Way back in Spring Training, Oakland A’s First Baseman-Outfielder-Heartthrob Nick Swisher showed up at camp with his hair grown out to a hippie-esque eleven inches in length.
It seemed to work for him. He was hitting the ball well with a .290 batting average (41 points above his career average) and a .500 slugging percentage with 6 Home Runs.
Internet reports had him dating former Playboy model and Oakland Raiderette Danielle Gamba.
And on May 11, Swisher signed a five year contract extension with the A’s for $26.75 Million.
Life was good.
Then, before a game on May 19th, Swisher had his lengthy locks clipped (by his father) so he could donate them to charity (Pantene’s Beutiful Lengths) to honor his grandmother, who had died of cancer.
At the time of the celebrated haircut, HRD wondered if there would be a Samson-like effect on Swisher’s stats.
| Dates | Hair | Games | BA | OBA | Slug% | OPS | AB/HR |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CAREER AVG | N/A | 389 | .249 | .360 | .464 | .824 | 19.81 |
| 4/1-5/18 | Long | 35 | .290 | .418 | .500 | .918 | 20.67 |
| 5/19-7/8 | Short | 46 | .242 | .377 | .406 | .784 | 33.00 |
Gah. A 48 point drop in batting average and a 13 point drop in the AB/HR ratio. That’s not good.
On June 29, Milton Bradley, one of Swisher’s best pals on the A’s, was traded to the San Diego Padres. There went Swisher’s cool post-Home Run celebration with Bradley.
And it’s also come out that Swisher was never dating Gamba in the first place. In his own words in an interview with the Northwest Herald …
I’ve never even met that girl [model Danielle Gamba].
People have asked me about it; there was a story about it in some Web site, and the next thing you know, I got phone calls from people saying I had a new girlfriend. I was like, “Really. I’d like to meet her, too.” Total lie. Nothing true about that.
The lesson to learn? Never cut your hair.
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