PHOENIX – When the Chicago The White Sox signed veteran starter Dallas Keuchel a $ 55.5 million three-year contract in December, he had the fiercest, strongest, and hairiest beard in baseball.
“I didn’t even bother to cut it all winter,” said Keuchel. “I liked it.”
Well, the spring training went on and Keuchel had no choice but to grab the scissors. The White Sox do not require players to be shaved like the New York Yankees, always allowing players to wear facial hair, only they must be trimmed and cared for.
They forced former ace Chris Sale to trim his “shaggy” beard in 2014, and slugger Jose Abreu was ordered to trim his beard two years ago when he arrived at the camp.
“Our team rule is that you can have facial hair,” said Rick Renteria, director of the White Sox, “but it has to be clean.” “
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Keuchel arrived at camp with a trimmed beard, but not enough to satisfy the White Sox. He cut it again. It was not enough. And cut it again.
Now, with two inches of hair coming off since his arrival, he still has a full beard, but that pushes the boundaries of White Sox politics.
So when White Sox president Jerry Reinsdorf met his team last week, telling his players he was available for everything they needed, he then told Keuchel that he wanted to see him.
“I thought, ‘Oh shit, I have to cut this down again,’ said Keuchel, who has had a beard since 2014. ‘He said,’ Hey, man, you’re officially violating team policy. But I have heard that you are a great guy. So let’s keep winning and everything will be fine. “
“I said, ‘Okay. Dude. “Now we just have to keep winning to keep this beard going.”
It is certainly not the rich and dark beard that Keuchel enjoyed during his days with the Houston Astros, but it is still a beautiful full beard.
“For me, it’s almost gone,” says Keuchel, “even if there are still many. I took the shape of my face a little differently. But I like the beard. My girlfriend (Kelly) met me at the top of my beard. It’s either you like it or you hate it. There is no middleman. A lot of guys don’t know what I look like without a beard, so they prefer that I keep a beard, so I don’t look like a stranger to them. “
Still, if the White Sox start winning this season and win a playoff spot for the first time since 2007, who knows, maybe that beard can get a little fuller this month.
“I started my beard the last week of spring training in 2014,” said Keuchel. “It lasts seven years, and I love it. It takes different shapes and sizes.
“It’s one of those things that I always loved growing up. My father had a beard for over 30 years. He was a horticulturalist and always had one in the winter. So I always saw it grow, and I knew it was what I wanted when I got older.
“So, as I think, the more we earn, the better it will be for the beard.”
Just call it Survival of the Beard.
