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Gerrit Cole is a grown adult. He is going to get paid $324 million bucks over the next nears years while playing the beautiful game of baseball. And he could be the key to bringing home multiple World Series titles during his stay in the Bronx.
But during that time he will not be allowed to grow a beard. Or grow his hair too long.
For real.
Cole was officially introduced as a Yankee on Wednesday and he looked very different, as his beard was gone and his bushy hair was trimmed a bit. That, of course, was because of the Yankees’ archaic rules that don’t allow beards or hair that goes over the collar.
Seriously, they still have these rules in 2019, which is absurd and should be forgotten about once and for all.
This whole thing started way back in 1973(!) when the late George Steinbrenner made the rules after watching a bunch of hairy players wear the pinstripes on Opening Day. Mustaches are OK, long hair and beards are a no go!
Here’s the official rule, which makes it seem even more silly:
“All players, coaches and male executives are forbidden to display any facial hair other than mustaches (except for religious reasons), and scalp hair may not be grown below the collar. Long sideburns and ‘mutton chops’ are not specifically banned.”
I mean, who even says ‘mutton chops’ these days? Well, besides hipsters in Brooklyn.
Don Mattingly and Lou Pinella challenged these rules during their time with the team but nobody lately has raised a stink over it. I guess it’s hard to speak up when you’re cashing monster checks every two weeks, but still.
Cole, who grew up a Yankees fan, had a chance on Wednesday to take a stand for all the players on the team who are dying to rock a beard during the season. Imagine if he showed up looking like he did last season with the Astros and was like “This is my team now. Beards for everyone.” What would the Yankees do to their $324 million dollar man?
Nothing.
Beards, if you’ve ever walked down any street on planet Earth, are very popular these days. They are also a lot different than those worn in the early 1970s. Now most beards are trimmed nicely and put together with a sharp attention to the small details. Even the ones that aren’t trimmed short still look fine and add some character to those who let it grow.
It’s also silly that baseball players can’t have beards considering how they spend most of their time – in glorified sweatsuits (with belts) while either chewing tobacco, spitting seeds, or chomping on some Double Bubble bubble gum.
But no beards?
Come on!
A team full of grown adults playing for one of the most prestigious franchises in all of sports shouldn’t have to follow these rules made from such a different time. There weren’t even HD televisions back then. That’s a long time ago!.
But here we are.
Cole had his chance to be a hero.
Instead, he shaved his face.
Which is so lame.
Wednesday’s biggest winners: Emmitt and E.J. Smith.
E.J. Smith is a very good running back, too, and on Wednesday he picked Stanford over Florida, where his dad once starred. Was Emmitt bummed out about that? Nope, not all. Instead, he was a proud dad who had the best reaction to his son’s decision to forge his own path. His message about his son was too good. You should watch it.
Quick hits: Wild NBA stories… Herman’s double birds… USC’s recruiting disaster… And more!
– Mike Sykes breaks down the top 10 wildest moments from the NBA over the past decade that you might have forgotten about, like Bryan Colangelo’s burner Twitter account.
– Texas football coach Tom Herman celebrated National Signing Day by flipping double birds at the Longhorn Network cameras.
– USC did not have a good Signing Day and college football fans let them have it.
– Kevin Garnett thinks the Celtics ‘broke’ LeBron James back in 2010.
– PGA Tour golfer Max Homa had a lot of fun roasting the golf swings of a lot of his Twitter followers.
(Follow me on Twitter at @anezbitt. It might change your life. Just don’t tell me about your fantasy team.)