The end of the 2024 season proved to Yankees fans that it was time to make some changes. After an eventful offseason of signings and trades, the New York Yankees are now looking to change policies that have been a part of their organization for years.
For over 40 years, the Bronx Bombers did not allow their players to grow beards. In fact, it became a running joke to await the “clean shaven reveal”, once a new player was joining the team. The announcement was made last week by managing general partner Hal Steinbrenner, who will now allow players to display “well-groomed beards”.
THe Origin
The policy first came to be in 1976 by then principal owner and managing partner, George Steinbrenner. The policy was believed to have been influenced by Steinbrenner’s military background, and he made it clear that his goal was to instill a sense of discipline and order among his athletes. Many players had mixed feelings about the new change, but in an interview with The New York Times, Steinbrenner stated that if players didn’t abide by the policy, he would “get rid of them.”
“They can joke about it as long as they do it. If they don’t do it, we’ll try to find a way to accommodate them somewhere else. I want to develop pride in the players as Yankees. If we can get them to feel that way and think that way, fine. If they can’t, we’ll get rid of them.”
The original policy was called, “Neatness Counts” and prohibited any player or faculty member to “No beards. No beads. No mutton chops. No long hair. No long stirrups.”
In 1995, the policy was altered for the first time and allowed players to grow goatees. Jack McDowell, 1993 AL Cy Young Winner, joined the team that year and styled a goatee along with other players like Don Mattingly. This was until Steinbrenner eventually re-enforced the policy after the team started the season with a record of 15-24. Mattingly described it as “a slap on the wrist.”
Athlete response
Over the years, there were many players who would “push” the limits on what was allowed under the policy. CC Sabathia would show up to games with a bit of stubble, also known as a 5 o’clock shadow.
Don Mattingly, arguably one of the greatest first basemen of his era, made his disagreement with the policy very known. In fact, he was benched in 1991 for refusing to cut his hair that had grown a bit too long for the clubs’ standard. Mattingly did end up trimming his hair in order to avoid being benched a second game, but not before calling out the Yankees general manager at the time, Gene “Stick” Michael, saying “He wants an organization that will be puppets for him and do what he wants.”
Players who sported beards in other clubs such as Gerrit Cole, Devin Williams, Andrew McCutchen, and Johnny Damon, all had to shave off their beards when it was time for them to join the Yankees.
Captain’s thoughts
In a 2023 interview with GQ Magazine, former team captain, Derek Jeter, laughed about not growing facial hair until the pandemic lockdown in 2020. He revealed that George Steinbrenner would come down to the dugout between innings to make players shave if their stubble was pushing the boundaries. He also hinted at other policies that Steinbrenner enforced on the team, which included prohibiting the team from wearing denim jeans when traveling for away games and limiting players to only wearing one necklace chain.
new changes
This past week, the current general managing partner, Hal Steinbrenner, announced he would be updating the policy after having many discussions with players and people of the organization. He revealed that his decision was “hypothetical in nature” and did not want the policy to negatively affect any potential players from joining the organization.
However, when team captain, Aaron Judge, was asked his opinion on that scenario he responded with, “If that little rule is going to stop you from coming here, then you probably shouldn’t be here.” Judge continued to explain that despite the rule change, he wouldn’t be growing facial hair as he wants to follow in the steps of former Yankees legends that abided by the organizations’ tradition.
Aside from appearance changes, the Yankees are also now changing their tradition of playing Frank Sinatra’s iconic song: “Theme of New York”, after every game. For years, fans have been pleading with the organization to stop playing the song, which has become a part of the teams’ identity, after games where the team would lose. Users took it to social media after losing to the Dodgers in the 2024 World Series, how dreadful it was walking out of the stadium with the song on full blast after witnessing a disgraceful series for the Bronx team.
The stadium will now only play the song after team wins and on occasions where the team loses, they will play a selection of different songs. The decision was largely accepted by the team’s fan base with many thanking the team for “finally” updating the tradition that had been in place since 1980.
With opening day fast approaching, it’s clear the New York Yankees are ready for a new beginning.