The New Bald Mets

[NJDevs4978]

I guess the Mets won't be in People Magazine's 50 most beautiful spread anytime soon!

Bald is Beautiful

BALD IS BEAUTIFUL

FRESHLY SHAVEN METS SHAKE OFF BONDS' 745TH

By MARK HALE

May 9, 2007 -- SAN FRANCISCO - With Tom Glavine getting his head buzzed after the game, Rick Down thought the move was for the better.

"He looks 10 years younger," the hitting coach said. "He'll be pitching till he's 50."

Last night, the 41-year-old Glavine was terrific in the Mets' 4-1 victory over the Giants, pitching seven strong innings. He gave up only one run - Barry Bonds' solo homer, his 745th - and seven hits.

Yesterday nearly all of the Mets, in a move that was essentially done for no reason, buzzed their heads in pregame. Even support personnel - such as Down, trainer Ray Ramirez, PR honcho Jay Horwitz and others - joined in. Some Mets, like Carlos Delgado, already had either a shaved head or a buzz cut. But by the time the team went out for pre-game warm-ups, 21 of the 25 players had trimmed locks.

After the game, Glavine and Aaron Heilman made it 23 of 25. Delgado, who said he was the "highest-paid barber in the league," buzzed Glavine.

"If everybody's doing it, you've got to be one of the guys," Glavine said. "It looks bad like the rest of 'em."

Glavine, who earned career win No. 294, had to get two big outs in the sixth inning - the Giant in front of Bonds and the Giant behind him.

With the Mets up 4-1 with one out and a man on first, Rich Aurilia was at the plate. Bonds was on deck as the potential tying run, but Glavine got Aurilia to fly to right. He then walked Bonds on five pitches, bringing Ray Durham up as the potential tying run.

Glavine caught the second baseman looking with an inning-ending strikeout.

"That was a big sequence," Glavine said, "and I knew going out that that was going to be a key inning."

The Mets took a 4-0 lead off righty Matt Cain in the first two innings, opening the game with three straight doubles to take a 3-0 lead.

Jose Reyes began by ripping a ground-rule double to right-center. David Wright then smoked an RBI double into left-center, and Carlos Beltran pulled an RBI two-bagger to right to make it 2-0. Beltran eventually scored on Moises Alou's sac fly. Reyes' RBI triple in the second made it 4-0.

In the fourth Glavine became another part of Bonds' historic pursuit.

Bonds hit Glavine's first pitch - a "hanging slider," according to Glavine - over the center-field wall, as "BONDS 745" was displayed on the video screen. It was Bonds' first homer off Glavine in 10 years.

As for the hair cuts, Wright buzzed his head after Monday's game, saying yesterday, "Change it up. Getting hot." Yesterday, most of the other Mets also did it. Beltran was the main barber.

"Just thought about it as a team," Wright said. "I think a lot of people improved their looks today."

Reyes and Aaron Sele were the two exceptions to the buzzing. Sele has an upcoming family photo. Reyes didn't do it either, though as Lo Duca said, "We got his room number."

mark.hale@nypost.com

[El Diablo]

Green looked pissed - his ears looked like a bloodhound's... and he hit like one too.