New York Yankees: Appearance Policy in Jeopardy?
Andrew McCutchen says it is time for the New York Yankees to abolish their appearance policy.
In 1973, former owner of the New York Yankees George Steinbrenner began enforcing an appearance policy for his players. It states that players must have their hair cut above the collar of their baseball jersey and no beards are permitted.
This has been an extremely controversial part of baseball for almost 50 years. Many have called for its abolition. Don Mattingly, while he played for the Yankees, kept his hair long and was benched and fined as a result.
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On Monday, the 2013 National League Most Valuable Player and five-time All-Star Andrew McCutchen, and member of the 2018 New York Yankees for 25 games, came forward and said that it is time for Major League Baseball to force the Yankees to get rid of their appearance policy.
“There should be some change there in the future,” McCutchen said.
McCutchen, who now plays for the Philadelphia Phillies, explained that we must be progressive as a society and allow players to express themselves in their own ways. He believes it takes away from their individualism.
While with the Pittsburgh Pirates and the San Francisco Giants, McCutchen had dreds. He was forced to cut his hair and shave his beard when the Giants traded him to the Yankees during the 2018 season.
This is the only appearance policy in MLB. No teams in the NBA, NHL or NFL have an appearance policy. In 2016, the Miami Marlins banned facial hair, but abolished the policy only one year later.
Andrew McCutchen coming forward to say this was very brave. Challenging a policy as old as this is always going to upset people, but he is standing up for the players and fighting for what he believes is right.
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Since he debuted in 2009, McCutchen has been one of the most respected players in the game. The cause is going to be helped just being backed by him alone. He will get a lot of support from other players and this rule will eventually be changed. With all the progressions going around culture and professional sports, the Yankees changing their hair policy could soon be the newest domino to fall.