Love It Or Hate It? Yankees Finally Kick Ridiculous Rule To Curb

The New York Yankees have been bullied into submission.

Hal Steinbrenner, the club’s managing partner, released a statement on Friday that amended the club’s longstanding policy against facial hair that was instituted in 1973:

In recent weeks I have spoken to a large number of former and current Yankees — spanning several eras — to elicit their perspectives on our longstanding facial hair and grooming policy, and I appreciate their earnest and varied feedback.  ‘These most recent conversations are an extension of ongoing internal dialogue that dates back several years. 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.  It is the appropriate time to move beyond the familiar comfort of our former policy.

The Yankees are now… just like everyone else.

New York’s initial decision to ban the majority of facial hair was a ridiculous one, no doubt about it, but how do those who already had to shave off iconic beards feel about the change?

Johnny Damon, Roughned Odor, Kevin Youkilis and Andrew McCutchen all had to change their iconic looks to fit in with the culture at Yankee Stadium, and we believe they deserve some sort of hazard pay after this news.

Derek Jeter and Aaron Judge can pull off the clean face. Matt Carpenter looked better when he went full mustache. Max Fried definitely can’t, though! Gerrit Cole almost certainly got worse after cutting his hair and beard. Paul Goldschmidt currently looks like a science teacher. Why make the change now? Is it a cowardly response to public backlash, or do they actually want to make players more comfortable?

Also, who is deciding what “well-groomed” means?

The Yankees haven’t been able to get out of their own way when it comes to public relations stuff lately, and this is just the latest example — whether you think they are cowards for making the move or believe things never should have changed.

What do you think? Should the Yankees have instituted the change? Leave a comment below and let us know what you think.