Weird Wilsons

[C.J.] Wilson is also an expert in finger care, thanks to the occupational hazards of his day job, pitching for the Rangers. Over the last year, Wilson has developed a comprehensive routine to manage a blister on his left middle finger, which opened and started bleeding during the seventh inning of Game 2, knocking him out with the Rangers trailing San Francisco, 1-0.

“The amount of finger care I do on a weekly basis is about 10 to 15 hours,” Wilson said.

On game days, the process involves about 10 steps. It includes shaving the blister, sealing it with medical-grade glue, softening it with Stan’s Rodeo Ointment, filing it down with an emery board and dunking it in a low-pH acidic solution. He also carries around a needle, which he can use to drain the blister between innings if a pool of blood forms. —NYT

(Via Jane)

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There are the bright orange spikes, for which [Brian Wilson] was fined $1,000 by Major League Baseball because they failed to conform to the standard of being at least 50 percent black. (He brought them up to code with a marker.)

And there is his preternaturally black beard — dyed several shades darker than the rest of his hair with what appears to be industrial-grade shoe polish — which has inspired five Facebook pages and a marketing campaign. The slogan “Fear the Beard” adorns any number of T-shirts in Giants souvenir stands.

It is what is behind the beard, however, that gives Wilson his edge.

He is an entertaining interview: on Jim Rome’s radio show this summer he claimed to be a certified ninja and a mental assassin.[...] —NYT

(Via Theo)