The Crane Pool Forum

Facial hair is back, well at least "well groomed " is anyway


https://www.mlb.com/yankees/news/yankee ... air-policy


Managing general partner Hal Steinbrenner made the following statement regarding the alteration of Yankees' facial hair policy: well groomed facial hair is at least

“In recent weeks I have spoken to a large number of former and current Yankees -- spanning several eras -- to elicit their perspectives on our longstanding facial hair and grooming policy, and I appreciate their earnest and varied feedback. These most recent conversations are an extension of ongoing internal dialogue that dates back several years. Ultimately the final decision rests with me, and after great consideration, we will be amending our expectations to allow our players and uniformed personnel to have well-groomed beards moving forward. It is the appropriate time to move beyond the familiar comfort of our former policy.”

I saw a Daily News headline that said that Aaron Boone will be managing the '27 Yankees. I'm sure they left out the first two digits of the year so that we couldn't help but think of Murderer's Row. It's hard to believe that we're going to have another round of '27 Yankees. Hopefully this century's version will fall far short of the one from a hundred years earlier.

BIG HAIRY DEAL awaits as tomorrow’s News back page headline. The Post likely photoshops a beard onto the Babe.

Dumb rule ,always thought they think they are superior

The off-season: the Mets signed Soto and they wanted him back. They signed leftovers and removed an antiquated policy.

The rule was one of the dumbest things in all of sports. It arose from a moral standard that is long outdated. It's insulting to grown professional men who are the greatest in their arena. It may have served as a detriment in free agency, now that the Yankees are not at a financial advantage over all other teams.

It was likely illegal. Given that they benefit from the anti-trust exemption and have player control for 6+ years.

But I liked that it made the Yankees look stupid and outdated.

Who is going to judge what "well groomed" means?
Is there a standard against which beard hairs will be measured?
I can just see one of the coaches out there with a caliper measuring individual hairs.
If they pluck them before measuring, will they consider the root?


Ludicrous.

Later

It all of course stemmed from when George first bought the team in the early '70s when it was assumed by George-like people that anyone with longer hair and beards was a hippie, fag, commie.

One of his early memos became famous at the time. It was early enough to where he still didn't know many of the players' names but he wasn't going to let that stop him. So he left a note to one of his underlings to the effect that: 'numbers 15, 23, and 31 need haircuts!!!'

Didn't Willie Randolph put a similar rule into effect when he took over as manager of the Mets?

MFYs won the game today.
Marcus Strohman started and pitched a scoreless inning.
He had a presser in which he said he would not pitch out of the bullpen this year.
Was this to placate him?

Later

I don't think he's so easily placated.

Benjamin Grimm wrote: ↑Fri Feb 21, 2025 1:18 pm Didn't Willie Randolph put a similar rule into effect when he took over as manager of the Mets?

I remember him trying. Did it fly?



Here's Pedro Martinez violating that rule.

MFS62 wrote: ↑Fri Feb 21, 2025 4:47 pm Was this to placate him?

More likely it was to try and create a trade market for him.

Maybe we did have it. Here's Mike Piazza in his last game as a Met.

Frayed Knot wrote: ↑Fri Feb 21, 2025 6:02 pm

MFS62 wrote: ↑Fri Feb 21, 2025 4:47 pm Was this to placate him?

More likely it was to try and create a trade market for him.

Probably right.
I'd think the other teams know he has a reputation of having a high maintenance personality. (best words can think of right now - mercurial?)
So this would be to show he's healthy enough (mentally and physically) to pitch.
Later

This absolutely stupid storyline actually ran on ABC World News Tonight Friday evening

Not being a fan of facial hair, I kind of liked the Yankee policy. Too many players today have stupidly-large beards, and I liked that they'd have to shave them off when they came to the Yankees.

The Islanders still have a no-facial hair policy under their old-school GM. They will only allow it in the playoffs as though motivation but no guarantee they will get there this year, much less last long enough to become bearded.

Only a matter of time until the MFYs put names on the backs of alternate jerseys

Nothing was said about their long-running 'no hair past the collar' rule, so I guess that one's still in place.

The humorous part of MFY image keeping was when they had Jason Giambi (plus one of their pitchers though I forget now which) who always wore arm sleeves
as if recovering from some injury. Except it was really so the team could pretend that they'd never have a Yanqui with tattoos. That unofficial policy lasted until
they simultaneously signed AJ Burnett and CC Sabathia for their 2009 squad and those guys' arms were so tatted up that they would have to play in burqas in
order to hide the evidence, so the gig was up.

I just like hearing Steinbrenner's kid announce in a very longwinded circular way, "My dad was an obnoxious, overbearing dick and we're finally going to abandon one of his guiding principles that cost us many good players and much goodwill over the past five decades."

A big FU as in MFY to Connections on Saturday.

roger_that wrote: ↑Sat Feb 22, 2025 8:50 am I just like hearing Steinbrenner's kid announce in a very longwinded circular way, "My dad was an obnoxious, overbearing dick and we're finally going to abandon one of his guiding principles that cost us many good players and much goodwill over the past five decades."

It's been 20 years at least since George Steinbrenner ran the Yankees. Can't blame George for the fact that the team's conservative facial hair policy "finally" came to an end just now. And when it was first instituted some 50 years ago, the idea wasn't so outlandish or "square".