Hall cuts hair for a good cause

LAKELAND, Fla. – DL Hall caught a glimpse of his reflection in the mirror and did a double-take, hardly able to recognize himself. Fifteen inches of hair are gone. The face is familiar, but nothing else.

Noticed more in the past for an electric arm, Hall is getting lots of attention in Orioles camp for his buzz cut.

Hall had his reasons. The club’s No. 2-ranked pitching prospect is donating his hair to Wigs & Wishes, an organization that creates and grants wigs to people battling cancer.

“I have a family friend up in New Jersey that is close with the organization that I’m working with, and he mentioned it to me this offseason,” Hall said this morning. “I planned on doing it when we went up north for the season, but as you can tell, it’s really hot down here, so I was ready to go ahead and cut it off. So, I cut it off and I’m saving it to take up to the organization when we go up north.”

This is where the magnitude of Hall’s gesture continues to grow. He wants to present it to the child in person.

“I’ll actually take it up there with me,” he said. “I’ll get to go meet the kid that they’re going to make the wig for. I get to meet him personally and take pictures with him and stuff and show him the hair, and then they’ll make a wig for him.

“It’s awesome. It means a lot. Anytime I can help out, especially with kids and things like that, it’s awesome. I was grateful for being able to do it.”

Hall said his hair hasn’t been this short since 2019. He cut it in 2021 after sustaining an injury with Double-A Bowie and flying down to Sarasota to being a rehab program. The scissors and clippers didn’t touch his head again until this week, just before he walked inside the clubhouse and shocked teammates.

Reliever Joey Krehbiel shook Hall’s hand and introduced himself. Spenser Watkins spun around as he passed by, his mouth agape. Other players hustled over to his locker. A scrum began to form, everyone armed with their own comments.

“I knew it was going to be a big deal because a lot of these people haven’t ever seen me with anything but long hair,” Hall said. “It was cool.”

Eleven inches of hair were required to make the donation, and Hall went beyond the limit.

“When I cut it in 2021, I tried to save it to donate it, as well, but I didn’t have enough because the barber down here, neither one of us knew how to really save it to donate it,” Hall said. “So, when he cut it off, we were trying to grab it off the ground, but it didn’t work out, so I never got to do it.”

The next attempt worked. Hall’s stylist used rubber bands to create five or six long ponytails. A few minutes later, they were gone.

“They just buzzed it off,” Hall said, adding that he has photos, which he didn’t seem eager to share.

“It was pretty easy.”

Hall has no immediate plans to grow it back out. Not for a little while, at least.

“Just try it out, see how it goes,” he said.

The convenience might persuade Hall to keep his present look. Valuable time is saved in the mornings.

“I didn’t really do a whole lot with it, but as far as when I was showering and stuff, having to dry it off and everything was so annoying,” he said. “Now, I can just get out of the shower, do one of these (rubs head) and I’m ready to go.”

Hall’s caps aren’t as snug on his head but he’s more rested these days.

“The biggest adjustment is probably my sleep,” he said. “I would wake up in the middle of the night, have hair in my face and stuff. Now, the first morning I woke up yesterday morning, I was like, ‘Man, I didn’t wake up last night.’ It was nice.”

Here’s a photo of Hall with his new look.