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The New York Yankees have officially ended their decades-old ban on facial hair, the MLB team announced on Friday, Feb. 21. Managing general partner Hal Steinbrenner said players and coaches will now be allowed to have well-maintained beards.
The policy change means new acquisitions will no longer need to shave to earn their pinstripes.
"In recent weeks I have spoken to a large number of former and current Yankees -- spanning several eras -- to elicit their perspectives on our longstanding facial hair and grooming policy, and I appreciate their earnest and varied feedback," said Hal Steinbrenner. "These most recent conversations are an extension of ongoing internal dialogue that dates back several years.
"Ultimately the final decision rests with me, and after great consideration, we will be amending our expectations to allow our players and uniformed personnel to have well-groomed beards moving forward. It is the appropriate time to move beyond the familiar comfort of our former policy.”
Devin Williams, a pitcher traded to the Yanks from Milwaukee in the offseason, hasn't played clean-shaven in six years and said he hoped to keep his beard. At spring training, he appeared in a team photo with a beard, raising questions about the policy's future, Yahoo Sports reported.
The facial hair rule dates back to when George Steinbrenner bought the Yankees in 1973. According to legend, he couldn't recognize his own players during Opening Day and immediately ordered then-manager Ralph Houk to have them clean up their appearances.
Steinbrenner was largely influenced by his time serving in the Air Force. His team policy prohibited all players, coaches, and male executives from having beards or scalp hair below the collar.
Mustaches were allowed and there were also religious exemptions.
"I have nothing against long hair per se, but I'm trying to instill a certain sense of order and discipline in the ballclub because I think discipline is important in an athlete," George Steinbrenner told The New York Times in 1978. "The players can joke about it, as long as they do it."
Several notable Yankees were at odds with the policy. In 1976, outfielder Oscar Gamble was denied a uniform until he cut his 10-inch afro, while pitcher Goose Gossage trimmed the chin portion of his goatee, leaving his trademark mustache.
Mattingly may have been the most defiant toward the policy. The six-time all-star was benched in 1991 when he refused to cut his long mullet.
The Yankees policy was famously spoofed on a 1992 episode of "The Simpsons" that Mattingly guest-starred in with several other 80s and 90s baseball stars. In "Homer at the Bat", Mr. Burns repeatedly threatened Mattingly to "get rid of those sideburns" when Mr. Burns hired him for the Springfield nuclear power plant's softball team.
Mattingly's character, who didn't have any sideburns, was perplexed by Mr. Burns and shaved all the hair off the sides of his head but Mr. Burns still kicked him off the team.
"I still like him better than Steinbrenner," Mattingly said about Mr. Burns.
More recently, pitcher Gerrit Cole complied with the policy when he signed with the Yankees in 2020 and shaved his beard before his introductory news conference.
"That's the way it is," Cole said at the time. "If you're a Yankee, you shave."
That Yankee way has officially changed.
It's also fitting that the Yankees will begin their first season without the shaving policy against Williams' old team. New York will host the Brewers on Opening Day at 3:05 p.m. on Thursday, Mar. 27.
The Yankees will play their first spring training game against the Tampa Bay Rays at 1:05 p.m. on February 21.
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