Alan Schwarz, a contributor to ESPN The Magazine, is filing regular Pulsecards from spring training. Today he makes like Dave Johnson.

Andy Tracy's ears are burning. So is his scalp. Thanks to a healthy slathering of Quick Blue, a handy-dandy bleaching agent, the Expos infielder's brown hair is being scorched to a shade of yellow and white slightly brighter than the sun -- all because he took a footrace a little too lightly.

It started as a grudge match. Tracy simply thought he was faster than catcher Michael Barrett. Their race became one of the most eagerly anticipated moments of the Expos' less-than-eventful spring. At 8:45 this morning in Jupiter, Fla., the two lined up for a 50-yard dash with 50 other players alongside the route -- those who had put $5 on Tracy on one side and the Barrett bettors on the other.

"There was no clear favorite," said first baseman Lee Stevens, who handled the action. He even printed up bios on the two players, handicapping the match. The loser had a choice -- shave his head like Stevens or get his hair bleached into a lemon-orange sorbet melange like Geoff Blum. "It was either the Blum Barbershop or the Stevens Salon," Stevens said.

Barrett was a nervous wreck in the days leading up to the race. Tracy took it easy. Barrett even showed up for extra work from the trainer at the crack of dawn this morning. (Tracy strolled in ultra-confident an hour later.)

At the starting gun, Barrett false-started to psyche out his opponent. It worked: seconds later, Barrett got a great start and beat Tracy to the tape by a good five feet. He ran around in triumph and even added a soccer-style knee slide. "I thought he was gonna rip off his shirt like that soccer girl, what's her name?" Stevens said. "But he doesn't have the abs for it."

While Barrett rode off triumphantly on a golf cart, Tracy remained somewhat suspicious. "I think there were some banned substances involved," Tracy said. "He had that work done by the trainer. I think I saw some needles. All I know is I'm clean -- I'm an all-natural athlete."

Barrett claimed he was steroid-free and visited the trainer only because he had caught the previous two days. He called his knee slide unplanned -- "It was pure adrenaline" -- but smiled coyly at the rumors that he false-started on purpose. "No comment," he said, running his fingers through hair that will, indeed, see another day.

At least until the rematch.