MLB Creates Anti-hazing, Anti-Bullying Policy

A time honored tradition of making rookies dress up as women has been banned by MLB’s new anti-hazing, anti-bullying policy.

As part of the new collective bargaining agreement between MLB and the Players Association, there is a new anti-hazing and anti-bullying policy. According to the Associated Press, the policy prohibits “requiring, coercing or encouraging” players from “dressing up as women or wearing costumes that may be offensive to individuals based on their race, sex, nationality, age, sexual orientation, gender identity or other characteristic.”

Major League Baseball Vice President Paul Misfud pointed out that social media has highlighted MLB players dressed as Disney princesses or female celebrities or female superheroes. He also said some players have complained about it. Here’s a tweet from Kyle Schwarber showing Cubs players dressed as Disney princesses.

Plenty of other teams have had similar rookie hazing rituals. The New York Mets sent players to Starbucks on a road trip in Philadelphia wearing uniforms from the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League (from the movie A League of Their Own). In 2012, the Washington Nationals had new players, including Bryce Harper, wear red leotards like Olympic gymnast Gabby Douglass. Back in 2008, San Diego Padres rookies wore the satin orange shorts and tight, white tops worn by Hooters servers during a road trip. In September of this year, the Dodgers had their rookies dress as cheerleaders and walk through New York City.

Players generally go along with it, smile, laugh, and seem to take it in stride. In the video showing the Dodgers’ rookies dressed as cheerleaders, the female reporter says it’s one of baseball’s best traditions and says multiple times how fun it is for the players involved. They appear to be willing participants.

The new anti-hazing policy makes clear that it doesn’t matter if the players are willing participants. The policy states, “a player’s actual or perceived willingness to participate in prohibited conduct does not excuse the activity from being considered a violation of the policy.” This is an important consideration because most players will not complain. Like hazing done at college fraternities, those being hazed are expected to go along with it. It’s a ritual passed from teammate to teammate. Rookies are hazed during their first year, then they become the hazers. For many, it’s an accepted part of being a rookie.

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Of course, not all players have been thrilled with hazing, whether it has to do with dressing as a female or not. Jeff Kent came up with the Toronto Blue Jays in 1992. He had been through a rookie hazing ritual with the Blue Jays. When he was traded to the Mets in August and was expected to go through rookie hazing again, he refused. He tossed the pimp’s costume he was supposed to wear on the floor of the clubhouse. He said, “I paid my rookie dues in Toronto. I feel I have endured my embarrassments, my punishment. I felt I was being taken advantage of. They wanted to go overboard. I stuck up for myself. I won’t be pushed around.”

This new policy announcement has brought some predictable responses. For many people, making rookies dress as women is harmless fun, a prank, something everyone can laugh about later. MLB Network’s Brian Kenny tweeted about the announcement from the Associated Press and it brought the expected responses, such as, “God forbid we inject some lighthearted laughter into the world” and “What is the problem with it?” Whenever traditions are challenged, there is a backlash. For many, this is another example of the “PC crowd” going overboard.

Not all rookie hazing rituals have been banned. The main point of the new policy is to ban activities that could be offensive to others. Forcing players to dress as women in order to mock the players can be seen as suggesting that women are lesser people. It could also be offensive to the transgender community. This new policy is specifically aimed at players dressing as females. Players can no longer be forced to dress as Wonder Woman, but Batman or Superman would be okay.

Another tradition that can continue is that of rookie relievers hauling snacks across the diamond from the clubhouse to the bullpen before games. While hauling the snacks is okay, it’s unknown if the Seattle Mariners can still have their rookie pitchers use a pink Hello Kitty backpack to carry the snacks.

MLB and the players union already had a workplace code of conduct that was put in place in 2013 that outlawed bullying with respect to sexual orientation. This expands that policy. The new policy states, “The purpose of this policy is not to prohibit all traditions regarding rookies or players, but rather to prohibit conduct that may cause players physical anguish or harm, may be offensive to some players, club staff or fans, or are distracting to the operation of the club or MLB.”

Another part of the new agreement is the banning of “requiring players to consume alcoholic beverages or any other kind of drug, or requiring the ingestion of an undesirable or unwanted substances (food, drink, concoction).” That seems long overdue.

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As for the new MLB anti-hazing policy, there will be a brief outcry against it on social media, but it will die down soon enough. The players union chose not to contest it. It won’t have any affect on the caliber of baseball being played and teams will find other, less controversial ways to haze their rookies.