The beard must come off, otherwise this baseball star will be threatened with the replacement bench. The final adventure of the first World Cup trophy ends with its final disappearance

For professionals active in American sports, a number of things happen in a very short time. A new home must be found, the children must go to a new school and last but not least, the athletes must fit into a completely new team and system. So it’s not that simple. For baseball player Alex Verdugo, a trade literally became a hairy affair.

Because the 27-year-old had to say goodbye to his beard. Otherwise, he would be threatened with a spot on the bench of his new team, the New York Yankees. The Yankees, who signed Verdugo via trade from the Boston Red Sox, have an unusual rule from the last century: then-owner of the Bronx baseball team, George Steinbrenner, introduced in 1976 that Yankees players can no longer have long hair. to have. wear a beard.

However, Verdugo didn’t really seem concerned about his facial hair. Although preparation for the new season doesn’t start until February, the outfielder has already taken up the razor and got rid of his full beard. He didn’t even leave his mustache behind; that wouldn’t conflict with his new team’s beard policy.

Verdugo is certainly not the first professional baseball player to have to cut his hair after arriving in New York. This rule also applied to current Hall of Famer Randy Johnson when he was traded from Arizona to the Yankees in 2005. At the time, Johnson had to turn a mullet into a mullet: short in the front and short in the rear.

It seems outdated that such a rule still applies in 2023. Especially since some players already had disagreements with the team owner when the rule was introduced 47 years ago. In the recent past, however, players have largely resigned without resistance, which could also be due to the fact that the Yankees pay some of the best wages in the North American professional league MLB. However, the rule can also have negative consequences.

So former Yankees player Cameron Maybin recently wrote on X (formerly Twitter): “You’d be surprised how much more attractive the Yankees would be if they got rid of that facial hair rule.” Many players would find this crazy. Aneudys Duran also reported this to the New York Times. Duran is the hairdresser of several MLB stars who he has heard say some players prefer to sign with other teams because of this rule.

For now, nothing is likely to change. Although Steinbrenner no longer owns the Yankees since his death in 2010, his son Hal also does not like to see beards and long hair on players. The New York Yankees are also the only ones who do not have their player names on their home or away jerseys.