TAMPA. Fla. (AP) — The New York Yankees dropped their ban on beards Friday, 49 years after it was imposed by owner George Steinbrenner, in a move aimed to improve player recruitment as the team tries to win its first World Series title since 2009.

For decades, the New York Yankees enforced a grooming policy so strict it could make a military dress code look lenient. The post How a Single Player’s Defiance Helped End Unreasonable Yankees Tradition Set Up by George Steinbrenner appeared first on EssentiallySports.

The New York Yankees shocked the baseball world Friday when they announced their no facial hair policy — which stood since 1976 — was being revoked. More news: Former Yankees, Cubs All-Star Free Agent Acknowledges His Career Could Be Over "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,