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A Mets Rookie’s Hair and Profile Grow
By TIM ROHANMAY 21, 2014
For more than 30 years as the baseball coach at Stetson University in DeLand, Fla., Pete Dunn enforced a strict hair policy. He had served in the Marines, had an old-school type of mentality and wanted his players to look a certain way in class and on the field.
He wrote the rule somewhat vaguely, so as to leave it up to his discretion: His players’ hair had to be acceptable in the eyes of the coaches. That meant it had to look neat with a hat on. That meant no facial hair, except for maybe a mustache.
Still, Dunn was growing more lenient by the spring of 2010 when one of his players started growing his hair longer. Jacob deGrom wanted to try something new, and by season’s end, a bush of hair peeked out from the back of his hat. It was neat enough that Dunn never really noticed. Or at least he never chose to discipline deGrom over his grooming.
Four years later, what Dunn may or may not have been aware of has become pretty obvious. DeGrom, who fell to 0-2 after giving up three solo home runs over six innings against the Los Angeles Dodgers on Wednesday night after a fine debut against the Yankees last week, now has hair that pours down to his shoulders. He looks like an East Coast version of Chicago’s Jeff Samardzija or San Francisco’s Tim Lincecum, at least the old Lincecum, before he cut his hair and temporarily grew a mustache.
Long hair stands out in New York baseball because the Yankees do not allow it and the Mets have not exactly cultivated the look over the years. So if the soft-spoken deGrom can keep pitching well and win a permanent spot in the starting rotation, he might win a following.
DeGrom, who turns 26 in June, is not that young for a rookie. He grew up in DeLeon Springs, Fla., and was not heavily recruited. At Stetson, he was initially a tall shortstop, at 6 feet 4 inches, with a weak bat, a reliable glove and a strong arm. It was so strong that Dunn asked him to be his closer.
DeGrom threw a bit in intrasquad games, and Dunn noticed his effortless motion and what appeared to be an innate ability to locate. He thought deGrom might have the best arm on the team. But well into the season, the team was not winning enough to need a closer often. So Dunn went to deGrom again and asked him to be a starter. He agreed.
“He was always a good, compliant child,” his mother, Tammy, said. She did not appear to be joking.
DeGrom was taught how to throw a changeup and a slider, and, as the season went on, he turned into a talent. He made only 12 starts, but two of them were against Chris Sale of Florida Gulf Coast University (and now the Chicago White Sox), a first-round pick in the 2010 major league draft. Sale won both games, but major league scouts who were on hand noticed deGrom, and the Mets ended up picking him in the ninth round in 2010.
DeGrom was now a professional baseball player, which did not stop him from growing his hair still longer. “It’s been long for most of my professional career,” he said.
His pitching was not going so well, though. He struggled in the rookie league and felt pain in his arm, and that October he had Tommy John elbow surgery. Depressed, he wondered what went wrong.
The rehabilitation process after the operation was long and tedious, and, at one point, deGrom even decided to cut off all his hair. “It was driving me nuts,” he said. And if it had all ended there, well, it would not have been as interesting as what did follow.
Instead, while doing his rehabilitation work at the Mets’ rehabilitation facility in Port St. Lucie, Fla., deGrom fell into conversation with Johan Santana, the Mets’ injured ace. Santana proceeded to teach deGrom his famous changeup, how to grip the ball, how it should look the same as a fastball coming out of his hand. Santana told him to practice throwing at 180 feet. If he threw it correctly, the ball would fall well short.
When his arm was healthy enough, deGrom practiced until he felt he had the pitch down. Armed with a new weapon, he posted a 2.43 earned run average in 2012 in 19 starts in Class A Savannah and St. Lucie. He learned the nuances of pitching — and he began growing his hair long again.
That off-season, to make some extra money, deGrom worked on his neighbor’s cattle ranch and proceeded to be kicked by a calf. A right-hander, deGrom ended up with a broken finger on his left hand and was forced to wear a splint. The injury, he later concluded, affected his mechanics. All through the 2013 season, as he advanced through the Mets’ farm system, from St. Lucie to Class AA Binghamton to Class AAA Las Vegas, his front side often flew open, his arm dragged and his combined earned run average jumped to 4.51.
In the off-season, he fixed his mechanics, and everything felt sharper coming out of his hand. His fastball touched 95 miles per hour. He added a curveball to his repertory. He impressed the Mets in spring training this year, although he was considered behind two other top pitching prospects, Noah Syndergaard and Rafael Montero.
And if nothing else, his hair, which now sits about shoulder length was making him stand out. After only seven starts with Las Vegas this season, with a 4-0 record and 2.58 earned run average, deGrom was called up with Montero. DeGrom was penciled in to be a reliever, but an injury to Dillon Gee opened at least a temporary spot in the rotation and a chance to audition for something more permanent.
In his first career start last week, deGrom stymied the Yankees, holding them to one run in seven innings. And maybe he was distracting to the Yankee’s hitters, with his lanky build and his hair flapping with each pitch. Ah yes, the hair.
“As long as he gets outs,” Manager Terry Collins said, “I don’t care how long his hair is.”
Long hair, long outings. If that’s how it works out for deGrom in New York, the Mets will be very pleased.
