Hal Steinbrenner’s movement towards changing the facial hair policy that his father implemented nearly half a century ago was apparently years in the making.
The Yankees owner told reporters on Friday that he had talked with members of other organizations, current and former players, and even individuals outside baseball to get a sense of a lingering question: did the team’s longstanding policy against beards need to be cut?
After his extensive research, Steinbrenner came to the conclusion that it was time to get with the times, even if beards in baseball was a movement that he himself didn’t fully identify with.
“It’s a part of their character and persona,” Steinbrenner said during Friday’s press conference. “Do I totally relate to that? It’s difficult for me. I’ve never had a beard in my life….but it’s important to their character, and it’s also the norm in this country.
“There were a lot of things told to me that resonated. A lot of things told to me that were concerning…from those conversations…I did make the decision that the policy that was in place was outdated. Given how important it is to that generation…it was somewhat unreasonable. So I made the change.”
What was the main concerning revelation from Steinbrenner’s conversations? The idea that his Yanks may miss out on acquiring a player because of the previous policy that had been in place since 1976.
“If I ever found out that a player we wanted to acquire to make us better did not want to be here, and if he had the ability, would not come here because of that policy…that would be very, very concerning,” Steinbrenner said. “I am fairly convinced that that’s a real concern.”
Brian Cashman noted CC Sabathia’s reluctance to signing with the Yankees before the 2009 season because of the facial hair policy, which prohibited long hair and beards of any kind since George Steinbrenner implemented that rule early in his ownership. Hal didn’t want to miss out on any stars because of that policy, and clearly, speaking with players raised the alarms that it could be a reality if things weren’t tweaked.
Steinbrenner mentioned conversations with Aaron Judge, Gerrit Cole, and Giancarlo Stanton “resonated” with him as he held one-on-one, face-to-face meetings, and that some leaders of the team and the organization expressed a desire to maintain a sense of “discipline,” so the rule will not be completely done away with, but rather altered.
“There will be parameters, and they know that,” Steinbrenner said. “I did make it clear to the players that it’s going to be a well-groomed, clean look. It’s important to the leaders of our team that we maintain a disciplined look.”
With that, the policy that has been part of the definition of the Yankee brand for 49 years will be changed, leading many to wonder what The Boss would have thought of his son changing that longstanding rule.
For Hal, the justification would have been simple: that policy could be getting in the way of fielding the best team possible.
“Winning was the most important thing to my father,” Hal said. “If someone came to him and told him…that something like this would detract from that…I think he’d be a little more apt to the change than people think, because it was about winning.”