Colorado Rockies: Is Charlie Blackmon’s beard the best in sports?

Let’s be honest. Charlie Blackmon of the Colorado Rockies is a hitting beast. Heading into Friday’s series opener at the Washington Nationals, Blackmon is fifth in the National League batting average (.326), third in slugging percentage (.609) and the leader total hits (136), triples (13) and total bases (236).

His penchant for hitting is part of the reason why Chuck Nazty was voted in as one of the starting outfielders in the recent All-Star Game in Miami. However, there is a growing fascination around the country with Blackmon’s beard as well.

Hey, we’ve known about it in Colorado for quite a while. The rest of the nation is just now starting to catch up. It doesn’t take long for this New York Times article to reference the beard and tell the tale of how Blackmon has been growing it since 2013. The Famous Beard Oil Company has Blackmon prominently displayed on their site.

Rockies fans love Blackmon as a hitter, but they also seem to like the entire vibe, from his signature walk-up song to the beard to the 2004 Jeep Laredo he still drives. Isn’t that why his younger fans go crazy when they see him?

So, on an off day, and with bearded reliever Pat Neshek now in the Rockies dugout after a Wednesday trade with the Philadelphia Phillies, we pondered to ourselves, “Is Charlie Blackmon’s beard not only the best and most famous in baseball, but perhaps in all of sports?” Sure there are those who will point to Sergio Romo, Justin Turner, Dallas Keuchel or Jayson Werth for their wondrous beards as baseball’s best. However, we’re going to stick with Blackmon on this one.

Sure, “best” is a loosely defined term here. Some would consider finely manicured “best.” Some would consider the most recognizable as the “best.” We’re not defining the term for you, but rather letting you, the reader, in your mind decide what makes a beard “the best” in sports.

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To get a measuring stick on Blackmon versus the rest of sports, we decided there was only one place to go. We had to go to the highest ground for beards in sports. Yes, the city where perhaps the most recognizable beard of all lives – Houston.

We reached out to our FanSided cousins at SpaceCityScoop.com, a site covering the Houston Rockets, to ask them if the beard sported by James Harden is better than Chuck Nazty’s. Here is what Michael Knight of SpaceCityScoop.com wrote back to us.

James Harden definitely has the best beard in all of sports. He has been working on the glorious piece of facial hair since he was in college, and now keeps it nice and clean. James had a noticeably large beard by the end of the 2012 season, but it was by 2015 that Harden had the beard that we all know and love today.

The beard that James Harden has is a great sized one. It is the length of about half of his head and makes him look more intimidating. It has the appearance of looking almost dyed black and appears to be nearly fake at times. Alas, it is the real deal and if you are a defender, you should definitely fear the beard. He pairs the wicked facial hair with a small Mohawk and pulls it off perfectly.

As great as the length and size that James Harden’s beard is, that is not even the greatest part about it. The best part is how consistently clean and trim he keeps it. Harden puts effort into making sure his beard looks incredible, unlike other athletes out there who grow a huge one and do nothing to it. James Harden does not have the best beard in sports due to its size, it is because of how well-kept the beard looks.

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That’s their opinion. We’ll stick to ours with Blackmon’s beard. What do you think? Who has the best beard in this competition or in all of sports? Let us know below.