacco, hair below shoulders all of that effects how good they are on the field, right?
Posted by: cb coach | February 20, 2009 12:07 PM
great photo. trembley looks like screamin' howard dean and luke looks like he could scrape clean my dirty dishes with his chin.
Posted by: rick | February 20, 2009 12:16 PM
the facial hair ban couldn't have started when angelos owned the team because, i remember every year mike mussina would start rocking a goateeduring his time with the O's
Posted by: johnny t | February 20, 2009 12:18 PM
Well, there's a rule from the 1950s that's guaranteed to bring success on the field. Surely it helps in luring free agents also.
Posted by: section 34 | February 20, 2009 12:31 PM
I find this rule to be a little ridiculous, especially for a struggling team in a city like Baltimore. There are only two reasons I can think of for a rule like this to exist - to encourage professionalism within the clubhouse and/or to project an image of professionalism.
To think it would encourage professionalism within the clubhouse and translate to better on-field performance seems like a bit of a silly and archaic rule. If players are going to be unprofessional, my guess is that facial hair is pretty far down the list in terms of causes. This is baseball, not wall street. As for the external image, it may make sense for a team like the Yankees, who are trying to establish and sell a certain image to a NYC market that may appreciate or even prefer a more professional image. But I think Baltimore is a different type of city that wouldn't mind, and would even prefer for the team to have some more personality - if they can't win, at least they can be interesting right?
Personally, I would love for the players to be able to show some more of their personality, even if it's through something as trivial as facial hair. So if the players want facial hair, and the fans (presumably) want facial hair, why not allow it?
Posted by: Jason | February 20, 2009 1:22 PM
I think he looks a lot like Damon here - weird...
Posted by: Lauren | February 20, 2009 2:06 PM
Seriously, we need to restart the "beards for birds" campaign. Also, every time I see a picture of Dave Trembley , all i think about is.... "Priceline Negotiator!"
Posted by: Jim T | February 20, 2009 2:37 PM
Pete--Thanks for posting that photo of Luke and Trembs. It's a pretty good illustration that both are good-hearted guys.
Posted by: Barry | February 20, 2009 4:07 PM