August 15, 1991
Yankee captain Don Mattingly was pulled out of the lineup for his team’s game against Kansas City on August 15th. Though he had some nagging injuries, none of them were the reason he missed the game. Mattingly was out due to the length of his hair.
Since George Steinbrenner became principal owner of the Yankees more than a decade earlier, he had closely policed the Yankee dress code, including hair length and facial hair restrictions. Several players had challenged the boss in the past, but had ultimately cut the offending hair (most notably Thurman Munson’s beard debacle in 1977 who finally shaved his beard when Steinbrenner used it as an excuse to crticize manager Billy Martin).
Mattingly was removed from the lineup by manager Stump Merrill, fined $250, and told that he would not play until he cut his hair, and be fined $100 more for each day he didn’t. Though Merrill was the messenger, his body language when talking to the media indicated that he was embarrassed by the whole ordeal.
Mattingly’s thoughts on the situation: “I am overwhelmed by the pettiness of it”.
The standoff would ultimately end a few days later when Mattingly finally cut his hair. The Yankees hair policy continues to be enforced to this day.
Years later, when Mattingly was playing softball for the Springfield nuclear power plant, he had a similar run in with team owner C. Montgomery Burns, this time over the length of his sideburns.
