Baseball is a game of tradition. Pinstripes, cracker jacks, and the unwritten rules that keep the old guard grumbling. But on September 14, 2019, Mike Fiers decided tradition was boring.
He walked onto the mound at Globe Life Park in Arlington wearing something that looked less like a beard and more like a catastrophic accident with a pair of clippers. It wasn't just a bad shave. It was a masterpiece of the absurd. The right side of his face was a standard, bushy beard that connected to his sideburn. Then, it took a sharp turn. It curled under his chin, looped back up the other side of his face, and joined his mustache in one continuous, swirling line.
One side was hairy. The other side was smooth as a baby's.
Naturally, the internet lost its collective mind. Twitter users dubbed it the "cinnamon roll," the "monkey tail," and the "G-beard." It looked like the cursive letter G or a very lost squirrel trying to find its way to his ear. Honestly, it was the kind of thing you only see when a guy loses a very specific, very cruel bet.
Why Mike Fiers Shaved That Way
So, why did he do it? Most people assumed it was a lost wager. In reality, it was a mix of a "dare" and a desperate search for a vibe shift.
Mike Fiers was pitching for the Oakland Athletics at the time. He was coming off a brutal start against the Houston Astros—the kind where you get lit up for nine runs in just over an inning. When you're a major league pitcher and you get shelled like that, you start looking for luck in weird places.
Fiers and some of his teammates were sitting around the clubhouse, probably killing time during a long season, and they started Googling. They weren't looking for pitching mechanics or scouting reports. They searched for "funny beards."
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- They found a photo of a guy with a spiral beard.
- His teammates dared him to do it.
- They didn't think he’d actually go through with it.
- Fiers, being a "guy who doesn't care," went all in.
He told reporters later that he just wanted to give the guys a laugh. "It’s a long season," he basically said, explaining that he’s usually the guy the team likes to poke fun at anyway. He figured he was going to shave the whole thing off and start fresh, so why not have one last ride with a facial hair disaster?
The Game Where the "Monkey Tail" Debuted
The game itself was almost an afterthought to the beard, which is saying something because Fiers was fighting for a playoff spot. He took the mound against the Texas Rangers looking like a character from a Dr. Seuss book.
The A's broadcast booth couldn't stop talking about it. The Rangers' booth was equally baffled. It’s hard to focus on a 90-mph fastball when the pitcher has a hairy lowercase "g" on his jawline.
Sadly, the luck didn't hold.
Fiers didn't even make it out of the second inning. He felt some numbness in his hand—later diagnosed as nerve irritation—and had to leave the game after giving up three runs. If the beard was supposed to be a lucky charm, it was a defective one.
By the time he met with the media after the game, the beard was gone. He had shaved it clean off. The legendary Mike Fiers beard lasted for exactly 1.2 innings of Major League Baseball. It was a short-lived glory, but it was enough to cement him in the Hall of Fame of weird baseball aesthetic choices.
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The Cultural Legacy of a Terrible Shave
You’d think a one-inning beard would be forgotten by the next morning. It wasn't.
Fast forward to 2020, during the COVID-shortened season. The A's clubhouse decided to pay homage to the "Fiers Beard" in the most 2020 way possible: custom face masks. Every player on the roster found a mask in their locker that had Fiers' specific swirl printed on the front.
Pitcher Sean Manaea was spotted wearing it during workouts. It became a bit of a cult classic for A's fans. It turned a moment of "what the hell is he doing?" into a symbol of clubhouse chemistry.
Why the Beard Still Matters
There’s a reason we’re still talking about this years later. It represents the weird, superstitious underbelly of baseball.
Pitchers are notoriously eccentric. Some won't step on the chalk lines. Some wear the same "lucky" socks for three months without washing them. Mike Fiers chose to represent his slump-busting attempt through the medium of performance-art facial hair.
It also served as a brief distraction from the heavier stuff in Fiers' career. Remember, this is the same guy who eventually became the primary whistleblower in the Houston Astros sign-stealing scandal. That story changed the entire trajectory of the sport and made him a pariah to some and a hero to others.
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Compared to the gravity of "Trashcan-gate," a beard that looks like a cat's tail is a refreshing reminder that baseball is still a game played by guys who act like they're in a frat house half the time.
How to Pull Off the Mike Fiers Look (If You Must)
If you're looking to recreate the Mike Fiers beard for a costume or a very risky Tinder profile, you need a plan. You can't just wing this with a disposable razor.
- Grow a full, thick beard first. You need enough canvas to work with.
- Shave the left side clean. Take it all the way up to the ear, but leave the mustache.
- Trace the swirl. You want to keep the soul patch and then curve the hair around the chin and back up to the right side of the mustache.
- Precision is key. Use a trimmer with no guard for the edges.
Honestly, don't do this.
Unless you are a professional athlete with a multi-million dollar contract and a clubhouse full of teammates waiting to roast you, it’s a tough look to pull off at the grocery store.
The Verdict on the Beard
Mike Fiers may have 75 career wins and two no-hitters to his name, but for a huge segment of the public, he is the "G-beard guy."
It was a moment of pure, unadulterated fun in a sport that often takes itself way too seriously. It didn't win him the game, and it didn't fix his nerve issue, but it gave us one of the most memorable images in modern sports history.
If you're ever feeling like you’re in a rut at work, maybe don't shave a spiral into your face. But do take a page out of Fiers' book: don't be afraid to be the guy everyone laughs at for a day. It builds character, and if you're lucky, someone might even make a mask out of you.
Next Steps for Baseball Fans:
- Check out the archives of the 2019 Oakland A's to see the full reaction from his teammates.
- Look into the "Monkey Tail Beard" trend that briefly took over social media after Fiers went viral.
- Compare his look to other iconic MLB facial hair, like Rollie Fingers' mustache or Brian Wilson's "The Beard" from the 2010 Giants.