The Yankees stunned plenty of fans today when they announced a rule change regarding their facial hair policy, as for the first time in over 50 years players on the team would be allowed to have beards.
Hal Steinbrenner issued a statement through the team’s social media page this morning and broke the news to players and staffers in-person, leading to a press conference where he and Brian Cashman would field questions about the decision. A transparent Steinbrenner discussed the thorough process they went through to review and discuss the facial hair policy, as he reached the conclusion that change was needed to adapt to a new world.
Highlighting the fear of losing out on a player because of a facial hair policy, the Yankees will do away with a tradition that has lived longer than most of the fanbase’s lifetimes.
Hal Steinbrenner Reveals Key Meetings That Led to Yankees’ Policy Change
Changing the facial hair policy had apparently been in the cards for years, as the team had internal discussions about revising the policy multiple times in recent seasons. The Yankees finally decided to go through with it this year, and while the team is still going to have restrictions on facial hair, an outright ban on beards has been done away with, one that was originally implemented by George Steinbrenner in 1973.
When asked about whether Hal Steinbrenner’s late father would approve of the decision, he responded by stating his father’s number one priority was winning, citing a concern that players wouldn’t sign with the Yankees due to those facial hair policies. Steinbrenner reiterated that the team has not been made aware of a situation where they missed out on a player they like because of that policy, but Brian Cashman did mention some player hesitancy regarding the rule.
CC Sabathia had reservations about signing with the Yankees because of the rule, and some draftees preferred not to be picked by the Bronx Bombers to preserve their right to have a beard during the season. The Yankees no longer want to have that stipulation clash with a changing sentiment around the formality of beards, as the world is a different place in the 52 years since the ban was implemented.
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Aaron Judge was one of the players consulted on the decision, but Hal Steinbrenner spoke to many current and former players, not just with the Yankees. He got the opinions of many around the baseball industry and even outside of it, and in those one-on-one conversations, he reached the conclusion that this policy was outdated. The Yankees know that times are changing and that they need to adapt to modern times off the field as they have on it with their player development.
The team has embraced a new wave of analytics and data, with their developmental infrastructure being rooted in providing as many tools as possible for players and coaches to make informed decisions. Now, they’ll provide their players and employees the freedom to make their own choices with their beards (to an extent), and that could give some beardless players some unfamiliar looks in 2025.
It’ll be interesting to see how the well-groomed aspect of the rule is enforced and which players on the Yankees decide to grow out their beard, but we can guess that Devin Williams will want that beard back.