Michael Fulmer lost his beard, but he won the bet.
Last season, infielder Ronny Rodriguez bet Fulmer that he wouldn’t show up to spring training clean shaven. But when Rodriguez showed up unannounced to the Detroit Tigers’ spring training facilities in Lakeland, Fla. a couple of weeks ago, he found Fulmer working out in the weight room — clean shaven.
“This,” he said on Thursday afternoon, stroking some recently grown stubble, “is the aftermath of that.”
Fulmer, 25, had already reported to TigerTown well ahead of Rodriguez's arrival — he started on Dec. 5.