With the announcement Dakota Bacus is on the injured list, James Bourque has been recalled to the majors. We await the highly anticipated return of his stellar mustache.
James Bourque is back with the Washington Nationals. Let’s hope he brought his great looking mustache along with him.
Bourque debuted a year ago and gave up four earned runs in two-thirds of an inning. He would make the lone appearance on the season and be stuck with an earned run average of 54.00. That was not the talk of the town, however.
Nationals place Dakota Bacus on the 10-day IL with a right flexor strain and recall James Bourque to take his place in the bullpen.
— Mark Zuckerman (@MarkZuckerman) September 7, 2020
Sporting one of the better mustaches in the game when he took the mound, Bourque brought back memories of Dennis Eckersly, Rollie Fingers, and Goose Gossage. There once was a time when rocking a quality mustache earned you as many accolades as entering a game with runners on, and stranding them.
Bourque resurfaced this year, pitching in 1.1 innings without allowing a run. Lowered the career ERA to 18.00, but again the topic of conversation was not his pitching. He was clean shaven when he emerged from the bullpen.
Not since the Fu Manchu mustache supported by Danny Espinosa has their been so much talk revolving around a man’s facial hair on the Nationals.
Players don’t need gimmicks if they want to catch the eye of their employer. Though, this isn’t the New York Yankees and there is no facial hair guidelines on the Nationals. For Bourque, who appeared on the top prospects list in the Nationals system at one time, he caught the eyes of the coaches for more than his strong right arm.
All jokes aside, the Nationals coaches most likely don’t care how Bourque looks, they only care how he performs in between the baselines. He’ll have the remaining three weeks of the season to try and carve out a spot in the 2021 bullpen.
Let’s hope he can, and when he arrives next year, we trust he’ll bring along his shaggy friend with him.