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,

George Steinbrenner instituted the policy in 1976, three years after he bought the team, when the fashion of the era saw long hair and unkempt beards became commonplace. Steinbrenner, a former member of the U.S. Air Force, did not agree with the style of the times.