On Tuesday before the Colorado Rockies game against the San Diego Padres, Rockies ace Jon Gray parted ways with his glorious long hair to donate it to Locks of Love, a charity aimed at providing hair to low-income families with children who suffer from hair loss-related diseases.

Asked if he was worried about losing his MO as a long-maned menace on the mound, Gray said that it didn’t really cross his mind. His teammates, however, are concerned he might lose his animal-like ferocity and intimidation.

“I don’t think it’s going to be that big of a deal, I can see how that could be a thing,” Gray said. “Tony Wolters talks to me, and he thinks I look like a lion, so he’s like, ‘You better not cut it. You better not cut it. You look like a lion out there.’ But it’ll be back before you know it. I’ll find another way to be intimidating.”

Gray, however, said he’ll looking forward to some of the perks the new cut will provide for him.

“Less wind resistance, more aerodynamic,” he said.

Gray said that while his golden mane has met its end for now, he plans to continue to grow it out and donate it again and again to the same worthy cause. The fans may have to wait a while, though, because Gray’s been working on this project for two years.

“People aren’t as fortunate as me,” Gray said. “There’s burn victims, people that went through chemo that [could] use a good hairpiece. If I had the ability to do it, why not?”

His wife, Jacklyn, took a moment to vouch for the cause, saying that she’s proud her family could contribute.

“This is such a great cause. We hope this brings an abundance of awareness to this organization and hopefully motivate many people, men and women, to donate to create these wonderful hair pieces,” she said. “We just really appreciate it and glad to be apart of an amazing cause.”

She too joked about recognizing him after making a major change to his appearance.

“I was a little concerned, not going to recognize you if standing behind you. It’s definitely going to be different. It’s for a good cause,” Jacklyn said. “I think I will get used to it an this will be a great thing for us to do year after year.”

Megan Duran, who’s been working at Floyd’s 99 Barbershop for eight and a half years and who had the tall task of styling Gray’s new ‘do, said that she generally sees donations like this once a month.

“Any time somebody substantial does something like this, it kind of raises awareness, so that’s always really cool,” Duran said. “I think this is a huge deal, because a lot of times with professional sports players, their hair has become their identity or they’re superstitious, so for him to go ahead and do that and donate that, it’s really amazing of him to do.”

Asked how it felt to be the one to rob him of that identity, Duran laughed and said, “It feels good. With him, I definitely made sure that this is something he wants to do repetitively, so I gave him the proper cut so it would support him regrowing it out and being able to do this next year.”

Don’t worry, though, Rockies fans. This won’t be another tale like the downfall of Samson. Just because his hair is gone, it doesn’t mean his strength will go with it.