Danny Quiles, The Houston Astros Barber
I hit two very significant milestones in the summer of 1994. I had my braces removed and received the haircut I always wanted – a fade. My hair was full and thick back in my early teens, but my mom’s sister Sylvia had always given me my haircuts.
As I prepared to enter the eighth grade and was free of my braces, I realized it was also time to graduate beyond my aunt’s hair-cutting abilities and visit an actual barber shop to get a new style. I wanted – needed, actually – a fade.
I grew up in the south San Francisco Bay Area in a town called Milpitas. I’ll never forget the name of the barber shop I visited. It was the Serra Barber Shop, which remains at the old Serra Shopping Center. The Serra Barber Shop is where all the cool kids went to get their haircuts, so that’s the pilgrimage I made for my first visit to a barber.
I was 14 and not able to drive, so my stepdad Manuel took me to the Serra Barber Shop. He waited in the car. Each time the barber turned the chair to face the mirror, I glanced in the mirror to see how my fade was progressing. I was eager and excited to see how it looked.
The barbershop was extremely busy, so I wasn’t afforded much time to admire my fade from the chair after the barber was done. I couldn’t fully inspect my haircut until I got home. I got home and went straight to the mirror to inspect my new fade. The haircut was a symbol of growing up. It was a rite of passage.
As crazy as this sounds I got my hair cut almost every Friday when I was in junior high and high school. If my mom Veronica didn’t have cash, she wrote a check so that I could pay for my haircut. I had to leave a tip. I still get my haircut every two weeks, sometimes weekly. Getting my haircut is a form of self-care.
More importantly, when my hair looks good I feel good.
Working in the world of baseball, I follow the lives of many Latino ballplayers. They post everything on social media, whether it’s about their pets, steak dinners, kids and even their haircuts. While I was at Game 5 of the World Series last year in Houston, I noticed that many of the Latino Astros, including Carlos Correa, Marwin Gonzalez and George Springer, posted on Instagram about their haircuts.
“Who is this barber?” I wondered.
All the guys seemed to be getting haircuts by Danny Quiles of Strike Zone Barbershop in the Houston suburb of Katy.
La Vida Baseball reached out to Danny in early February to learn more about his story and how he started cutting the hair of the World Series champion Houston Astros. Danny invited us to his barber shop. We gladly accepted. We learned that Danny moved to Houston from Puerto Rico and then started cutting hair.
Alex Cintrón, a former MLB player who serves as a coach for the Astros, went into his barbershop. Cintron then called Danny to the stadium, beginning a bond that grew quickly. Jesús Guzmán, Carlos Correa, Marwin González and George Springer all began to receive their haircuts from Danny.
Players from the Astros and visiting teams have received haircuts from Danny either at Minute Maid Park or at the players’ homes. Springer even called Danny to his home before his January wedding.
“He’s not only our barber; he’s our good friend.” Correa, the 2015 American League Rookie of the Year, said of Danny. “He’s been working really hard to get where he is right now.”
Springer, the 2018 World Series Most Valuable Player, even considers Danny a teammate.
“He’s just as much a part of our team as anybody else,” Springer said of Danny.
After having Danny cut my hair, I realized why the Astros love him so much and consider him a part of the team. Speaking with Danny is like talking to a brother or cousin. We talked about hair, life, family, and even his hometown of Ponce, Puerto Rico.
Danny is a hard worker who provides for his wife, two sons and family back in Puerto Rico. When he was younger, he wanted to be a professional baseball player. An injury changed his career path. His mom was a beautician. She taught him the art of cutting hair. Although Danny misses his mom and family back in Puerto Rico, he always carries a memory of his family with him through the art of cutting hair.
That talent, after all, made him part of the Astros’ extended family.
Featured Image: La Vida Baseball