Jed Lowrie and Justin Masterson: It's all in the Hair (Or Lack Thereof)

I was recently fortunate enough to stumble upon an interview with Jed Lowrie and Justin Masterson, one which took place during the “Johan Santana Situation” when the Red Sox were debating sending top prospects to the Twins for their avce. 

In this interview, David Laurila (author of “Interviews from Red Sox Nation) handed the microphone to Lowrie and Masterson, telling them that he’d like them to interview each other so Nation fans could get a different angle on things, as well as a fresh set of questions. 

Their answers to each other’s questions were revealing, and often quite entertaining.  But the thing that entertained me the most would be Lowrie’s reply to one of Masterson’s more entertaining questions.

For his last question, Masterson asked this of Lowrie: “What, in your opinion, besides maybe getting a haircut, is the thing that you need to do going into Spring Training, that is going to help you to be the most successful?”

I’ll be honest, I was cracking up by the end of Lowrie’s reply, which all came in a perfectly smooth, deadpan tone of voice while Masterson agreed at random points:

“I think the haircut is going to be huge.  Because Florida’s hot, and it’s humid.  So getting the hair a little bit shorter will definitely decrease on some of the drag while I’m running down the line.  The air drag.  And other than that, you know, well, the haircut is the most important.”

Of course, Lowrie decided to turn the tables on Masterson, and when it was the shortstop’s turn to ask the questions, his third one in was this gem:

“Rumour has it that you shave your head every day.  Is that ever an advantage to you when you’re out on the mound?  Do you take your hat off, and it’s pretty shiny up there, and try to put the bright lights on the hitters from that shiny dome you got there?”

And I swear to high heaven, these two should be a tag-team set of reporters (the next Remy and Don, perhaps) because Masterson replies in utter seriousness, “I pride myself after Mr. Clean and his accessories.  I can say that I have a couple times tried to take my hat off and just see if the glare would get into somebody’s eyes to give me that extra advantage. 

"But I do shave it every morning, for the last seven years.  I thought it might make me look intimidating, but then I forgot that I put a hat on, and then my baby face shows up.  So it doesn’t do too much for me.”

After that, both Lowrie and Masterson dissolved into laughter for the next couple seconds as they tried to gather themselves.  Lowrie attempts to ask a question, decides better of it, and as they say thank you and goodbye, they’re still both laughing.

Well, the boys seemed to figure out what hairstyles work for them, because both of them are now up in the big leagues, pitching and hitting for the team they both dubbed “the best.” 

Justin Masterson has become a strong part of the bullpen, providing extra innings as a reliever to help bridge the gap from when the starter leaves to Jonathan Papelbon, a spot that had been looking shaky as Hideki Okajima has not been up to last year’s talent level.

As for Lowrie, in 49 games he’s hitting .302 with 31 RBI, 15 doubles, and three triples.  In the last 10 games, he’s been batting at .371.

I know I wasn’t alone when I was secretly pleased that the young rookie would get a chance to stick around a bit longer due to a setback in Julio Lugo’s return.

Interview from http://www.baseballprospectus.com/

Picture courtesy of Kelly O'Connor, http://www.sittingstill.net/