Then Pedro Martinez, last night's starter, stopped cutting his now jerri-curled hair, believed to be a tribute to a retro-haired Boston Globe columnist who was once labeled "Curly-Haired Boyfriend" by Carl Everett. Manny Ramirez matched Pedro, hair for hair, and along came Bellhorn, who looked like he could play alongside John Travolta in "Welcome Back, Kotter." Meanwhile, Gabe Kapler -- who has been listening to the "Kotter" theme song for 20 years -- shaved his head to make bookend bowling balls with Kevin Millar. A couple of natural born thrillers.
Let's not forget Trot Nixon, currently sporting the Travis Bickle mohawk, and Bronson Arroyo, who switched to blond cornrows (think Bo Derek) after beating the A's Monday. Sadly, Pokey Reese rarely has unleashed his 'rows, creating a bale of hair not seen in baseball since Oscar Gamble held on to his hat.
"I think that's who we are as a team," Sox general manager Theo Epstein said. "It's our personnel. We couldn't do it any other way. I mean, let's say we had a policy requiring haircuts and no facial hair. The benefits would be uniformity, discipline, and perhaps a heightened sense of order. But we'd lose individuality, self-expression, and fun. Given our personalities, our players thrive when they're allowed to be themselves and have fun.
"When we've played our best baseball the last two years, we've looked like this. It's a pack of sloppy, fun-loving renegades. We play our best ball when we're having fun, like when you are a kid."
Back to Damon.
"Theo came up to me the first day in spring training and told me it was okay to keep it," said the captain of Boston's Hair Club for Men. "That's us. We are the total opposite of the Yankees."
Newcomer Curt Schilling didn't like it at first. Schilling is a creature of discipline and the slovenly look of his teammates bothered him.
