As this home-run derby of a World Series unfolds (and turns us into sleepless zombies), there’s a startling trend emerging in the hair department.
A handful of players are sporting bad faux-hawk inspired cuts that would seem more at home at a Barcelona rave in 2004 than at the ballpark in 2017.
But alas, it’s the preferred look for such players as Dodgers’ outfielders Cody Bellinger and Kiké Hernandez.
At first glance, the style appears to be a simple cut that’s closely shaved on the sides and longer up top. That is, until you see the back — which looks like a fat beaver tail creeping down the back of their heads and popping out of their baseball caps.
“It’s pretty popular,” says Dennie Moe Mitchell of Dennie Moe’s Superstar Barber Shop in Harlem.
He sees it as an updated version of the faux hawk: “People think they are doing something new but it’s all been done before, and barbers put their own spin on it.”
Houston Astros’ outfielder George Springer has enough overgrowth that it spills out of his hat and tickles the nape of his neck like an embryonic mullet.
Houston shortstop Carlos Correa has a closely cropped version. Many others have worn it this season, including Yankee slugger Aaron Judge.
The faux hawk — which is very similar to the “Odell Beckham” and “South of France” cut that Usher made into a sensation — is popular among young athletes, Mitchell says.
“It’s a little tighter on the sides,” he says of the style, for which he charges $25 for adults and $15 for kids. “I’d say we have about 10 requests for the faux hawk a day.”
As the World Series continues to hypnotize the country, Mitchell and other barbers might get even more requests. But hopefully not.