• by Tanya Gazdik , March 4, 2025

When is a beard more than just a beard? Maybe when it’s on the face of a player for the New York Yankees -- a team now relaxing a beard ban that has been in effect since the 1970s.

“It’s not just about grooming; it’s about personal branding and the nature of athletic fame in the social media era,” according to Bloomberg. “To attract the next generation of fans, MLB and its teams have learned that they must enable the players to express themselves. … People have many more entertainment options competing for their attention nowadays. As a result, players can’t count on skills alone to push them into the national consciousness anymore. If they crave fame and its benefits, they need to draw attention to themselves as unique individuals.

The team’s managing general partner, Hal Steinbrenner (son of longtime owner George), says that players would still be required to have “a well-groomed, clean look.”

The Yankees originally barred their players, as well as staff members, from having sideburns, beards or long hair at least in part because George Steinbrenner believed a neater appearance would promote professionalism and discipline among his players.

Asked what his father would have said about the change, Hal Steinbrenner said he believed the chance that some star players might be reluctant to come to the Yankees because of the beard ban might have swayed him, according to The New York Times. 

“He might be a little more apt to do the change that I did than people think,” he said. “Winning was the most important thing to my father."

Steinbrenner said Vice President JD Vance's whiskers played a role in his decision, according to NBC News. Vance is believed to be the first VP with facial hair since President Herbert Hoover's No. 2, Charles Curtis, nearly a century ago.

"The vast majority of 20s, 30s into the 40s men in this country have beards," Steinbrenner said. "Our new vice president has a beard. Members of Congress have a beard. The list goes on and on and on in this country and in this world. It is a part of who these younger men are. It's part of their character. It's part of their persona.”

The Yankees posted Steinbrenner’s decision on social media platforms, including X, where it has been viewed 17.5 million times -- and on Instagram, where it has garnered over 181,000 “likes,” but many negative comments as well.

"The modification does not address the organization's policy on hair length, which stipulates that uniformed personnel are not allowed to grow hair below their collar,” according to ESPN.  “George Steinbrenner, who had a military background as lieutenant in the Air Force, implemented the grooming policy because he thought regulating players' appearance would instill discipline.”