By TIM ROHANMAY 21, 2014
For more than 30 years as the baseball coach at Stetson University in DeLand, Fla., Pete Dunn enforced a strict hair policy. He had served in the Marines, had an old-school type of mentality and wanted his players to look a certain way in class and on the field.
He wrote the rule somewhat vaguely, so as to leave it up to his discretion: His players’ hair had to be acceptable in the eyes of the coaches. That meant it had to look neat with a hat on. That meant no facial hair, except for maybe a mustache.
Still, Dunn was growing more lenient by the spring of 2010 when one of his players started growing his hair longer. Jacob deGrom wanted to try something new, and by season’s end, a bush of hair peeked out from the back of his hat. It was neat enough that Dunn never really noticed. Or at least he never chose to discipline deGrom over his grooming.
Four years later, what Dunn may or may not have been aware of has become pretty obvious. DeGrom, who fell to 0-2 after giving up three solo home runs over six innings against the Los Angeles Dodgers on Wednesday night after a fine debut against the Yankees last week, now has hair that pours down to his shoulders. He looks like an East Coast version of Chicago’s Jeff Samardzija or San Francisco’s Tim Lincecum, at least the old Lincecum, before he cut his hair and temporarily grew a mustache.
Long hair stands out in New York baseball because the Yankees do not allow it and the Mets have not exactly cultivated the look over the years. So if the soft-spoken deGrom can keep pitching well and win a permanent spot in the starting rotation, he might win a following.
DeGrom, who turns 26 in June, is not that young for a rookie. He grew up in DeLeon Springs, Fla., and was not heavily recruited. At Stetson, he was initially a tall shortstop, at 6 feet 4 inches, with a weak bat, a reliable glove and a strong arm. It was so strong that Dunn asked him to be his closer.
DeGrom threw a bit in intrasquad games, and Dunn noticed his effortless motion and what appeared to be an innate ability to locate. He thought deGrom might have the best arm on the team. But well into the season, the team was not winning enough to need a closer often. So Dunn went to deGrom again and asked him to be a starter. He agreed.
“He was always a good, compliant child,” his mother, Tammy, said. She did not appear to be joking.
DeGrom was taught how to throw a changeup and a slider, and, as the season went on, he turned into a talent. He made only 12 starts, but two of them were against Chris Sale of Florida Gulf Coast University (and now the Chicago White Sox), a first-round pick in the 2010 major league draft. Sale won both games, but major league scouts who were on hand noticed deGrom, and the Mets ended up picking him in the ninth round in 2010.
DeGrom was now a professional baseball player, which did not stop him from growing his hair still longer. “It’s been long for most of my professional career,” he said.
His pitching was not going so well, though. He struggled in the rookie league and felt pain in his arm, and that October he had Tommy John elbow surgery. Depressed, he wondered what went wrong.
The rehabilitation process after the operation was long and tedious, and, at one point, deGrom even decided to cut off all his hair. “It was driving me nuts,” he said. And if it had all ended there, well, it would not have been as interesting as what did follow.
Instead, while doing his rehabilitation work at the Mets’ rehabilitation facility in Port St. Lucie, Fla., deGrom fell into conversation with Johan Santana, the Mets’ injured ace. Santana proceeded to teach deGrom his famous changeup, how to grip the ball, how it should look the same as a fastball coming out of his hand. Santana told him to practice throwing at 180 feet. If he threw it correctly, the ball would fall well short.
When his arm was healthy enough, deGrom practiced until he felt he had the pitch down. Armed with a new weapon, he posted a 2.43 earned run average in 2012 in 19 starts in Class A Savannah and St. Lucie. He learned the nuances of pitching — and he began growing his hair long again.
That off-season, to make some extra money, deGrom worked on his neighbor’s cattle ranch and proceeded to be kicked by a calf. A right-hander, deGrom ended up with a broken finger on his left hand and was forced to wear a splint. The injury, he later concluded, affected his mechanics. All through the 2013 season, as he advanced through the Mets’ farm system, from St. Lucie to Class AA Binghamton to Class AAA Las Vegas, his front side often flew open, his arm dragged and his combined earned run average jumped to 4.51.
In the off-season, he fixed his mechanics, and everything felt sharper coming out of his hand. His fastball touched 95 miles per hour. He added a curveball to his repertory. He impressed the Mets in spring training this year, although he was considered behind two other top pitching prospects, Noah Syndergaard and Rafael Montero.
And if nothing else, his hair, which now sits about shoulder length was making him stand out. After only seven starts with Las Vegas this season, with a 4-0 record and 2.58 earned run average, deGrom was called up with Montero. DeGrom was penciled in to be a reliever, but an injury to Dillon Gee opened at least a temporary spot in the rotation and a chance to audition for something more permanent.
In his first career start last week, deGrom stymied the Yankees, holding them to one run in seven innings. And maybe he was distracting to the Yankee’s hitters, with his lanky build and his hair flapping with each pitch. Ah yes, the hair.
“As long as he gets outs,” Manager Terry Collins said, “I don’t care how long his hair is.”
Long hair, long outings. If that’s how it works out for deGrom in New York, the Mets will be very pleased.
Johan Santana played a big role in deGrom's successful career.
