He's calling it a "BeardOff," but even A's right fielder Josh Reddick admits it's a beard-on.Reddick, a huge fan of WWE wrestling, has taken the challenge by the WWE's Daniel Bryan to spend the rest of this year growing the fullest and most luxuriant beard possible.
The winner will be determined by fans voting online at the end of the year, and "the loser has to shave it all off,'' Reddick said Tuesday.
"I'm already hearing trash talk from his fans," Reddick said of the challenge, which he accepted Tuesday morning. "I know a bunch of the WWE guys, but I've never met him."
Reddick reported to FanFest in Oakland in January with a full beard that he started growing in November. Bryan reportedly has been growing his beard for about 12 months.
"He has a bit of a head start," Reddick acknowledged. "Here's hoping I'm a fast grower."
Reddick has been known to alter his facial hair depending on his batting average and run production, so he called teammate Coco Crisp aside after striking the deal.
"I told Coco that if I was tempted to shave, don't let me do it," Reddick said.
He said that he may be at a bit of a voting disadvantage; he has about 35,000 Twitter followers (@joshreddick16). Bryan has about 580,000 (@WWEDanielBryan).