The White Sox have found a new way to mark the stretch run: mustaches and goatees.
After their 5-1 win over the Houston Astros kept them three games up in the AL Central, MLB.com beat reporter Scott Merkin reported that the players are planning to grow facial hair as they make their push toward the postseason. It’s a twist on the old playoff-beard tradition, except the Sox are starting now, in the middle of the pennant race instead of waiting for October.
The idea came from Jake Rogers, who was recently added to help fill the catcher spot when the Sox were thin there. His numbers with Chicago have been rough - a .111/.226/.222 slash line in 11 games - but the thought here is less about production and more about the kind of clubhouse move that sticks. A winning September could make that gesture look a lot bigger in hindsight.
Of course, there’s a catch. Not everybody on the roster is likely to grow much of anything.
Nine players on the active roster are 24 or younger, which could make the whole experiment a little uneven. And even age doesn’t guarantee a full face of hair.
Some guys just can’t do it, no matter how badly the team wants the look.
Still, it says something about the group. The Sox seem to have built a clubhouse where the players genuinely enjoy being around each other, and that has been part of the story all year.
Some fans are even uneasy about Tommy Pham coming back, worried about whether he’ll fit into that chemistry. His return will be worth watching, especially as the team leans into this latest bit of clubhouse fun.
And if the mustache plan catches on, don’t be surprised if the fan base starts joining in too. For a team that has played .500 ball since the All-Star break, the whole thing feels like a small but clear sign of the positive energy around them. The bigger point is simple: the White Sox are in a spot worth celebrating, and now they’re trying to carry that feeling all the way to the finish line.
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