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Former Simpsons guest star and baseball icon Don Mattingly will be feeling vindicated after his former team changed an infamous facial hair policy.
Mattingly appeared in the 1992 Simpsons episode “Homer at the Bat”, which saw him berated by Mr Burns who consistently told him to “get rid of those sideburns”.
Burns never clarified exactly what he meant by sideburns leading to Mattingly completely shaving both sides of his head, resulting in a bizarre haircut. The scene briefly went viral again in 2024 after Taylor Swift’s boyfriend, Travis Kelce, sported a similar hairstyle.
The joke was a reference to a policy enforced by former New York Yankees owner George Steinbrenner, who required his team’s players to maintain a well-kept appearance and no facial hair.
The Yankees are now run by Steinbrenner’s son, Hal, inheriting control of the team after his father died in 2010. On Friday (21 February), the team announced that the policy was being redacted, with Steinbrenner admitting that the rule was “outdated and somewhat unreasonable”.
“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, and I appreciate their earnest and varied feedback,” Steinbrenner said in a statement.
“These most recent conversations are an extension of ongoing internal dialogue that dates back several years.
“Ultimately the final decision rests with me, and after great consideration, we will be amending our expectations to allow our players and uniformed personnel to have well-groomed beards moving forward,” he added “It is the appropriate time to move beyond the familiar comfort of our former policy.”
On X/Twitter, fans reacted with references to the Simpsons episode.
One person asked: “How does this policy affect sideburns?”
A second fan added: “DON MATTINGLY… vindicated!”
A third, quoting Mr Burns, joked: “Mattingly! I thought I told you to GROW those sideburns! You’re off the team! For Good!”
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Mattingly played for the Yankees between 1982 and 1995 and had to adhere to the rule, which was first introduced in 1976, throughout his entire playing career.
In 1991, Mattingly did clash with Yankees coach Stump Merrill, who told him to cut his mullet hairdo otherwise he wouldn’t play. The first baseman refused to change his hair and was subsequently dropped.”
During his Simpsons cameo, Mattingly joked that despite being cut from Mr Burns’s team he still preferred him to Steinbrenner.
“Homer at the Bat” is still regarded as one of the best Simpsons episodes and featured many famous baseball players from the period including Darryl Strawberry, Jose Canseco, Ken Griffey Jr and Steve Sax.
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