Hal Steinbrenner couldn’t stomach the thought of losing a player over facial hair.
So, rather than be reactive when it came to the much-debated team policy restricting facial hair aside from mustaches that dated back to his late father George Steinbrenner’s installation in 1976, Hal opted to make the bold change Friday ahead of the 2025 season.
“If I ever found out that a player we wanted to acquire, to make us better, to get us a championship, did not want to be here, and if he had the ability to, would not come here because of that policy, as important as it is to that generation, that would be very, very concerning,” Steinbrenner said while seated alongside general manager Brian Cashman.
“I am fairly convinced that’s a real concern.”
Steinbrenner said the policy had been a “frequent” topic among his family and Cashman for years, but this offseason he talked to other teams and people outside baseball about the importance to some of having beards.
Hal Steinbrenner (r) and Brian Cashman (l) discuss the policy change. @YESNetwork/X
The Yankees changed their rule one season before Vladimir Guerro Jr. hits free agency. USA TODAY Sports via Reuters Con
“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.
“Do I totally relate to that? It’s difficult for me, I’m an older guy who’s never had a beard in his life.”
The Yankees’ new rule said that players will be allowed to have “well-groomed beards,” although it did not provide specifics.
Some have wondered how his father would feel about this rule, which was a unique characteristic of being a Yankee, being changed.
Steinbrenner believes George would prioritize how the players perform rather than how they look.
“Winning was the most important thing to my father and, again, I think if somebody came and told him they were very sure that this could affect us getting the players we want to get — all we’re tryin to do every offseason is put ourselves in the best position to get a player we’re trying to get,” he said.
“If something like this would detract from that, lessen our chances, I don’t know, I think he might be a little more apt to do the change I did than people think because it was about winning.”
