Former Yankees outfielder Andrew McCutchen stated in an interview on Monday that he believes the Yankees should abolish their outdated facial hair policy.
Andrew McCutchen played for the Yankees toward the tail end of the 2018 season after being acquired at the waiver deadline. Despite his very short time in New York, McCutchen has made it known that during his time here, he was not the biggest fan of the Yankees traditional facial hair policy.
“I think — especially in this year, the year of 2020,” McCutchen said in an interview on Monday. “I just feel like these things should be things that people take at heart and realize we have a way of expressing ourselves in different ways.”
This is a topic that Yankees fans have been constantly debating over the past few years. While the younger generation is all for the players being able to rock well-kept beards and long hair, the older generation does not want any part of these new-age antics. Personally, I would love to see the Yankees be able to sport some facial hair if that’s what they would like to do.
It’s definitely a difficult debate with well-informed opinions on both sides, but at some point, I believe you have to move on from tradition and embrace how the world has changed. One can still be professional even though they have facial hair and should not be considered as any less of a professional.
Many may not agree with me when I say this, but I do hope that heading into the future we can see the Yankees loosen the restrictions on their facial hair policy that I do believe is outdated and time to move on from and clearly Andrew McCutchen feels the same way.
“I definitely do think it takes away from our individualism,” McCutchen said.
A solid debate, but personally I am fine with this tradition.