Goodbye, Beards: ‘Mike Napoli is Going to Kill Me’

Photos by Steve Annear

Red Sox outfielder Shane Victorino was hesitant about completely shaving off his beard, a symbol of “brotherhood” throughout the team’s season leading up to their World Series win against the St. Louis Cardinals.

But after a little coaxing—and an offer of free razors for life—he let it all hit the ground. “I’m going to look like a 12-year-old,” he said, before having his face soaked and letting a professional shaver take his beard to the stubble. “But it’s all for a good cause. That’s what it’s all about.”

Victorino and David Ortiz participated in the public shave-off at Gillette headquarters in Boston, as part of a charity event on Monday morning. Gillette donated $100,000 to the One Fund as part of the event. The players were joined by Officer Steve Horgan, the bullpen cop made famous for celebrating Papi’s grand slam in the series against Detroit. A lucky fan was also shaved after the Red Sox had their turn.

“It’s just now sinking in that I’m really here,” said Michael Grant, who won a sponsored social media contest.

Unlike Victorino and the others, Ortiz wasn’t keen on getting a complete shave. Not all the way at least. The World Series MVP said he would trim it back, because he was headed to the Dominican Republic and needed to “keep it real” for all the “partying” he planned on doing with friends and family.

Besides that, he was worried about what his other bearded teammates—who mostly decided to skip shaving post-winning—would think. “Mike Napoli is going to kill me,” Ortiz said, as a barber cleared away most of his facial hair, leaving nothing but a small crop of beard on his chin. “I’m going to be on Letterman too, so, you know.”

Ortiz said Napoli, who was caught walking the streets of Boston without a shirt on after the Duck Boat parade Saturday, would rather “get killed” than lose his beard.

Behind the blade, ”master barber” Adam Briere, who had to tend to Victorino’s close shave, said he wasn’t nervous working on a baseball star. “I used to run a barber service in a prison for years,” he said. “So this is nothing [to get nervous about], really.”

Once they were all cleaned up, Victorino continuously rubbed his face, lamenting his beard, but said he was “grateful” to have had the experience to be part of that “brotherhood,” and represent Boston. “This is an awesome city,” he said. “It’s a city of resiliency … this city has a lot of pride in their sports and athletes … for us to be the first team to win a championship for this city—to be part of that—I’m truly blessed.”