Day 319: Jonny Gomes... A Fresh Shave for a Fresh Season

Noooooooooooooooo! Not The Ironsides!!

Jonny Gomes was in New York this week for a special occasion (depending on how you look at it.) With the start of the 2014 season right around the corner, Gomes decided to get himself a fresh new look with a fresh shave. The superstitious fan in me is screaming: Are you nuts? That beard won a freaking World Series!

But since it was for a good cause, I'll let it slide. Gomes teamed up with Norelco and the Travis Roy Foundation to shave off his beard for charity. Norelco donated $10,000 with the funds earmarked for buying wheelchairs for those less fortunate. The foundation, set up by the former North Yarmouth Academy hockey star who was paralyzed on the ice just seconds into his first collegiate game with Boston University in 1995, helps spinal cord survivors and funds research for a cure.

Jonny let Fox & Friends host and New Englander, Elisabeth Hasselbeck do the honors of shaving off The Ironsides that had been Gomes' identity for the better part of the last year. Click HERE to see the video... I laughed right out loud at the way Elisabeth just dives into her task, and also Jonny's reaction to losing the fur. He truly looks frightened.

While in NYC, Gomes also had the honor of meeting newly crowned Westminster Best in Show champion Sky, and I think he's holding out hope that some more Championship charm rubs off on the Boston left fielder. Sky is no stranger to winning—in two years of competing, she has taken home 129 Best in Show titles. Something for the Red Sox to aspire to, perhaps?

BEFORE SHAVE: Jonny Gomes and Sky. Champions unite. Photo from HERE.

AFTER SHAVE: Time to start fresh. The Ironsides will be back. Photo from HERE.

So now, the lone holdout on the clean shave is Mike Napoli who has no plans to shave off The Siesta. That's ok though... all those furry faces will be back in no time. The season is pretty long, you know!