The New York Yankees changing their nearly 50-year-old facial hair policy beginning this season to allow “well-groomed” beards, according to owner Hal Steinbrenner, caught many in the baseball world off guard.
Gleyber Torres, who signed with the Detroit Tigers in the offseason after seven seasons with the Yankees, told reporters on Friday that he was surprised by the decision, but understood that a number of players still with the team would like to grow out their facial hair more than what was previously allowed.
“I think it was time for this,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said.
The Yankees’ policy had been in place since the 1970s when George Steinbrenner and former manager Billy Martin instituted the “Neatness Counts” policy, which forbid beards, long hair and sideburns. Mustaches were allowed.
“They can joke about it as long as they do it. If they don’t do it, we’ll try to find a way to accommodate them somewhere else. I want to develop pride in the players as Yankees. If we can get them to feel that way and think that way, fine. If they can’t, we’ll get rid of them.”
For players, it was a policy that they either adhered to, tested (ask Don Mattingly), or it became a reason why they didn’t want to go to New York. When closer Brian Wilson was a free agent in 2013, his representatives told general manager Brian Cashman that he wasn’t shaving his long beard to join the Yankees.
Wilson instead signed with the Los Angeles Dodgers.
When pitcher David Price was approaching the end of his tenure with the Tampa Bay Rays, the Yankees were a team rumored to have interest. When asked about having to shave his beard if he was dealt to New York, he responded, “I wouldn’t stay there very long then. I wouldn’t sign a long-term deal there. Those rules, that’s old-school baseball. I was born in ’85. That’s not for me. That’s not something I want to be a part of.”
That type of reaction from players the Yankees would be interested in acquiring played a role in Hal Steinbrenner’s change of direction on the longstanding team rule.
“Winning was the most-important thing to my father and, again, I think if somebody came and told him they were very sure that this could affect us getting the players we want to get — all we’re trying to do every offseason is put ourselves in the best position to get a player that we’re trying to get,” Hal Steinbrenner told reporters on Friday.
“If something like this would detract from that, lessen our chances, I don’t know, I think he might be a little more apt to do the change that I did than people think because it was about winning.”
But many players have followed the policy, and previous signature appearances disappeared for “well-groomed,” cleaner looks after becoming a Yankee.
Here are some players who let their hair grow out elsewhere, but complied with the Yankees’ policy when they got to New York.
Johnny Damon
“Without a doubt, George Steinbrenner has a policy and I’m going to stick to it,” Damon told reporters after leaving the Boston Red Sox for the Yankees in 2006. “Our policy with the Yankees is to go out there and win and we’re going to try and bring another championship to them.”
Gerrit Cole
“I haven’t shaved in like 10 years, but you know what? So be it,” Cole said after signing a nine-year, $324 million contract in 2019. “That’s the way it is. If you’re a Yankee, you shave. That’s what’s up.”
Rougned Odor
Rougned Odor played his first seven seasons in Texas before a 2021 trade brought him to New York.
Don Mattingly
“I’m overwhelmed by the pettiness of it,” Mattingly said in 1991 during a dispute with then-manager Stump Merrill, who threatened to bench the first baseman if he didn’t cut his hair.
Kevin Youkilis
“I think I’m not the type of person who kept it well-groomed at all times, anyway — the length varied all the time. I’m not all that picky about my looks,” Youkilis said in 2013.
Jason Giambi
Jason Giambi played seven seasons with the Yankees and at one point grew out a mustache during a hot streak.
Sparky Lyle
Sparky Lyle was a reliever for the Yankees from 1972 to 1978.
Jeff Reardon
Jeff Reardon was another player who went from full beard to mustache after moving to New York.
Wade Boggs
Wade Boggs kept just a mustache after he joined the Yankees.
David Wells
David Wells had a goatee in Chicago and trimmed it to just a mustache in New York.
Nick Swisher
Nick Swisher played four seasons with the Yankees from 2009-2012.
Andrew McCutchen
Andrew McCutchen was traded to the Yankees during the 2018 season and played just 25 games with the team. He signed with Philadelphia the following offseason and grew his beard back out. “I definitely do think it takes away from our individualism as players and as people,” he said in 2020. “We express ourselves in different ways.”
Oscar Gamble
After coming over from Cleveland in 1976, Oscar Gamble returned to the Yankees from 1979-1984.