Johnny Damon was already planning to shear his hair and shave his beard before he joined the Yankees in the winter of 2005. But that’s not a good story. The outfielder spent $90 in Midtown East and showed up to his introductory press conference a day later looking like a new man.
In the history of the franchise’s rigid “appearance policy” — instituted by George Steinbrenner in 1976 — Damon’s transformation immediately made the Mount Rushmore. He was no longer the Idiot. He was a Yankee.
After Steinbrenner died in 2010, his son Hal Steinbrenner assumed ownership of the ballclub and retained the old, infamous rule: “Players’ hair must not touch their collars and that they may have mustaches but no other facial hair.” But the 2025 campaign marks the end of an era. Steinbrenner announced today that the Yankees are “amending their expectations” and “allowing players and uniformed personnel to have well-groomed beards going forward.” Here’s the statement in full:
Are Yankee Fans Supportive?
On the whole, the Bleacher Creatures seem to approve. Wisecracks abound: “Judge with a beard is gonna feed families.” And: “Just saw a Boomer fall to his knees in a bodega.” One commenter wrote: “Hal saw Vladdy like a picture of himself in pinstripes with a full beard and called PR immediately.” (The Toronto Blue Jays recently failed to extend their young superstar Vladimir Guerrero, Jr., who sports a full beard. He will likely be a Yankee free agent target next offseason.)
The Mattingly Saga
The decision is long overdue in the modern league. It never made much sense that ballplayers were expected to conform to a standard inspired by Steinbrenner’s time in the Air Force. (He served from 1952-54.) The policy rubbed a number of players the wrong way, including Don Mattingly, who, in 1991, was fined repeatedly and even benched until he trimmed his hair to team standards. He was team captain at the time…and batting .305. Not the best baseball decision.
This saga had a comical ending; it was spoofed on The Simpsons episode “Homer at the Bat,” in which Mr. Burns makes Mattingly shave his sideburns in order to play for the power plant softball team. Sometimes, though, the policy seemed to dog lesser-known players for years, circulated over and over by the relentless New York media. Clint Frazier, a Yankee prospect whose long red hair was deemed controversial, never managed to find his footing in the Bronx. When he left for the Chicago Cubs, he posted: “Here’s to leaving my razor at home.”
It Was Never a Great Look
Meanwhile, the policy never looked great, to say the least, in a multicultural league. A number of Black players spoke out against the policy over the last decade, including David Price and Andrew McCutchen. Long known for his trademark dreadlocks and goatee, McCutchen came to the Yankees via a trade in 2018. He’d cut his hair a few years before the arrival, so the world never really found out how the Yankees would solve the situation, but he did have to shave. He said this on a podcast a couple years later:
“I definitely do think [the policy] takes away from our individualism as players and as people…I feel like maybe there should be some change there in the future.”
Hair has a prominent political history. It’s a powerful way to broadcast one’s individualism — and going back years, to cultivate a personal brand. Players are already at the mercy of owners in salary negotiations. Is it fair to control their appearance for eight months out of the year, too? Back in 1976, the Yankees refused to provide Oscar Gamble with a uniform until he shaved his 10-inch Afro. He lost his endorsement with Afro Sheen in the process (though Steinbrenner eventually reimbursed Gamble).
Still, We’ve Lost Something Here
Turn on any MLB game, you’ll find whiskers are pretty popular in baseball. In the offseason, Yankees who are usually clean-shaven can be seen working out in the Dominican Republic or Southern California with full beards.
Perhaps the policy has discouraged talented players from coming to New York. But that’s where a gargantuan payroll comes in handy. (Imagine, say, the Cincinnati Reds forcing incoming stars to hit the salon before suiting up.) When Gerrit Cole signed his $324 million contract, he joked: “I have experienced razor burn for the first time in 10 years.”
All that said, it will be weird to see the Yankees play with beards. I think we can admit the oddness of the change without coming out against it.
Something will be lost in this new era. Steinbrenner’s original edict was an obvious lunge for clean-cut professionalism. It was the most corporate thing imaginable. But over the decades, everything flip-flopped. It became a quirk. Oh, he’s a Yankee — he’s gotta shave! It was kind of fun to anticipate the makeover. No other team had such a ludicrous rule. Players who ended up on the Yankees came up with creative ways to poke fun at the rule. Some challenged it. Maybe ironically embraced it. There were periods where the rule produced some truly tremendous mustaches, which have functioned as a loophole (and a rallying cry for certain surging Yankee clubs) for the last 50 years.
In a bizarre way, then, this change is actually the correct corporate decision. The players will look different, but the Yankee franchise will now present the same as the rest of the league.
The move’s biggest detractors are parroting the usual nonsense: “What happened to TRADITION?!” And: “The Boss is rolling in his grave!” Honestly, I’d assume the man’s ghost is more upset by that fifth inning in Game 5, if anything. It’s been 16 years since the ballclub’s last World Series win. A smooth-faced Damon batted .364 in that series. I don’t think Yankee fans would object to a scruffy slugger doing the same this October.
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