Jon Gray has been on a self-described "hair journey" for the last two years. The Colorado Rockies starting pitcher started growing his mane out at spring training in 2015. It got so long that his hair fell somewhere around the letters on the back of his jersey when he took the mound. Now it ends near the back of his neck.
Gray got 8 inches of his hair lopped off at Coors Field on Tuesday. Gray is donating it to Locks of Love, the nonprofit organization that donates hairpieces to financially disadvantaged children who suffer from long-term medical hair loss.
Gray decided he wanted to donate his hair toward the end of the 2015 season. He had a conversation with a Coors Field employee whose name is lost on him now. The man told Gray that he donated hair every year to Locks of Love.
"I didn’t think there was a big organization behind it," Gray said. "I just saw it as kind of an opportunity to help someone out."
Rockies pitching coach Steve Foster, manager Bud Black and Gray's wife, Jacklyn, were on hand as Megan Duran from Floyd's 99 Barbershop went to work with a squirt bottle, scissors and clippers.
"It's going to help with that fastball command," Black joked.
Gray said that he hopes to donate more of his hair in the future. His goal is to give on a yearly basis.
“There are just people who aren’t as fortunate," Gray said. "There are burn victims, people who’ve gone through chemotherapy who need a hair piece. If I have the ability to do it, why not? They need it more than me."
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