Pitcher Gerrit Cole, who shaved his beard when his joined the Yankees a few years ago, can grow one … [+] back after the team enacted a new facial-hair policy on Friday. (AP Photo/Chris O’Meara)

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After 49 years, The Boss’ ban on beards is finally over.

The New York Yankees nixed their no-beards rule Friday — an infamous ban then-owner George Steinbrenner put into effect in 1976 — and will permit “well-groomed beards” effective immediately.

Current owner Hal Steinbrenner, son of The Boss, announced the new policy Friday before the Yanks’ spring training opener.

“My dad was in the military. He believed that a team should look in a disciplined manner,” Steinbrenner said during a news conference. “Very important to my father, but again (for) my father, nothing is more important than winning and that’s in the back of my mind.”

A big reason for dropping the ban, Hal Steinbrenner said, is player recruitment as the Yankees attempt to capture their first World Series crown since 2009.

“This generation, the vast majority of 20s, 30s into the 40s, men in this country have beards,” Steinbrenner said. “It is part of who these younger men are, it’s part of their character, it’s part of their persona.”

Steinbrenner said he had discussed the policy with “a large number of former and current Yankees, spanning several eras” before altering it.

Cameron Maybin, who played with the Yankees in 2019, said in 2023, “You’d be surprised how much more attractive the Yankees would be if they got rid of that facial hair rule. You wouldn’t believe how many quality players just think it’s a wack rule to have.”

George Steinbrenner announced the facial policy during spring training of ’76, mandating no long hair or beards — mustaches were allowed. Most players respected the order but a few rebelled against it in newsworthy moments.

In the 1990s, Yankees manager Stump Merrill fined and benched star first baseman Don Mattingly for refusing to trim his mullet. “I’m overwhelmed by the pettiness of it,” Mattingly said then, before eventually getting a trim.

Mattingly’s hair controversy reached legendary status when Mr. Burns called him a hippie in a 1992 episode of “The Simpsons.”

A few years later, Mattingly sported a goatee at times during his final season in 1995.

Take a moment to savor Mattingly’s glorious mullet:

Earlier this month, the team’s new closer Devin Williams, acquired from the Milwaukee Brewers in December, reported to camp with a beard before shaving it off for the team’s first workout the next day.

The no-beard policy led to famous bearded players showing a clean shave when they put on the pinstripes, including Gerrit Cole in 2020, Nick Swisher in 2009 and Johnny Damon in 2006. Many other players grew beards back the moment they joined a new team.

Just this spring training, former Yankees Gleyber Torres and Clay Holmes showed up at spring training with their new teams sporting full beards.