Movember: The best mustaches in Boston Red Sox history
The World Series has concluded and November is upon us, which means many of our friends and co-workers will be participating in Movember, growing mustaches for 30 days to draw attention to men’s health issues such as prostate cancer. To further this worthy pursuit, BoSox Injection looks back on some of the best mustaches in Red Sox history.
Facial hair was de rigueur during the early days of the organized game, with Boston stalwarts Harry Wright (profiled here by Rick McNair) and King Kelly boasting iconic looks. But after World War I, baby-faced baseball men ruled the day, as the unwritten rules of the game made facial hair a taboo until the ’72 A’s busted up that protocol. By the 70’s and 80’s, awesome mustaches were back in vogue.
Although they fell short a World Series championship during an 86-year span, the Red Sox certainly had the mustache analytics experts fawning over their facial hair approach.
We lead with a Hall of Fame mustache on a list that will include several of them (both Hall of Famers and mustaches). “The Eck” complemented his flowing locks and guile on the mound with a mean dirt squirrel during his first stint with the team (1978-84). He was 20-8 with a 2.99 ERA in his debut season with the Sox, finishing fourth in the AL Cy Young vote.
Eckersley eventually fell out of favor in Boston and salvaged his career in a big way as the dominant closer for Tony La Russa’s Oakland A’s powerhouse teams of the late-80’s and early 90’s, where he collected the 1992 AL Cy Young and MVP awards. He had a second go-round with the Sox to close out his legendary career in ’98. Just as his facial hair game hadn’t lost its fastball, Eck was a solid contributor out of the bullpen for the AL Wild Card winners.
Eckersley’s ‘stache continues to grace our TV sets in the 21st century as he works as an analyst and occasional broadcast partner of Don Orsillo on NESN and TBS.
El Tiante’s intimidating Fu Manchu was just one element of his colorful personality as he chomped cigars in the locker room and whirled his stuff past hitters from his perch atop the mound. The right-hander was a money pitcher for Boston between 1971 and ’78, including a four-season stretch in which he won 81 games. He was also 3-0 with a 2.65 ERA in four starts during the ’75 postseason.
Perhaps the ‘stache had something to do with his success? Arriving in Boston after some down seasons due to injury, Tiant’s 1973 baseball card shows no sign of a mustache, but the ’74 edition (above) portrays his legendary handlebars in all their glory. This just happened to coincide with his reemergence as one of the top arms in the game.
Tiant is still around the Red Sox organization, and you can still spy the Fu Manchu, though mostly white nowadays, when he appears at Fenway Park.
Buckner may not be in the Hall of Fame, like the man he was traded for (Eckersley), but his mustache is certainly worthy of induction. Also relevant to the conversation are his 2,715 career hits and the fact he won the 1980 NL batting title with the Cubs. Buckner clocked 85 doubles, hit 34 homers, and drove in 212 runs over a two-year span (1985-86) with Boston, eventually playing in parts of five seasons for the team.
Unfortunately, Buckner’s career is too often summarized by a single play, when the 36-year old was unable to corral a Mookie Wilson grounder in Game 6 of the World Series. But Buckner’s stats, and ‘stache, are worth a second look. And take a look at those eyebrows!
Though “Dewey” first came up with the Sox as a 20-year old in 1972, he waited until the 80’s to grow his trademark caterpillar. In an almost Samson-like story, the defensive-minded right fielder’s bat was emboldened by the move. He led the AL in home runs, walks, OPS and total bases in ’81, OBP in ’82, runs scored and OPS in ’84, and walks in ’85 and ’87. He had the second-most RBIs (900) of any player in the American League during the decade of the 1980’s, trailing only Hall of Famer Eddie Murray.
With his signature batting stance and brilliant facial fuzz, Evans became an institution over 19 seasons in Boston. As a two-way threat, in the field and at the plate, he certainly deserved more Hall of Fame consideration that he received after his playing days were through.
Dewey’s mustache? Also one of the all-time greats.
