About a week ago, as his right shoulder ached and his season lay in ruins, Royals starter Ian Kennedy stood in front of a mirror.
He had put up a putrid 9.57 ERA in the month of August and logged two mediocre starts in September. He would sit 10 days to rest a fatigued rotator cuff. It was the kind of performance that could spur some self reflection. Yet as Kennedy took stock, he noticed something else: His beard was out of control.
“Might be the longest it’s ever been,” he said.
Dark reddish and unkempt, the follicles offered a brief history of his volatile season.