Shaggy tribute to history's icons

George Washington, according to legend, had a powerful hatchet swing and a rocket-like arm. But the would-be prospect didn't live long enough to see the invention of baseball, let alone baseball cards sporting the visages of the Washington Nationals.

The Father of Our Country, it's safe to say, would be less puzzled by the sight of a team bearing his name (or by its lackluster play) than he would be by a bizarre new trend in the sports memorabilia industry - packs of baseball cards that contain strands of his hair.

Topps, the granddaddy of cardmakers, introduced "relic cards" with hair from Washington's head last year. And, as The Wall Street Journal recently reported, another giant in the field - Upper Deck - has now started marketing a select number of cards with similar snips of history.

Abe Lincoln. Marilyn Monroe. Ronald Reagan. Beethoven. Jackie O. Charles Dickens. Geronimo. All of their shearings have been or soon will be shared with card collectors.

The only actual historic figure from baseball involved in this oddity is Babe Ruth, whose hair presumably includes 80-year-old hot dog bun crumbs to add an air of authenticity.

Speaking of authenticity, it should be noted that some hecklers in the bleachers are raising a relevant question: How in the Dickens do we know this hair is really from Dickens?

Card ma kers have swept up their clippings from collectors of historic hair (yep, it's a real hobby), who offer various types of documentation as proof that the strands are really from famous noggins and aren't fancied-up knockoffs.

But, as one hair collector conceded to The Wall Street Journal, there could be a few hirsute hoaxes in the heap. After all, it isn't always practical, or possible, to verify the original owners of the hair by, say, DNA testing an heir.

Card collectors apparently like the averages, however. Some have already resold snippings to folks eager to snap them up. Honest Abe's hair, for example, recently drew $24,000 from a bidder on eBay.

On the baseball diamond, of course, that's not a lot of money, even for a weak-hitting shortstop with two left feet. But for the vast majority of baseball fans, it's a profitable cut. So, as long as there's a supply of famous locks, it seems likely Topps will continue to take a little off the top.