Elvis Andrus: Abe Lincoln beard is here to stay

Elvis Andrus was greeted at his spring training locker with teammates posting a drawing of Abraham Lincoln, a clear reference to his long and thick beard.

Andrus took it in stride and is proud of what manager Ron Washington also described as an “Abe Lincoln-esque” beard. Andrus has no intentions of shaving it off, either.

“It’s going to stay there for a while,” Andrus said, smiling. “He was a good president. I enjoy it. A bunch of jokes, people are having fun with it.”

The beard has been noticed by just about everyone in camp so far. Washington laughed about Andrus’ beard, as did general manager Jon Daniels. Daniels wishes he could grow facial hair that well.

But neither are too worried about it as long as it doesn’t affect Andrus’ play on the field.

Andrus is no stranger to making headlines for odd things, either. Last spring, he missed a spring training game after getting a tattoo.

This spring, though, Andrus said he’ll stay away from the tattoo parlor.

“That was one time,” he said. “It’s too painful.”

This story was originally published February 19, 2014 at 11:32 AM with the headline "Elvis Andrus: Abe Lincoln beard is here to stay."