Puerto Rican fans set a record by dyeing themselves blonde

SAN JUAN (AP) — The blondes are back.

Puerto Rico set the Guinness World Record on Friday when 192 men simultaneously dyed their hair blonde in support of the team that will seek to win the World Baseball Classic, after finishing twice in second place.

Originally, Puerto Rican players dyed their hair blonde before the 2017 Classic, as a joke. They did not then expect multitudes of fans on the island to imitate them, so much so that pharmacies and beauty salons ran out of hair dye.

The tournament was held every four years, but the pandemic forced it to be postponed for two years. So, after six years without such a dye fever and without being able to encourage “Team Rubio! many Puerto Ricans were eager to see if the trend would continue.

Los peloteros decidieron conserver la tradición este año, y la gente en la isla, donde la mayoría de la población tiene cabello oscuro, volvió a responder adoptando tonalidades que van del platino al anaranjado —incluyendo a veces rastas y barbas— para mostrar su apoyo al crew.

“The blonder the hair, the more united the city will be,” said photographer Miguel Rodríguez Camilo, while waiting to lighten the color of his dark brown hair.

Rodríguez Camilo was one of more than 200 men who showed up for the mass dyeing on Friday. Some were disqualified for a variety of reasons, including not having taken a mandatory photo showing them in the hair color they had before being painted.

Guinness World Records judge Natalia Ramírez pointed out that there were also disqualifications of people who already had white or gray hair.

“If you don’t notice the change, it doesn’t matter,” he said.

Participants sat in an outdoor space for 45 minutes, wearing plastic shower caps, while laughing at each other, taking selfies and looking at each other on their phone screens. The dyers arrived later and looked under the caps.

“I wasn’t going to do it, but colleagues put pressure on me,” said William Davidowski, 51, with light brown hair, who works for the insurance company that helped organize the event.

The World Classic has just started, but Davidowski doesn’t know how long he’ll keep his blonde hair.

“It depends on how it goes,” he said with a laugh.

Nearly an hour later, he left, wearing a baseball cap.

Event organizers had eight hours to break the previous record, set in Buenos Aires in March 2013, when 160 people dyed their hair. More than five hours after the start of the event on Friday, participant number 161, responsible for breaking the record, entered to the applause and shouts of those present.

“May we always support our people,” Tomás Nieves, 22, who works as an air conditioning technician, said in a very low voice. He explained that he was nervous about all the attention generated.

“Team Rubio” was set to adopt another hair color this year.

There were rumors the players would dye their hair blue, but “some guys got a little shy,” New York Mets shortstop Francisco Lindor said at a recent press conference.

Detroit Tigers shortstop Javier Baez then posted a photo on Instagram. He appeared with dyed blonde hair.

“It was the one there was,” Lindor said.

This time the team was more prepared for the hair treatment. She hired five hairstylists and colorists, up from one person for each task in 2017.

A local university that helped organize Friday’s event purchased 79 pounds (36 kilograms) of bleach.

“The people of Puerto Rico embraced him. It was good for them and for us as a team. So why not continue this tradition? asked Yadier Molina, a former St. Louis Cardinals wide receiver and team manager, this week.

It remains to be seen whether all this enthusiasm that has literally gone to the head of the Boricuas will translate into a championship.

Puerto Rico plays its first match this Saturday, against Nicaragua. On Sunday, it is measured against Venezuela.