Did Former Brewers Reliever Devin Williams Just End Yankees Archaic Beard Policy?

The Yankees made the surprise announcement on Friday morning that the facial hair policy has been terminated. Players and uniformed personnel will now be allowed to keep "well groomed beards".

This, ultimately, is a major win for players. Beards do not prevent quality performance on the field and ultimately are a good and popular look. One of the Yankees new acquisitions in Devin Williams has a beard as part of his look and now all of a sudden the policy is done.

In Williams' official team photo as spring training began, he was largely shaven, but still kept a mustache and a little bit of a beard that it seemed he was trying to hold on to. He was not smiling in that team photo. 

Did Devin Williams end the archaic facial hair policy of the Yankees? 

They acquired Williams to be their closer and because he's such an important player, the team should want him to be happy if he's going to play well there or possibly sign there long term. Williams is in his last year of arbitration before reaching free agency next winter.

In his Brewers career, Williams had a 1.83 ERA with 68 career saves. 

If he was unhappy with having to shave his beard that he's had for years, for his entire run of professional success, maybe New York didn't want to chance things falling apart for him this year because of it. Baseball is a very superstitious sport.

Williams kept enough of it for his official pictures and the Yankees did allow those pictures to be taken, perhaps a sign of their softening stance on facial hair.

The policy was archaic and needed to change. 

Whether it was Williams who directly led to the change, or indirectly led to it, the Yankees have changed it just in time for his first season in pinstripes. Hal Steinbrenner said it was conversations with a lot of current and former personnel, but it's not to think that Williams at least prompted those discussions.