New York Yankees announce alteration of facial hair policy

The New York Yankees have altered their longstanding facial hair and grooming policy to allow players and uniformed personnel to have “well-groomed beards.”

Yankees Managing General Partner Hal Steinbrenner announced the change in a statement on Friday.

Statement from Yankees Managing General Partner Hal Steinbrenner on the alteration of Yankees facial hair policy: pic.twitter.com/UdEuAg3gZy

— New York Yankees (@Yankees) February 21, 2025

“In recent weeks, I have spoken to a large number of former and current Yankees — spanning several eras — to elicit their perspectives on our longstanding facial hair and grooming policy, and I appreciate their earnest and varied feedback,” Steinbrenner wrote. “These most recent conversations are an extension of ongoing internal dialogue that dates back several years.

“Ultimately, the final decision rests with me, and after great consideration, we will be amending our expectations to allow our players and uniformed personnel to have well-groomed beards moving forward. It is the appropriate time to move beyond the familiar comfort of our former policy.”

New York Yankees announce monumental change

The Yankees adopted a strict appearance policy in 1976, three years after George Steinbrenner took over ownership of the club. 49 years later, the beard ban is over. For better or worse, the policy has been part of the team’s identity for nearly five decades, so this represents a monumental shift.

But for some, it’s a welcome change. Pittsburgh Pirates outfielder Andrew McCutchen, traded to the Yankees in August 2018, had to shave his beard before putting on the pinstripes. McCutchen later said the policy stripped away his individualism.

“Those policies — shaving and letting the jersey speak for itself — I definitely do think it takes away from our individualism as players and as people. We express ourselves in different ways,” McCutchen said in 2020. “For me, when I was on the Pirates and me having my dreadlocks, I’d be lying to you if I said if I got traded over to the Yankees and they said you gotta shave your hair. For me, that would have been a very tough thing to do. Because that was who I was. That was how I expressed myself. That’s what made me Andrew McCutchen.”

Newly acquired closer Devin Williams recently shaved his beard after arriving in Tampa for spring training.

“Everyone’s got an opinion, so, it is what it is,” Williams said last week of the chatter about shaving his beard, via Bryan Hoch of MLB.com.

Well, under the altered policy, Williams can grow it back out. Just make sure it’s “well-groomed,” of course.