The common reactions to the latest trend making its way around the horn on baseball diamonds throughout the Chattanooga area - the long and the short of it, if you will - is that moms and girlfriends are cringing and balding dads are envious.
Because everything old is new again, the mullet - hair cropped short on top, even shorter on the sides with a full flowing mane in the back - is making an inexplicable comeback among young baseball players.
The fashion fad, which became a phenomenon in the late 1980s and early '90s, began to pop up in dugouts here and there last season but has seen a noticeable explosion in popularity this spring, becoming as essential as eyeblack and batting gloves.
"As soon as football season ends you have to start growing out your hair to get ready," said Lookout Valley junior Jaxon Quails.
All but three of his teammates also played football, and none of them had mullets during the fall. Now nearly a half-dozen Jackets players are sporting the hairstyle.
(READ MORE: Kennedy: Mullet hairstyle revival signals death of good taste)
"Baseball season is mullet time," Quails said with a wide grin. "You go get the top and sides trimmed up nice but leave the back long so when you take off your hat you can shake it out. That's necessary. There's just something about the flow."
In describing the process for him and dozens of high school players throughout the area who rock the mullet this season, Quails unknowingly came very close to quoting the lyrics from the Beastie Boys' early-'90s song "Mullet Head," which is credited as one of the first references to the hairstyle's name. As the song explains what type clippers the barber should use to get the mullet looking right: "No. 1 on the side and don't touch the back, No. 6 on the top and don't cut it wack, Jack."
As he watched Silverdale Baptist players take batting practice before a recent game, Gary Meadows, owner of Wally's Restaurant downtown, shook his head as he noticed several had joined his son Lane in showing up at the field with freshly-cut mullets.
"When I saw it I told him to enjoy it while he can," said Meadows, who laughed as he lifted the hat from his bald head and added, "because this is your future."
Make no mistake, simply having long hair does not qualify. There need to be two distinct haircuts existing on one head to cross the line from mop-top hippie to hip mullet trend-setter. Or put more simply: business in the front, party in the back.
Picture Keifer Sutherland as the ultra-cool vampire in the 80s movie classic 'The Lost Boys," Billy Ray Cyrus when he burst onto the country music scene in acid wash jeans belting "Achy Breaky Heart," pudgy PGA star John Daly, former major league slugger John Kruk and pitcher Randy Johnson. Each of those celebrities shamelessly helped give the mullet star power more than two decades ago.
But like cockroaches and Keith Richards - or the fashion fads of high-waisted mom jeans and Members Only jackets - the mullet refuses to die.
The mania is making its way up and down baseball's various age groups, from Little League mini-mullets to the nation's No. 1-ranked college team.
"I think that most of us, if we have long hair, we like to show it off a good amount," said former Cleveland High and current University of Tennessee pitcher Camden Sewell, one of the multiple players on the top-ranked Vols' roster who are happy to show off their mullets during nationally telecast games. "I think any time you can show it off, let it go."
Current country music superstar Morgan Wallen certainly helped with mainstream acceptance of the conversation-starting hairstyle, which carries many nicknames - Kentucky waterfall, Camaro crash helmet, Tennessee top hat, Alabama neck-warmer, Canadian passport, Mississippi mudflap, Texas turban, El Camino headrest and trailer park all-star - as variations.
"I was at the barbershop last week and three high school kids came in together, all asking for a mullet," said Baylor School baseball coach Greg Elie. "It's made its way to our team too, but some of our guys look more like the singer from A Flock of Seagulls and less like the 'Deliverance' style."
Regardless of whether their team is rural or metro, public or private, the mullet resurgence crosses all boundaries, including that of sensible style judgment.
"My mom made me wait until after I had my senior pictures taken," said Silverdale Baptist senior Cam Mullins, who added the extra flair to his mullet by having lines shaved into the sides. "The lines make you more aerodynamic. Plus it really pronounces the flow better.
"Whenever I score, as soon as I cross the plate I take the helmet off so everybody can see it. Girls love it. At least my girlfriend does."
But do they really? Mullins' girlfriend, Chloe Parton, admits his harebrained choice has thrown a curveball into prom plans.
"I do kind of like it now, I guess," Parton said. "But I also hope he'll trim it a little before prom for our pictures. I'm not sure we've dated long enough for me to tell him to cut it.
"I get that it's a baseball thing. You don't really see any other guys at school with a mullet other than baseball players, but they all think it's cool. I know a lot of girls hate it, though."
Whether it's because the sport offers more downtime between moments of action - giving players' imaginations time to wander - or just the day-to-day grind of a sport that plays more games than any other (even high school teams can play four or five games per week) baseball players continually find quirky ways to offset the monotony.
"Baseball players are just weird, man," said Silverdale Baptist coach Lance Rorex, who also admitted - similar to the Old Testament story of Samson - there might be something to the power of the mullet since the state-ranked Seahawks have blasted 21 home runs in 17 games.
"When I played, we weren't allowed to have facial hair so we grew our sideburns long just to be different," Rorex added. "Kids see something they think looks cool and it just takes off.
"We're pretty strict on them, but it's not a job. And after everything they lost out on two years ago with COVID, let them be kids and do silly stuff and have fun."
Contact Stephen Hargis at shargis@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6293. Follow him on Twitter @StephenHargis.