Tigers reliever Tommy Kahnle’s self-punishment ritual might be baseball’s weirdest

Emma Lingan

Baltimore Orioles v Detroit Tigers - Game Two / Brandon Sloter/GettyImages

Detroit Tigers reliever Tommy Kahnle had a devastating outing on Thursday – well, devastating for him, anyway.

Kahnle pitched the eighth inning of Thursday's game against the Baltimore Orioles in relief of Tarik Skubal, who tossed seven scoreless innings to lower his ERA to 1.99 on the season. The Tigers quickly kissed the shutout goodbye, though, when Kahnle was taken deep by the first batter he faced.

Orioles left fielder Dylan Carlson sent a 1-1 pitch from Kahnle sailing over the right center field wall to put Baltimore on the board. Kahnle then proceeded to walk Colton Cowser before getting three straight outs to end the inning with minimal damage done.

Carlson's homer would end up being Baltimore's only run of the game, so it did little to impact the outcome as Detroit walked away with the 4-1 win. The impact on Kahnle himself, though, would be far greater.

Tigers reliever Tommy Kahnle’s self-punishment ritual might be baseball’s weirdest

As Evan Petzold of the Detroit Free Press had revealed in a feature story on Kahnle earlier in the day, the 35-year-old shaves his body – yes, his entire body – as a personal punishment whenever he gives up a run, even if the run is inherited.

According to Petzold, Kahnle started the tradition when he was in the minor leagues and still follows it to this day in his 11th Major League season. Eccentric, yes, but it seems par for the course for a larger-than-life personality like Kahnle.

"He is the loudest player in the Tigers' clubhouse, collects Philadelphia Eagles jerseys, wears a Notre Dame football helmet and keeps a video game console with a monitor in his locker," Petzold wrote of Kahnle. "He's also known for his caffeine addiction, having graduated from five Red Bulls a day to two C4 Energy drinks and two large cups of coffee."

So, yeah. With that knowledge, a full-body punishment shave sounds about right.

Thursday's earned run aside, Kahnle has been excellent for the Tigers this season. Since signing a one-year, $7.75 million contract with Detroit in free agency, he has pitched to a 1.50 ERA and an 0.80 WHIP with 26 strikeouts and eight saves in 30 innings spread over 29 games.

If Kahnle's skin is looking especially smooth during his next outing, though ... well, now you know why.

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Emma Lingan

Emma Lingan is an MLB Staff Writer for FanSided primarily covering the Pittsburgh Pirates. She has been covering baseball for more than a decade dating back to her time as a student at Wake Forest University, and she has won two gold medals as a member of the U.S. National Team delegation (2016 Pan-American Championships & 2017 World Baseball Classic). A native of Washington, D.C. and current resident of Nashville, Tenn., she is also entering her seventh season as a credentialed NHL media member and currently covers the NHL’s Nashville Predators for The Hockey News. When she's not watching hockey, baseball or football, she enjoys podcasting, reading, going to the gym, consuming large amounts of coffee and taking long walks with her dog, Minkah. You can follow her @Emma_lingan on Twitter and Instagram.