Can Baseball Player Still Hit After They Go Grey?
A HEAD-SCRATCHER
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Part of what makes baseball the best sport in the world (besides casual shuffleboard, of course), is the endless statistical ways fans can evaluate a player.

For instance, traditional fans tend to evaluate hitters based on batting average, home runs, and runs-batted in.

By contrast, newer generations of fans have begun to look deeper into the "peripheral" numbers, searching for positive or negative tendencies that could shed light on future performance.  Such popular advanced-metrics/funny acronyms include BABIP (Batting Average Balls In Play), wRC+ (Park-Adjusted Runs Per Plate Appearance), and WAR (Wins Above Replacement).

Using all of these metrics could determine if an aging player can still hit. But perhaps traditional and advanced numbers aren't telling the full story. 

Could there be a simpler explanation for an aging batter's sustained ability to hit a baseball?

Specifically, can baseball players still hit after their hair goes gray? We examine four graying players to see if a silver mane has any Samson-like powers.

 Molly Brooks

Ichiro Suzuki

For nine seasons, Ichiro Suzuki dominated the NPB (Nippon Professional Baseball), batting a career .353 with 1,278 hits. His ability to hit a baseball followed him to the United States and Seattle Mariners. Ichiro won the Rookie of the Year Award in 2001, and has, to-date, collected another 2,896 hits.

But around 2006, a few of Ichiro's hairs noticeably turned gray.

It would be a slow burn for the seven-time All-Star, but in 2011, the Japanese star's gray hairs took over. Ichiro's .272 batting average that season was 59 points lower than his career rate. And for the first time ever, the Mariners' outfielder was not voted into the All-Star Game.

Ichiro Suzuki's gray-haired downfall only continued in 2012. His declination from once dark-haired standout to gray-haired pedestrian resulted in a mid-season trade to the New York Yankees.

Despite a slight rebound in the second half of 2012 for the Bombers, Ichiro since has combined for a mere .266 batting average.

To-date, the future Hall of Fame candidate has been reduced to a part-time player for the Miami Marlins. Ichiro, like many Floridians, now sports a full head of gray hair.

Affected By Gray: Very Noticeable



 Molly Brooks

Michael Cuddyer

Hoping to add some thunder to an otherwise insipid offense, the New York Mets signed free agent Michael Cuddyer to a two-year, $21 million contract this past off-season. Unfortunately, the right-handed batter hasn't been the hitting savior the Mets coveted.

But has Cuddyer's .250 batting average and subpar 6.3 percent walk rate been the product of his full head of gray hair?

In short, it's unlikely.

Cuddyer, a former first-round pick, has technically been playing with gray hairs since 2008, when he was a member of the Minnesota Twins. Even in 2011, when Cuddyer was more or less fully gray, he posted a fruitful .284 batting average with 20 home runs.

After his tenure with the Twins, the 36-year-old continued to succeed with gray hair for the Colorado Rockies. From 2012-2014, Cuddyer owned a cumulative .307 batting average with three consecutive seasons of double-digit home runs.

While it's possible the combination of gray hair and playing for the Mets could result in an instantaneous decline, the sample size for such a scenario is too small to prove such a theory.

Affected By Gray: Minimal


 Molly Brooks

Chase Utley

From 2005 to 2010, few hitters were more feared than Chase Utley. According to FanGraphs, Utley's 43.7 fWAR (Fangraphs' Wins Above Replacement) was second only to Albert Pujols over that span.

Post-2010, however, the Philadelphia Phillies' second baseman's status as a superstar quickly evaporated. Knee ailments such as patellar tendinitis and chondromalacia didn't help matters, either.

More importantly, Utley's locks' transformation from youthful brown in 2013 to geezer gray just a year later, mirrored his downward spiral. Despite posting his most plate appearances since 2009, the 2014-version of Utley didn't have much to show for it. The left-handed hitter only swatted 11 home runs  his lowest career home run total with at least 500 plate appearances.

At age 36 – and fully gray – Utley's career appears to be on the fritz. Apparently, Phillies' general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. agrees, publicly stating that Cesar Hernandez – not the six-time All-Star – was the team's best option at second base this year.

Affected By Gray: Overwhelming



 Molly Brooks

Alex Rodriguez

Alex Rodriguez is a prime example of an incredibly talented athlete who couldn't resist the urge to cheat. Rodriguez's illegal substance use earned him a yearlong ban in 2014. Despite his admittance about steroids, it's possible A-Rod still hasn't fessed up to all his wrongdoings.

This includes dying his hair brown.

While there's little proof that Rodriguez ever reached for Just For Men, gray strands began popping up in 2005 for the veteran. In an attempt to mask the inevitable, the 39-year-old utilized the "frosted tips" look from 2005 to 2008.

And even though A-Rod lost the boy-band look by 2009, all of a sudden, his hair magically reflected a more youthful brown tint.

Unfortunately, hard evidence of Alex Rodriguez "using" substances to hide gray hairs is minimal to non-existent. And as a result, no one will ever know for sure whether his deep, gray roots have influenced the could-have-been Hall of Famer's weaker, latter-career statistics.

Affected By Gray: Inconclusive


All statistics sourced from FanGraphs and Baseball Reference.

<p>Ben Berkon is a freelance writer, advertising producer/copywriter, and voice-over artist, based in New York City.</p>

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