Fans of Puerto Rico's WBC team set hair-related world record originally appeared on NBC Sports Chicago
Fans of Puerto Rico's World Baseball Classic team are hoping blonde leads to gold in 2023.
Ahead of Puerto Rico's WBC opener, a group of 192 men on the Caribbean island dyed their hair blonde to support the ballclub. The event set the Guinness World Record for the most hair dyed in eight hours.
The previous record of 160 was set in Buenos Aires, Argentina, in March 2013. Despite some fans being disqualified for having white or graying hair, the record was broken in under six hours.
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Why the blonde hair? Well, Puerto Rican players dyed their hair blonde for the 2017 World Baseball Classic as a joke. But the blonde look became so popular among supporters that Team Puerto Rico, which is nicknamed Team Rubio (rubio means blonde in Spanish), brought it back for this year's tournament.
"The people of Puerto Rico embraced it. It did them and us well as a team," Team Rubio manager Yadier Molina said, via The Associated Press. "So why not continue with this tradition?"
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The Puerto Ricans have yet to win a World Baseball Classic. They've finished as the runner-up in each of the last two tournaments, most recently losing 8-0 to Team USA in the 2017 championship game.
Team Rubio got off to a great start to the 2023 WBC on Saturday, crushing Nicaragua 9-1 at loanDepot Park in Miami.
