After forbidding facial hair for 49 years, the New York Yankees introduced they’ll now permit it for gamers and different uniformed personnel.
The beautiful resolution was revealed in an announcement Friday by workforce proprietor Hal Steinbrenner during which he confirmed that, after talking to a “massive variety of former and present Yankees,” the workforce is amending its longstanding facial hair coverage.
From right here on, Yankees gamers might be allowed to don well-groomed beards and mustaches.
After almost 5 a long time of banning facial hair, the Yankees made the suitable name. The choice to ban facial hair to start with all the time felt pressured and pointless.
Sustaining a uniformed look can add a stage of professionalism to a workforce, however the rule towards facial hair basically solely restricted self-expression.
Through the years, gamers who sported lengthy hair or beards have been pressured to make a journey to their stylist or barber after becoming a member of the Yankees. Notably, when outfielder Johnny Damon signed with the workforce in 2006 after rising out his hair and beard with the Boston Crimson Sox, he knew he must kiss his lengthy locks and facial hair goodbye.
“Mr. Steinbrenner has a coverage and I’m going to stay to it,” Damon mentioned on the time, referencing longtime workforce proprietor George Steinbrenner, who died in 2010.
Per Jorge Castillo of ESPN, “George Steinbrenner, who had a navy background, thought regulating gamers’ look would instill self-discipline. The rule was codified earlier than the 1976 season, leaving gamers with a selection of being clean-shaven or sporting a mustache, and never permitting them to develop hair previous their collars.”
The ban on facial hair has additionally price Yankees no less than one free agent. Former All-Star nearer Brian Wilson informed common supervisor Brian Cashman in 2013 that he wouldn’t shave his signature beard to return to the workforce. (He signed with the Los Angeles Dodgers as an alternative.)
With the outdated rule now a factor of the previous, all gamers, no matter facial hair fashion, can be a part of the Yankees with out concern of adjusting their look.