Rice’s successful Hall of Fame argument owed a lot to his reputation as the “most feared hitter in the game” during his prime. He clocked 382 home runs and won the 1978 AL MVP award, but Rice’s ferocious mustache game was clearly the source of the fear. Rice rocked the ‘stache his entire career, right up to the 1990 Topps card pictured above (where he looks a little more like someone’s grandpa than a fearsome slugger), issued the year after he hung it up.
Rice stuck around the Sox as a coach over the following decade-plus, occasionally going over to the goatee. You can find Rice on NESN telecasts nowadays, sometimes alongside former teammate Eckersley in a one-two punch of Hall of Fame soup strainers.
Boggs and Don Mattingly were two of the dominant hitters of the 80’s and both possessed a signature ‘stache to complement a highly successful batting technique. While Mattingly was a power bat, eclipsing 30 dingers in three consecutive seasons, Boggs looped singles over the outstretched gloves of infielders and scraped paint off the Green Monster with loopy doubles. He repeated this pattern about 3,000 times and all the way to Cooperstown.
An urban legend contends Boggs once drank 64 beers on a cross-country flight. While the third baseman has said it’s not exactly true, just imagine that tremendous mustache perched atop the 64 beer cans as the swill went down, cold and smooth, one by one.
The RemDawg’s mustache has been a part of our lives for over thirty years, from Remy’s days at the keystone for the Sox and through his career alongside Ned Martin, Bob Kurtz, Sean McDonough, and now Don Orsillo in the broadcast booth. The Somerset native has more than 456,000 followers on Twitter. I’d be willing to bet more than a few are huge fans of the ‘stache.
“Buenas noches, amigos.”
Other than being one of the most destructive forces in the history of the RBI Baseball series, other than his 251 career homers and his off-the-charts 1984 season with 43 bombs and 123 RBI, other than being the father of one of the players the Sox dealt to Montreal in exchange for Pedro Martinez, Armas boasts one of the more impressive flavor savers in Sox history. Paired with a poofy Afro that lingered from his Oakland A’s days, it was quite the look.
To this day, I’m pinch-hitting Armas for Barrett right away in a game of RBI, and that team is going to win big, particularly when Bruce Hurst is dealing.
Sometimes lost in the crowd of diminutive late 80’s and early 90’s Red Sox middle infielders (with Marty Barrett, Spike Owen, Scott Fletcher and Luis Rivera), the 5’9″, 170 pound Reed was a doubles machine, peppering the Monster with 129 of them between 1989 and 1991. He led the league in the category in ’90 with 45.
Another distinctive feature was his ‘stache. In fact, Reed’s push broom was the inspiration for this list.
Oh, Dennis Lamp, you are a legend. If not for your pitching, with a 96-96 record and 3.93 career ERA in 639 games (163 starts), then for your glorious mustache. Lamp spent four seasons in Boston, and it never ceased to amaze me how frequently he popped up in packs of baseball cards I purchased between 1988 and 1991.
Lamp’s burly, auto mechanic build and impressive crescent moon of bristles occupying nearly a third of his face made me almost fearful to put his cards in the shoebox with the other bit players (the stars went into the plastic pages of a binder), should the 6’4″, 200 pound Lamp be insulted, figure out where I live and break down the front door with a lug wrench.
Other than El Tiante, nobody rocked the Fu Manchu as hard as “Shooter.” The right-hander, who had been a dominating closer in San Francisco and Chicago (saving 48 games for the perhaps the best team ever to miss the playoffs, the ’93 Giants, followed by 51 saves for the ’98 Cubs), arrived in Boston in time for the ’99 stretch run and was a valuable contributor to the bullpen the next two seasons. His signature stance, hunched over, right arm dangling as Beck’s eyes and the mustache peered out from under the bill of his cap, was mimicked in many a backyard wiffleball game.
