Andrew McCutchen rips New York Yankees over their dated hair policy

Andrew McCutchen is not a fan of the Yankees policy on hair.

In his short stint with the New York Yankees in 2018, former NL MVP Andrew McCutchen took issue with their famous appearance policy.

McCutchen told Jensen Karp from “The Sports Bubble” that he felt the policy “Takes away from our individualism as players and as people.”

The policy states that players may not have hair below the collar with no beards allowed. For many years with the Pittsburgh Pirates, McCutchen donned long dreadlocks, making him easily recognizable on the field. While he had already cut the dreadlocks by the time he was traded to the Yankees, he was forced to shave his beard.

Andrew McCutchen thinks the Yankees are stifling individualism with hair policy.

McCutchen went on to say that if he still had his dreadlocks, it would have been “extremely tough” for him to get rid of them. He said “That was who I was,” he said, “That was how I expressed myself. That’s who made me Andrew McCutchen. That’s how people noticed who I was, it made me unique.”

The rule has been in use since 1973 when former owner George Steinbrenner implemented it. In the past, players have voiced their opinion against the rule. Some players have even avoided the Yankees in free agency due to the policy. Pitchers Brian Wilson and David Price claimed that the rule had something to do with their decisions to sign elsewhere.

In his time with the Yankees, McCutchen batted .253 with 5 home runs and 10 RBIs in 25 regular-season games. He signed a 3-year $50 million contract with the Philadelphia Phillies last offseason. The former MVP hasn’t been able to recapture his earlier success when he finished in the top-five in MVP voting four consecutive years from 2012-2015.

In 2020, it seems dated to hold players to a strict appearance policy. No other team in professional sports has these rules and it may be time to eradicate it.