Mattingly’s silly new policy with Miami Marlins needs rethinking
Newly anointed Miami Marlins manager Don Mattingly is taking a lot of flak for instituting a facial hair ban on his players in 2016. Their ace, Jose Fernandez, has been known for sporting a beard since he entered the league. All-world masher Giancarlo Stanton played most of 2015 with a goatee. But it’s not just his own players that are taking exception to this new set of rules.
Mattingly himself was known for being anti-establishment in the 1980’s when he sported a moustache for much of his playing career in defiance of George Steinbrenner and his strict no facial hair policy. To say the Marlins’ new skipper is being hypocritical is an understatement.
An episode of The Simpsons parodying Steinbrenner’s rule went so far as Mr. Burns suggesting that Mattingly shave his sideburns in order to continue being a member of the Springfield Isotopes. When Burns finally booted him off the fictional club, Mattingly’s charcater (voiced by Mattingly himself) begrudgingly remarked, “I still like him better than Steinbrenner.”
The irony of no Miami Marlins players being allowed to display facial hair this year will be rich with content. This story writes itself and if the Marlins don’t win in 2016, Mattingly’s ridiculous attempt to dictate order and conformity over the team will be for naught.
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Donnie Baseball managed the Los Angeles Dodgers from 2011-2015. No such rules were in place during his time there and his ace, Clayton Kershaw, often sported a healthy looking beard. That beard was not the issue with the Dodgers, but rather it was Kershaw’s inability to pitch well at key times in the postseason. In eight playoff starts from 2013-15, his record was 2-5 with a 4.01 ERA. In fact, it was often Mattingly’s lack of managerial deftness that many Dodgers fans criticized and pointed the finger at. Certainly, it was never an issue of opposing facial hair.
The Evil Empire under old Steinbrenner was a different world — one crafted by The Boss when he purchased the struggling franchise in 1973. But even at that time, the organization was one of the more decorated in MLB history and was nearly three quarters of a century old. Clean shaven Babe Ruth‘s, Joe DiMaggio‘s and Mickey Mantle‘s are what helped typify baseball as being a gentleman’s game and those images will forever continue to define the Bronx Bombers, who continue to implement a strict no facial hair policy.
Make no mistake though, Jeffrey Loria is no Steinbrenner and the Miami Marlins are not the New York Yankees. If they were, a good starting point would be actually drawing fans out to their home games. Winning or losing, Yankee Stadium is always one of the most attended venues across MLB. They were fourth in the league in 2015 with an average attendance of 39,992. The Marlins were 26th, with 21, 632. If anything, having a bunch of hairless clones lacking individual flair or personality running around the field will hurt the Marlins appeal, as Miami is a vibrant and colorful city, miles away from the Bronx in geographical relation as well as cultural idiosyncrasies.
For a club that has historically placed a low emphasis on retaining the services of its managers and players long-term, the Miami Marlins need to re-think this new policy. Asking their players to sacrifice individuality and character should not be acceptable for a franchise that is younger than a number of players on their roster.
The last time Loria hired a prominent ex-Yankee player to manage his squad, Joe Girardi carried the Miami Marlins to a 78-84 record with limited resources and funding. That was in 2006, and it earned Girardi an NL Manager of the Year award. Loria did not think it was worth retaining his services, so Girardi walked after one season and went on to win his first World Series as a coach in 2009 as manager of the Yankees.
Don Mattingly arguably had just as much, if not more talent, in his time managing the Dodgers than Girardi has with the Yankees. If he could not deliver in Los Angeles, how could a silly new rule by Mattingly make a difference on a team that has constantly allowed its backward ways of thinking and ownership to impede on potential success? The Miami Marlins and Mattingly will soon discover in 2016 that the joke, once more, will be on them.