Cole Tucker’s hat size increased by nearly a full inch from when he played at Double A to the day last season when he made his Pirates debut. That’s not the by-product of a swollen ego.
It’s his hair.
Tucker stands out among a crowd of ballplayers in a lot of ways. He has a bright and constant smile, an easy laugh and an outsized personality. But what you notice first are the dark, curly locks that tumble toward his shoulders.
Advertisement
“This is about as long as it’s ever been,” Tucker said.
That hair — voluminous spirals that playfully leak out his cap, barely contained under the stoutly stitched New Era wool — has become his signature feature. Photographers eagerly wait for his batting helmet to fly off, then snap away in rapid fire as Tucker slides to the bag with his head a blur of motion. His grooming is a topic of good-natured ribbing in the clubhouse. At some point this summer, the Double-A Altoona Curve will fete Tucker with a “hair hat” game-day promotion.
“I don’t mind being known as the ‘hair guy,’” Tucker said with a laugh.
It wasn’t always this way, all fun and free-flowing style. As a kid, Tucker was painfully self-conscious about his hair.
“I’m biracial, my dad’s black and my mom’s white, so my hair never looked like my friends’ hair,” Tucker said. “When I was little, I wanted straight hair that would flow in the wind. I was really conflicted about it as a 9-year-old, which was super awkward.”
When he started playing baseball in youth leagues in Arizona, Cole Tucker had modest, short hair. (Photo courtesy of Cole Tucker)
That changed one night in late January 2006 when Tucker begged his parents for some TV time to watch the premiere of “High School Musical” on the Disney Channel. He found himself drawn to the best-friend character Chad Danforth, who was played by biracial actor Corbin Bleu.
“I thought that Corbin Bleu was the coolest person on Earth, and he had hair just like I do now — the long, ringlet curls,” Tucker said. “When I was in fourth grade, I was like, ‘Man, I am going to grow out my hair. I’m going to look like Corbin Bleu and it’s going to be the coolest thing ever.’ I did it and I’m still doing it. I sound like such a nerd right now, but that’s really what happened. It kind of became my thing.”
Long hair was an off-and-on thing for Tucker into high school. The flow would grow out for a while, then he’d cut it back and let it loose again. Tucker began tagging along with his mother to Saskia Salon in Phoenix to get his hair professionally conditioned and trimmed.
When Cole Tucker was in high school, his buddies put wigs under their ballcaps to salute him and his hairstyle. (Photo courtesy of Cole Tucker)
When the Pirates drafted Tucker in 2014, they immediately told him to get a haircut. The club was strict about having all of its minor leaguers be clean-shaven with their hair above the collar. Being a first-round pick didn’t get Tucker dispensation, so he went along … until he was promoted to Altoona in July 2017.
Advertisement
“I figured I wasn’t that far from the big leagues,” Tucker said, giggling as he dropped his voice almost to a whisper, “so I started letting it grow.”
Nobody in Altoona tattled to Pirates management as Tucker’s hair crept down his neck. “I don’t want to say that maybe we helped him with some photoshops so he didn’t get into trouble, but, uh …” Curve promotions director Mike Kessling said jokingly.
During his season and a half with the Curve, Tucker became everyone’s favorite player. Although he hit just .259/.333/.345 in 2018, Tucker’s innate skills at shortstop hinted that better things, including a shot at the big leagues, would soon follow. Nobody signed more autographs, kissed more babies or was friendlier to everyone from the front office folks to the popcorn vendors.
“I always told him, ‘Dude, when you’re done with baseball, you’re probably going to be the governor of Arizona,’” Curve general manager Derek Martin said. “You talk about a class act, he has checkmarks in every element.”
Once when the Curve awaited the start of a 10:30 a.m. getaway-day game, some players languished sleepily in the dugout while a high school marching band set up to perform the national anthem. Tucker bounced onto the field and began chatting with one of the drummers.
“All of the sudden, Tucker put out his hands, asked for the drumsticks and then just went off on a drum solo,” Martin said. “The fans erupted. I’m like, is there anything this guy can’t do?”
Last year, Tucker began the season at Triple-A Indianapolis and in April was called up to Pittsburgh. The Curve, who often honor their alumni with bobbleheads and such, staged a Cole Tucker T-shirt giveaway.
During the offseason, Kessling and his staff brainstormed promotional ideas for the 2020 season. Noting that ticket sales were strong for the T-shirt night, Martin wanted another Tucker item — something out of the ordinary, not just another shirt, poster or bobble doll.