Beck’s lifestyle embodied the “Devil may care” nature of sporting such a ‘stache. Following Tommy John surgery, the amiable reliever worked his way back through the Minors, parking his camper beyond the outfield walls of the Iowa Cubs stadium and welcoming fans to come by, visit and have a beer.
Sadly, Beck passed away in 2007.
One of the all-time greats of the mustache game, Frankie V’s tenure with the Sox is often glossed over compared to his World Series-winning stint with the Twins and another 20-win season with the Mets. The master of the circle change, Viola won 24 games over two seasons for the Red Sox before succumbing to injury and amassed 1,844 strikeouts over his career. While his nickname was “Sweet Music,” I’d like to commend him on his sweet mustache.
1990 Score
A teammate of Viola’s on those early 90’s Red Sox teams, the wiry Darwin won 15 games in ’93 but was generally regarded as a disappointing free agent signing by GM Lou Gorman.
I wouldn’t be tempted to say that to his face, though – the mustachioed pitcher reportedly won more than ballgames with his right hand, as ex-teammate Nolan Ryan nicknamed him “Dr. Death” after emerging victorious in several altercations.
What can you say about the Gator that hasn’t already been said? Should have been the 1988 AL MVP. The guy who won that trophy was on steroids and just shot one of his fingers off. Gator had a beard later in his playing career and in the mid-90’s went over to a goatee, but it all started with an MVP-level ‘stache.
One of my favorite memories is of a fading Greenwell, his team playing out the string during his last month in the Majors, driving in nine runs in a single game at the Kingdome.
While Nipper was never more than a fifth starter for the Sox, he and his mustache later resurfaced as Red Sox pitching coach from 1995 to ’96. Nipper has coached for Boston and other organizations much of his post-playing career. He’s currently the pitching coach for the Toledo Mud Hens.
The man pictured above is a much-deserved Hall of Famer, on-base percentage be damned. The man pictured below right is one of the greatest all-or-nothing hitters of all-time. Both were legends of the 80’s, for slightly different reasons. Dawson’s speed, defense, and all-around talent made him a household name in Montreal before he broke through with 49 home runs and the 1987 NL MVP award with the Cubs.
Deer amassed 230 bombs and 1,409 strikeouts over an 11-year career mostly spent with the Brewers and Tigers.
Neither were quite the same player by the time they reached Boston in the early 90’s. Dawson’s knees had disintegrated and Deer’s curly mullet had perhaps provided the last of its longball magic. But their mustaches certainly reminded people of the salad days of 1987.
While Baylor spent only a season and a half with the Sox, the former MVP nailed 31 homers and drove in 94 for the 1986 pennant winners, all while rocking his signature mustache. Along with the previously mentioned Rice, Boggs, Armas and Buckner, Baylor was a fearsome bat on the Red Sox in RBI Baseball.
“Rooster” was a fixture for the Sox in the 70’s, drafted and developed by the team, starting in the World Series and eventually making three All-Star teams (’77-’79) and winning a Gold Glove (’79) at shortstop during his time in Boston.
Burleson was traded to California with Butch Hobson when the Red Sox unloaded many of their 70’s stars (purposefully and otherwise) at the end of the decade. He made one more All-Star appearance with the Angels in 1981.
Two relief talents close out the list. Their mustaches were just as talented.
Campbell, nicknamed “Soup,” given his last name, boasted a formidable soup strainer. He was the Red Sox first big free agent signing in 1977, making the All-Star team and winning the Rolaids Relief Man of the Year Award. However, his promising career was soon derailed by injuries. The Red Sox just didn’t have much luck with relievers back then (Sparky Lyle for Danny Cater, anyone?)
Drago shut the door on 15 games for the pennant-winning ’75 team, supporting the effort with eight and 2/3 innings of stellar relief in the postseason, garnering two saves and allowing a lonely run. Unfortunately, that run came in the ninth inning of Game 2 of the World Series.
Drago and his duster stuck around in Boston through 1980, often closing games when Campbell was out.
And I’m sure there were a few omissions here. Remember a great Red Sox mustache? Leave it in the comments below.