Andrew McCutchen rips Yankees' hair policy: 'It takes away from our individualism'
Philadelphia Phillies outfielder Andrew McCutchen isn’t a huge fan of team hair policies. McCutchen questioned the New York Yankees’ policy Sunday, saying it “takes away from our individualism.”
McCutchen, 33, made those comments on The Sports Bubble podcast. His remarks begin around the 3 minute mark.
McCutchen started his answer by making it clear he enjoyed playing for the Yankees. He called it an honor, and said he felt powerful putting on the team’s uniform. He then turned his attention to the team’s hair policy.
“Those policies — shaving and letting the jersey speak for itself — I definitely do think it takes away from our individualism as players and as people. We express ourselves in different ways. For me, when I was on the Pirates and me having my dreadlocks, I’d be lying to you if I said if I got traded over to the Yankees and they said you gotta shave your hair. For me, that would have been a very tough thing to do. Because that was who I was. That was how I expressed myself. That’s what made me Andrew McCutchen.”
McCutchen later added, “I definitely feel like maybe there should be some change there in the future.”
For the first six years of his career, McCutchen had dreadlocks. He shaved them off prior to the 2015 season and donated them to charity. McCutchen hasn’t grown out his hair since then, so that wasn’t an issue when he was traded to the Yankees in 2018. His beard was another story.
Under the Yankees’ policy, players, coaches and male executives cannot wear their hair past their collar. The only type of facial hair allowed under the policy is a mustache. Those restrictions can be lifted for religious reasons.
Because of that, McCutchen didn’t have any facial hair when he played for the team.
While George Steinbrenner reportedly implemented the team’s no facial hair policy because of Thurman Munson, those policies have been used to target Black athletes in the past.
McCutchen doesn’t have to worry about his facial hair in 2020. While manager Joe Girardi made the Miami Marlins adhere to a facial hair policy in 2006, he said he wouldn’t bring back the policy with the Phillies.
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