Cutting Remarks

THERE'S A REASON few ballplayers have long hair, and it has nothing to do with team rules or the war against split ends. "I use a lot of pine tar on my bat," says A's outfielder Nick Swisher, who before last weekend went 10 months without a haircut. "When I would wrap [the bat] too far around in my stance, pine tar would get in my hair."

Nightly tar removal was a small price to pay for Swisher, who grew his mane for a good cause: so it could be harvested to make wigs for cancer patients. (Swisher did it in memory of his grandmother Betty Lorraine Swisher, who died of brain cancer two years ago.) The outfielder was barbered by his father, former big league catcher Steve Swisher, on the field in Oakland last Saturday. Says Swisher, "My dad's not a fan of long hair, so he was more than happy to wield the scissors."