YANKEES FINALLY FREE THE BEARDS
The New York Yankees, the last stronghold of baseball’s clean-shaven era, have finally lifted their decades-old ban on beards, allowing players to sport well-groomed facial hair for the first time in nearly 50 years.
Perhaps they took a long, envious look at LeBron James and James Harden of the NBA, whose beards never seemed to interfere with their MVP performances. Or maybe they remembered Brian Wilson’s legendary “Fear the Beard” days with the Dodgers, an aesthetic masterpiece that made him both a World Series champion and a fan favorite.
For years, the Yankees clung to a policy introduced by George Steinbrenner in the 1970s, which restricted players to being either clean-shaven or, if they felt particularly rebellious, growing a modest mustache. But times change, and even the most stubborn traditions eventually fade, especially when they serve no real purpose beyond nostalgia.
“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,” Yankees owner Hal Steinbrenner said in a statement on Friday.
Steinbrenner acknowledged that discussions about the policy had been ongoing for years, with input from former and current Yankees shaping the final decision.
While the Yankees catch up with the times, baseball’s best beards have long been celebrated elsewhere. Brian Wilson set the gold standard, while Sergio Romo of the Giants and Dallas Keuchel of the Astros made their own cases for baseball’s facial hair Hall of Fame. The Yankees, meanwhile, stood firm in their belief that a clean-shaven face somehow equated to better baseball.
Now, at last, Yankees players can focus on winning games without worrying about their grooming habits. A victory for freedom of choice, and, perhaps, for some truly glorious beards in the Bronx.