Cult Of The Bone Buhner’s Fans In Seattle Cut Above All The Others

You hesitate to call it a cult.

Because that carries sort of harsh implications - like people with crazy haircuts and unpredictable behavior and unwavering devotion to an individual they view as an icon.

OK, so maybe cult is the right word after all.

The Cult of the Bone.

Almost all Seattle Mariners - center fielder Ken Griffey Jr., shortstop Alex Rodriguez, pitcher Randy Johnson, designated hitter Edgar Martinez, etc. - have strong followings.

But no Mariners’ fans are more easily recognizable, more unflaggingly loyal and more willing to display their scalp-deep commitment than those of right fielder Jay Buhner - Bone, to his fans.

They tend to be the ones just off the job site. They seem to be solid Americans in all regards, except maybe for that plastic bone that appears to be embedded in their shaved heads.

They’re clock-punchin’, pile-drivin’ men and women who see their toughness and willingness to do the dirty jobs reflected in their hero.

This, after all, is the guy who one time dove face-first so hard for a sinking line drive that the friction from the turf ripped the belt right off his pants.

Never mind what it must have done to his chin. (Heck, what do you think that goatee is for?)

Buhner, of course, looked at the broken leather (scorning its lack of toughness) and went about his business of smiting impudent base runners with darts from right field.

That’s what happens when he charges balls. When he goes back, well, one gets the notion the warning track in right field was put there for the benefit of the fence, not for Buhner.

His idolaters have come to expect nothing less from Buhner. (Didn’t somebody see him get cut once and witness his veins leaking a substance that looked suspiciously like pine tar?)

“He’s a superstar player, but he’s an unassuming superstar; he seems approachable,” said Scott Harris, a 29-year-old Issaquah general contractor wearing a Bald to the Bone T-shirt - along with a stubbled head, from the recent Buhner Buzz night. “He’s the hardest-working right fielder in the game, and that’s what I like. He seems like a normal working stiff like the rest of us.”

Buhner suspects it’s not only his lack of pretense that appeals to his fans, but also his philosophical approach to life, which can be captured with the phrase: like it or lump it.

“I’m like the blue-collar guy who comes to the ballpark and plays hard and gets dirty, and, to be totally honest, I’m going to tell people the way it is,” said Buhner. “… It’s kind of like No-Gray Jay, there’s no gray areas, what they see is what they get with me.”

That’s probably why, according to some of the Mariners, that Buhner’s strong personality is at the core of this team; that if you dissected this club, it’s Buhner who’s at the marrow.

But Buhner admits he’s not entirely at ease with being so revered.

“I don’t expect the attention, and I don’t seek the attention; I don’t want to be in the limelight,” he said. “I enjoy coming and playing and then going home to be with my family. But people have gone about it in the right way and it’s not gotten to the point where it’s too much.”

But his following hasn’t only expanded, it’s ossified. On Buhner Buzz night this year, nearly 4,000 fans stood in line for up to 3 hours to get their heads shorn and to look - to be coldly analytical - pretty ridiculous.

Allow me to point out that this isn’t like buying a T-shirt or a poster of our hero, this is making a commitment that borders on self-mutilation.

“It was a show of support,” said Harris. “I’m a father of five and I have four bald boys. We all got buzzed together.”

What about the fifth offspring?

“She’s a 6-month-old girl, and she’s already almost bald.”

The shorn that day even included a 78-year-old grandmother.

Randy Notman, 38, of Federal Way, took part in the first two Buhner Buzz nights but couldn’t wait through the mile-long line for the most recent event. And he’s disappointed in himself for that lack of commitment.

Members of the Cult of the Bone seem to have some common traits, he acknowledged - frequently being men heading into middle age who appreciate strong work ethic “with a little bit of craziness” mixed in.

“Maybe it’s just a lot of us trying to hide our (receding) hairlines,” he offered.

Charles Fair, a Kingdome usher, who worked right field on Buhner Buzz night, said the fans are basically well-behaved, “just guys with no hair acting kind of nutty.”

“They are so loyal it’s unbelievable,” said Fair. “He’d come out and throw a ball up to the fans, and we had a heckuva time keeping the aisles clear. Then he hit a homer and they went bananas.”

Which is the kind of support that leaves a soft spot in the Bone.

“Above and beyond everything else, I enjoy my family and my privacy,” said Buhner. “At the same time, everybody loves to be recognized and patted on the back and cheered. It’s nice to have a following.”

But don’t you have to wonder a bit about why you would inspire the likes of a 78-year-old woman to shave her head?

“I guess some were just good fans of the Mariners, some took dares, some probably lost bets and some probably just flat-out wanted a free haircut,” said Buhner. “Whatever the reason, it’s all pretty flattering.”