Yankees Facial Hair Policy Was Likely Illegal, Against Team’s Interest (2025)

Sherif Moussa a civil rights attorney contributed to reporting in this piece.

For over half a century, the New York Yankees facial hair policy stood as one of the hallmarks of the franchise. But last week, in a statement from Yankees Managing Partner Hal Steinbrenner, the team abolished the rule. Indeed, the policy had long overstayed its welcome to the extent it was ever appropriate.

The Yankees rule requiring all players to be clean shaven very likely violated New York City employment law, and possibly even federal labor laws. Perhaps even more significantly, the policy may have made it more difficult for the Yankees to sign free agents, thus potentially harming their on-field record and ownership’s bottom line.

So why did nobody ever challenge the Yankees ban on beards until now? Probably because Major League Baseball pays far too well. Moreover, a player who challenged the rules of one team (no matter how silly those rules may seem) would have been at risk of being seen as a troublemaker to others.

It is also the case that this moment presented a perfect storm for the Yankees to review its long-standing policy. The market for the Yankees to sign elite free agent players has become more competitive with new deep-pocketed owners taking over the Los Angeles Dodgers and New York Mets, along with other teams. Neither the Dodgers nor Mets, nor any other team, ban beards. Further still, even the new vice president of the United States, JD Vance, now proudly sports the facial feature. So, why not a New York Yankee?

A Tradition Rooted In Control, Not Necessity

When the late George Steinbrenner purchased the Yankees in 1973, he wasted no time making the team a reflection of his own authoritarian business style. One of his first moves was a dress code straight out of a military handbook: no beards, no long hair, mustaches allowed but neatly trimmed.

With George Steinbrenner, it was never about hygiene. After all, this was baseball, not a restaurant. It also wasn’t about performance. In fact, plenty of other teams from the Oakland A’s of the ‘70s, who were actually paid $300 by owner Charley Finley to sport facial hair, to the scruffy and hirsute Red Sox of 2004, won it all with facial hair. In reality, it was all about two things: control and image.

For decades, Yankees players, for the most part, grumbled but complied. For players with less than approximately six years of Major League Baseball experience, they had no choice but to comply. Subject to Baseball’s reserve system that remains part of the game to this day, the Yankees had exclusive rights to certain players. These players could not credibly threaten to play elsewhere.

With respect to those players who did enjoy free agency rights, some, when offered enough money, succumbed, like former 2004 Red Sox outfielder Johnny Damon who shaved his signature beard and transformed overnight, looking like a new man at his Yankees press conference. More recently, Yankees ace Gerrit Cole ditched his beard upon arriving in the Bronx. Nevertheless, a select few, like then San Francisco Giants closer Brian Wilson who famously sported a thick black beard, refused to so much as meet with the Yankees because of the rule.

Over the years, it became one of those antiquated traditions that somehow survived into the modern age, even as more elite players began to enter the free agent markets, and the Yankees may have found themselves needing to offer more money than their competition to sign certain free agents who valued their facial autonomy.

Was the Rule Even Legal? Probably Not

The fact that the Yankees were able to enforce this rule for over 50 years without any legal challenge is less a testament to its legality and more a testament to the financial power of Major League Baseball and the fear of players of being blackballed from the league (think, Barry Bonds). Indeed, there were compelling legal arguments that the rule violated employment law. New York City Human Rights Law is one of the strongest in the country, going far beyond federal protections to prohibit appearance-based discrimination if it disproportionately affects certain groups. Beards are either a requirement or encouraged for many religious men and potentially denying them the right to play without religious exemptions could have been a lawsuit waiting to happen.

Of course, at the federal level, Title VII of the Civil Rights Act prohibits racial discrimination in the workplace and this rule potentially ran afoul of it. For example, Black players who suffer from pseudofolliculitis barbae (“PFB”), a condition that makes shaving painful, could have argued that the policy was racially discriminatory. Or, if, for example, a player of Sikh origin entered the league, they would have been able to raise a reasonable claim of religious discrimination. Further still, labor law may require the rule to be collectively bargained to the extent that the rule is deemed to be a working condition.

Despite that, there’s no known instance of the MLB Players Association (“MLBPA”) formally approving it as part of any agreement. The Yankees should have been vulnerable to a legal challenge and yet no one ever challenged them.

The Reason No One Fought Back: Money

MLB players, sometimes even those on the fringes of the roster, make generational wealth. When you’re getting millions of dollars to play baseball, you’re not going to be the one who sues arguably the most famous team in the sports over a beard policy. As noted above, that’s a battle that could potentially get you labeled as a difficult player in the sport. Importantly, it’s also a lawsuit you would need to finance yourself, since the MLBPA rarely fights for things that don’t affect the entire player base.

This wasn’t a typical job in which a wrongful termination lawsuit gets settled quietly. Nor is it one where a player can easily find similar employment elsewhere. Going after the Yankees over this would have potentially meant taking on MLB itself. Moreover, players, particularly those at risk of losing their roster spots, likely thought it wasn’t worth it. Agents may have reasonably told them to just bide your time until free agency rights kick in and them look to play elsewhere.

Even for players at the top, the trade-off wasn’t there. If the Yankees were offering the biggest contract, you shaved. As, indeed, all of them did. They all did so because, in the grand scheme of things, a beard wasn’t worth more than a nine-figure contract.

A Rule That Hurt The Yankees More Than It Helped

What’s ironic is that, while no one fought the rule, it likely cost the Yankees free agents over the years, and may have increased the amount they needed to pay on the free agent market to entice others—call it, if you like, a clean-face premium.

Besides the aforementioned Brian Wilson and likely many others who didn’t comment publicly, LHP David Price openly admitted he preferred teams without the restriction. Andrew McCutchen, after being traded to New York, called the policy outdated and questioned why players couldn’t “just be who they are” and said “it takes away from our individuality as players and people.”

At a time when teams like the Los Angeles Dodgers, Houston Astros and New York Mets were offering similar money but letting players express themselves, the Yankees appear to have erected an unnecessary obstacle. One will never know if a player such as Juan Soto, who happens to be clean shaven, would have looked more favorably at the Yankees in free agency if he knew he knew he had the choice with respect to his grooming—a sign that his broader individuality was something of value to ownership.

A Change That Took Too Long

Last week, the Yankees finally changed the rule, recognizing that it no longer served any purpose. Although, the “well groomed” portion of the rule still seems potentially problematic, the New York Yankees just joined the 21st century.

The Yankees may pride themselves on tradition, and refer to their ballpark as "The Cathedral of Baseball,” but even the most historic franchises need to recognize when a rule has become more trouble than it’s worth, it’s time for it to go. The old Yankees facial hair policy wasn’t just outdated - it was legally questionable, counterproductive and likely cost them much more than it ever helped. It’s a small but meaningful shift. Players will still wear the pinstripes with pride—but now, they can do it without unnecessarily being compelled to reach for a razor first and with the ability to decide how they want to present themselves.

Marc Edelman (Marc@MarcEdelman.com) is a tenured Professor of Law at the Zicklin School of Business, Baruch College, City University of New York and the Director of Sports Business Ethics at the Robert Zicklin Center for Corporate Integrity. Marc is a Mets fan.

Sherif Moussa (sherif.moussa@smoussalaw.com) is a civil rights attorney, founder of Moussa Law and an adjunct Professor of Law and Lecturer in Philosophy at the Zicklin School of Business and the Weissman School of Arts and Sciences, Baruch College, City University of New York. Sherif is a Yankees fan.