What do Beards represent?

Throughout The Art of Fielding, beards are a prominent symbol of dedication and intensity. The intensely intelligent Melville and Affenlight sport beards, and Mike grows a beard while he is working passionately to finish his thesis and get into law school. And during the Championship season, all of the Harpooners grow beards. Mike, for instance, is impressed by the gathered ballplayers before their final game: "He tried to take The Stare to an 8, let it level of when he noticed that the stares coming back at him were like 9, maybe 9 1/2. Plus beards" (454). Beards are signs that Harbach's characters are fearless, manly--or perhaps simply have better things to do than shave.