On Feb. 21, New York Yankees' owner Hal Steinbrenner announced that, after discussions with "a large number of former and current Yankees — spanning several eras" the Bronx Bombers would be amending their longstanding facial hair and grooming policy (implemented by his father and ownership predecessor George Steinbrenner in 1976) to allow "well-groomed beards."
Some online commentators were quick to attach the adjectives "antiquated" and even "stupid" while celebrating the end of the rule's long reign, but others mourned its end and took it as just another sign that the Yankees' storied empire is well and truly crumbling.
Just because the policy is gone, that doesn’t mean the discourse will disappear with it. No facial hair vs. facial hair; the old versus the new.
Debating the Yankees' facial hair policy after Hal Steinbrenner finally let go of the 50-year-old, franchise-defining rule
Drew Koch (Old Man): Well, it finally happened. The Yankees finally caved to the online pressure and reversed course on one of their longstanding traditions. I guess vomit-inducing City Connects and names on the back of the pinstripes are next up on the docket, huh?
Katrina Stebbins (Gen-Z): Okay, we can get into your hatred of the City Connects on a later date, and we could go off on a philosophical tangent about how a single step in a certain direction is or is not a sign that tradition is dead or dying.
—but to the matter at hand: I think I can speak for almost everyone when I say "finally." The Yankees are finally getting with the times and doing away with something that fans all over the league have clowned them for for almost half a century. The Yankees' squeaky-clean image has always only been one thing, and that’s boring.
While "well-groomed beards" is still the most boring way to say "we’ll allow facial hair now," it’s a sign that the Bombers are finally willing to let go of some of that old stodginess that’s been holding them down.
Drew Koch: So razor burn was what caused Aaron Judge to drop that ball in center field during the World Series? (Too soon?) Sorry, I’m not buying that the lack of facial hair has been the thing keeping the Yankees from winning another championship.
The question is, what suddenly caused Hal Steinbrenner to change course? Was it the outcry from baseball fans on social media (who hate the Yankees anyway) kicking and screaming because Devin Williams had to get a subscription to Dollar Shave Club for the first time this decade?
You and I both know this wasn’t some epiphany on the part of Steinbrenner. This was a weak-kneed move on the part of Yankees' ownership to bow to the masses. And that's the bigger problem — what's next?
Katrina Stebbins: You know, maybe if Judge had the beard-sporting aura that the Yankees have beaten out of their players for 50 years, he would've caught that ball!
In all seriousness, I genuinely do think that all of the talk about Williams having to shave his beard was part of it. That, and Gleyber Torres being incredibly outspoken about his Yankees departure and growing out a pretty nice beard now that he’s a Detroit Tiger.
It's just part of the fallout of the intense scrutiny the Yankees have been under ever since their trashfire performance in the World Series (Judge dropping the ball and everything else that came after, but also their showings in Games 1-3). The Yankees have become an incredibly easy punching bag for the rest of the league, and now they’'re giving opposing teams and their fans one less thing to pick at.
As for what’s next — I don't think that this is a signal that the Yankees are going to concede to a City Connect partnership or put players' names on the back of jerseys, a tradition that was around long before the Steinbrenner dynasty. I'm not of the mind that this is the first slide down a slippery slope. But the "no facial hair" rule has always been arbitrary, ever since its inception; just a way for George Steinbrenner to present this idealized, clean-cut image that doesn’t really have a place in the game anymore. And it shouldn't.
Drew Koch: I guess I'll take a page out of Hal’s book and wave the white flag. I'm intrigued to see how far some of the Yankees players push this "well-groomed beards" policy. Obviously the Charlie Blackmon-look won't fly; I mean, the guy's nickname was Chuck Nazty (sounds like he needs a razor and a dictionary). Can't imagine Steinbrenner would be okay with that.
Perhaps we'll see the classic five o’clock shadow-look that Paul Goldschmidt has sported for the past several seasons. But can we please keep the hair cut to an appropriate length? I don’t want to see any man-buns or loose waves sneaking onto the pinstripes this season.
By the way, Hal, Gillette called, and they're cancelling their sponsorship.
Katrina Stebbins: Wow, I really thought that we’d have to agree to disagree on this one.
I agree that a "well-groomed" middle ground is going to be hard to enforce, but I also think that most of the guys the Yankees already have know that they’re not going to be able to do anything crazy here. I expect Judge to remain totally clean-shaven, Anthony Volpe probably can't grow facial hair, and Williams' beard was already pretty nicely kept when he was a Brewer. There will be no Charlie Blackmons, Brandon Marshes, or Mike Fiers spirals here.
We're all making maybe too big a deal of what’s literally just a random, team-specific rule, but this is a big moment for the Yankees. While I'll never be convinced that this heralds the end of civilization in the way some Yankee fans are making it out, I'll concede that it does feel like a turning point for them — and one for the better. Even if it's just a slight loosening of the reins for baseball's most successful (and most annoying) franchise, at least they made one tiny step toward getting with the times.