‘Brow Bros (‘60s Version)

It was the 1960s.  Long hair was everywhere – afros, sideburns, walrus mustaches, fu manchus, ponytails … 

Oh, wait,, we’re talking about baseball players, aren’t we?  For them, the 1960s were the heyday of the … crew cut.  Sigh.

There was one area, though, where ballplayers let it all hang out – their eyebrows.  And for ‘brows, there was no holding back.  Right on, man!  Let your freak flag fly, brother! 

So, here they are … guys with freaky eyebrows from those wild and crazy ‘60s.

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And now for something completely different.  Don’s pair here aren’t necessarily the strips of shag rug that everyone else seems to sport.  Instead, they seem to have a very unusual shape and length.  Nice changeup, Don!

Don Lock had a couple of really good years with the Senators (27 and 28 homers), but never could get the average up and was out of the bigs after eight years.  He was a big fella (6’2” and 202 lbs.) and, consequently, rather prone to the ol’ strikeout.

Okay, this is more like it.  Larry’s seems to have been smudged on by some first grader particularly inept at finger-painting. 

Geez, there sure are a lot of Larry Browns out there.  Looks like we’ve got all the sports covered – a basketball player, a hockey guy, two baseball players, and four football dudes.  And that’s not even mentioning the author and the politician.

With these beauties, I’m guessing Dick’s nickname was something like “Hawk.” 

Unfortunately, baseball-reference.com lists no nicknames for Dick Egan.  The stats aren’t really worth recording either – four years, three teams, 1-2 record, and 5.15 ERA. 
 

Jay’s a fairly handsome guy, but those brows are just too much.  Just ask your barber, Joe.  He’ll be honest with you.

One of the first bonus babies, Joey Jay was on a major leaguer roster at age 17.  It would be five years, though, before he would be able to really contribute.  Joey (how his older cards are usually styled) had two great years, for the ’61 and ’62 Reds.  In both, he won 20 games.

Jay, by the way, was the first Little Leaguer to make the majors. 
 

Joe Pepitone, on the other hand, is not so good-looking.  Which makes me wonder …  Why he was so popular with the ladies (as I understand it, he was kind of a Joe Namath in pinstripes)?  It must have been those yet-to-be-developed sideburns.  Don’t worry, we’ll revisit Joe (and his sideburns) again when we hit the 70s.

Peps was a three-time All Star and Gold Glove winner.  That was nothing, though, compared to:

• Getting shot (in high school)
• Being a major star of Jim Bouton’s Ball Four
• Posing nude for Foxy Lady magazine
• Spending a couple of months in Rikers for cocaine possession
• Getting married (and divorced) three times

Ron’s aren’t that bad, but I’m including him here only because he was so darn consistent.  Every card of his (and he was up for 17 seasons) sports a pair of handsome little wooly worms.  

Ron Kline began as a starter, pitching for Pittsburgh (and twice leading the NL in losses) in the early ‘50s.  He switched to relief in the early ‘60s, leading the AL in saves in 1965.  Overall, he played for eight different teams (and the Buccos twice) and wore eight different uniform numbers.

Now, this guy’s nickname actually was “Hawk.”  And he sure does look the part, doesn’t he?  An additional nickname was “Old Tomato,” for his red face. 

Jack Lamabe was up for seven years, playing for seven different teams.  His only real claim to fame is leading the league in earned runs, in 1964 for the Red Sox.  He was also LSU’s first full-time baseball coach, and quite a popular figure there.

* - author has this card


Into brows?  Check out these bad boys from the 1950s and 1970s.