Yankees announce changes to team’s long-standing facial hair policy (2025)

TAMPA, Fla. — New York Yankees owner Hal Steinbrenner mentioned that he began discussing the possibility of changing the team’s most recognizable rule about 10 years ago. Steinbrenner consulted with former and current players, team executives and people outside of baseball to determine if it was the right time to modify the Yankees’ facial hair policy.

The rule, which was instituted in 1976 by George Steinbrenner, Hal’s father, is no longer in effect, the club announced Friday morning. The Yankees now will allow well-groomed beards, a stunning reversal for a franchise that prided itself on a policy that set it apart from the other 29 clubs in MLB. The team’s standard even became well-known outside of baseball when “The Simpsons” dedicated a storyline of a 1992 episode to Don Mattingly being kicked off a fictional softball team for refusing to shave his sideburns.

Steinbrenner said he realized that the Yankees’ policy was outdated because he concluded that the current generation believes their facial hair is part of their individuality, noting that even Vice President JD Vance and members of Congress routinely sport beards.

“Given how important it is to that generation and given that it is the norm in this world today, that was somewhat unreasonable, so I made the change,” Steinbrenner said in a news conference at George M. Steinbrenner Field.

One of the most recognizable rules in all of sports is no longer 👀

The New York Yankees announced Friday morning that they will allow “well-groomed beards” moving forward.

Some notable names that were previously impacted by the policy – starting with Devin Williams 🧵 pic.twitter.com/fNnxew7Rok

— The Athletic (@TheAthletic) February 21, 2025

The facial hair policy is not entirely abandoned, as the players and uniformed personnel will follow an upcoming guideline that outlines their criteria for what constitutes a “well-groomed” beard. Steinbrenneremphasized that it is important for the Yankees’ leadership to “maintain that disciplined look.”

“The only information we were offered from (general manager Brian Cashman) is that we’re not trying to look like Duck Dynasty. No diss against Duck Dynasty,” Yankees starting pitcher Gerrit Cole said. “They’re grinding in the woods all the time. You don’t really have another option. But that was the only clarification we got.”

An important factor Steinbrenner considered when amending the policy was that he did not want the Yankees to possibly lose out on acquiring a player who did not want to play for the franchise because he did not want to shave. Steinbrenner called that hypothetical situation “very, very concerning” and noted that he was convinced that it was a “real concern” for members of the organization.

The Yankees traded for closer Devin Williams, who had a beard, from the Milwaukee Brewers this offseason. Williams is a free agent at the end of the season, and he was not pleased with having to shave his beard. He showed up to report day for pitchers and catchers with a full beard before shaving it on the first day of workouts. He pushed the boundaries earlier this week when the players took their team pictures by showing up with noticeable facial hair despite clear instructions to appear clean-shaven.

Cashman told reporters that he had a conversation with a possible non-roster player whose agent relayed to him that his client had to decide if he wanted to shave or not. When Steinbrenner was asked if the Yankees had lost out on players they pursued in the past because of the facial hair policy, he said no. One notable player who told the Yankees no thank you in free agency was former San Francisco Giants closer Brian Wilson, who told the club in 2013 to not even bother wasting their time courting him because he would not shave.

Steinbrenner said none of the current players dissented when asked if they would leave the rule in place. Catcher Austin Wells, who grows a thick beard in the offseason, said he was still trying to process the Yankees allowing beards. He was unsure if he would grow one because he “brainwashed” himself into believing shaving was a privilege while playing for the Yankees. George Steinbrenner, who served in the U.S. Air Force in the 1950s, enacted the rule in 1976 because he believed the team should look disciplined. Forty-nine years later, Hal Steinbrenner believes his father would have eventually changed the rule if he felt it was impacting roster construction.

“Winning was the most important thing to my father,” Steinbrenner said. “If somebody came and told him that they were very sure that this could affect us getting 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.

“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.”

(Photo: New York Yankees / Getty Images)