Will the New York Yankees ever end their policy that keeps players from having anything more than a neatly kept mustache? I sure hope not. Looking through the Yankees Photo Day pictures I kind of enjoy not seeing the Jayson Werth’s, the Danny Espinosa’s and the Charlie Blackmon’s of the league. Straight off the top of my head I can only remember Jared Burton, the reliever from the Twins that is over on a minor league deal, having any facial hair on the team this season other than maybe a five o’clock shadow. This is one of those trends that started in the 1970’s and has made a comeback with the “idiots” from the Boston Red Sox in the mid- 2000’s.
Little known fact that facial hair was considered to be “ungentlemanly” in Major League Baseball up until the 1973 season when Reggie Jackson came to the Oakland Athletics spring training camp with a mustache. The A’s owner Charlie Finley did not want Jackson to stand out so he paid each of his players $300 for growing a mustache that season and the 70’s exploded with facial hair in the game. That explosion is back and it’s as disgusting as ever. I’m not a facial hair hater, I tend to only shave once or twice a week and I have at least a five o’clock shadow every single day, but I think some of these beards have gotten out of hand and they are generally unattractive.
This is not Duck Dynasty, this is Major League Baseball, start acting like it.