Moylan unveils 'rally head' haircut

By Carroll Rogers

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Braves reliever Peter Moylan has a new look, and it’s not pretty.

With so much free time around the clubhouse this week, given Monday’s three-hour rain delay, Adam LaRoche got wind that Moylan paid tribute, or poked fun at, John Smoltz last year by shaving his head half bald. The Braves went on to win a couple of games after that.

So after seeing a photo of it in Kelly Johnson’s phone, LaRoche dared him to do it again.

“[LaRoche] said let’s rally-head it to the playoffs,” said Moylan, who smiled when asked how much money he was doing it for and said: “I’m not at liberty to say.”

Last year Moylan waited about an hour before he shaved the rest of his head. This time he agreed to go with the half-bald look for more than two weeks, through the Braves’ visit to St. Louis where Smoltz is now pitching for the Cardinals.

“When we go to St. Louis, they want me to write Smoltzie on my head,” Moylan said.

If the Braves keep winning, he could go longer.

“There’s not much I wouldn’t do appearance-wise to help us get to the playoffs,” Moylan said.

Apparently so.

He sent a photo of the look to his girlfriend not long after LaRoche did the honors of shaving his head Thursday afternoon.

Moylan then read from the text message she sent back: “ ‘Do they realize that I’m the one that has to look at you because you’re wearing a hat the whole time on the field?’ ” he said. “Then she said ‘I love you,’ so I’m good.”