Advertisement
“With the exception of (Andrew) McCutchen’s dreadlocks, I don’t know if anybody has been known as much for his hair as Tuck,” Kessling said. “We thought it was a no-brainer to have some fun with it.”
A hair cap. Perfect! But, would it work?
Kessling called the team’s supplier, Ed Trabulsy at Illinois-based BWM Global, who assured him that cap was doable. However, the initial prototype was a near-miss.
“It didn’t have tight curls,” Kessling said. “It was more of a ‘Cinderella going to the ball’ look. The second one came back with tight curls and looked pretty spot on. When we released it on Instagram and Twitter, Tuck commented on it: ‘That’s incredible.’ We knew then we had a winner.”
Cole Tucker Hair Hat Day was set for June 14, a Sunday afternoon game against the New Hampshire Fisher Cats. On their website, the Curve describe the giveaway as: “The luscious locks of Cole Tucker can be yours, no hair plugs or extensions required!”
The Curve revealed their promo items on March 6, the day before tickets went on sale. Less than a week later, baseball shut down indefinitely due to the Covid-19 outbreak. Ballparks might remain dark until July or even later. If so, the 1,000 Tucker Hair hats will remain stashed in a storage room underneath PNG Field, next to crates containing Bryan “Not Ryan” Reynolds bobbleheads and team mascot pencil holders.
#BREAKING Curve release complete 2020 𝐏𝐑𝐎𝐌𝐎 𝐒𝐂𝐇𝐄𝐃𝐔𝐋𝐄
Check out the full list of promotions ➡️ https://t.co/WUwgu00RX3 pic.twitter.com/LCvVeAgNsj
— Altoona Curve (@AltoonaCurve) March 6, 2020
During spring training, Tucker’s hair was in full force, which required some adjustments by equipment manager Scott Bonnett. With short hair, Tucker was a 7 3/8 hat size. He’s now a size 7 5/8. Also, Tucker is a switch-hitter, so he has two different batting helmets. His lefty helmet didn’t fit properly last season.
Advertisement
“It was awkward when I’d hit a double and then have to run back to first base to where my helmet fell off,” Tucker said. “When you ground out and have to run and grab your helmet, you feel like an idiot. But when you hit a triple at Wrigley Field and there are 30,000 angry Cubs fans yelling at you while you go to pick up your helmet, it feels kinda cool. You relish the moment.”
There goes the helmet again. (Charles LeClaire / USA Today)
Tucker wasn’t the only player in Pirates camp who had a flashy hairstyle. Reliever Blake Cederlind, a tall, strong California dude, showed up with long, golden locks, looking like a Hollywood celeb. It was Cederlind’s first time on the 40-man roster and his blazing fastball caught everyone’s attention, but he also got some friendly teasing from his teammates about his mane.
Who has the better hair?
“I don’t know, man,” Tucker said. “Cederlind has the whole Noah Syndergaard thing going on, and he throws 100 mph. I don’t do anything 100 mph. If you had to pit us against each other, I might have a leg up because mine is all natural and he’s got some dye in there — but that’s cool, man, and more power to him.”
When I called him late last week, Cederlind was back at home in Turlock, Calif., charging up his electric car before going a hike with his girlfriend. He laughed out loud when asked about Tucker.
“Hmm … I’m not going to put my hair up against Tuck,” said Cederlind, who waited until he was sent to Altoona last season before dyeing his hair a shocking blond and staying away from scissors. “When it comes to quality of hair, he’s got it. I’ve got some funky hair, put it that way. He’s got pretty hair.”
That’s a verdict that Tucker will happily accept: “Cederlind is awesome. His hair is awesome. I think the world is wide enough for us both to exist.”
Tucker isn’t sure how long he’ll keep his long curls. Dreadlocks would be an easy and logical next step, but he’s having too much fun now to change his image so dramatically.
Advertisement
Some players wear high socks. Others have a unique batting stance or bat flip. Tucker has his hair.
“People say to me, ‘Will you ever get a haircut? It’s kind of your thing now.’ I don’t know,” Tucker said. “I know that being 23 and having long hair is cool. I don’t know if being 43 and having long hair is cool. As long as I’m playing baseball and running around like an idiot on the field, I’ll probably keep it. I’m just going to roll with the curls for a while and see where it takes me.”
(Top photo: Matt Stone/MediaNews Group)