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Fox News
28-02-2025
- Sport
- Fox News
Bernie Williams explains 'mixed emotions' for Yankees ditching no-facial hair policy
Bernie Williams, the four-time World Series champion with the New York Yankees, will be down in Tampa, Florida, soon for this year's spring training to see how his old team is shaping up for another season. While he is down there, though, there might be a pretty stark difference in terms of the appearance of those players due to the scraping of a tradition he was used to during his playing days. Yankees general managing partner Hal Steinbrenner made the shocking announcement that the no-facial hair policy, which his father, the late George M. Steinbrenner, put in place in 1976, would be no more. As such, Yankees players, coaches and staff members are allowed to have "well-groomed beards." Newcomers like closer Devin Williams, who has already shaved off his signature beard from his days with the Milwaukee Brewers, are among those who could start letting their facial hair grow out again. For Williams, it will certainly take some getting used to for the Yankees being allowed to do this, which is why he told Fox News Digital that he had "mixed emotions" about this change – one that ends 50 years of a Yankees staple. "I have some mixed emotions because, as a young player, it is kinda hard to keep that clean-cut, shaven [look] day after day," Williams said, laughing, as he also discussed his important Tune In To Lung Health initiative. "As a rebel kid playing professional sports, you get all these accolades and you feel like you're on top of the world and you can do whatever you want. "But I think that particular rule, first of all, it kept us together as a team – something everybody had to do. It didn't matter how much money you were making on the team, from the rookie guy, to the highest-paid player everybody had to have that facial hair out of the way. That was one thing that was a common thing for bonding. "The other side of the coin, it was kind of annoying to get it through day in and day out." For Williams, the rule was something that made the Yankees stand out other than the signature pinstripes. "We needed to have this policy, and people loved it," he explained. "'These guys are so clean cut, and they look so nice. I'd like to be associated with that team because they have this policy, and they want to represent themselves the best way possible.'" However, the love for the policy has clearly changed since he was last in the game in 2006, and he understands how changing times leads to changed mindsets. "I get the fact that people are pushing back, we live in a different time, and I guess it's kinda trendy to have a nice, well-groomed beard or facial hair," he said. However, where Williams draws the line is where Yankees captain Aaron Judge virtually did when discussing the facial hair rule, potentially giving a free agent second thoughts on joining the organization – which has the most professional sports titles of all-time. "I think, in my mind and I don't know how other people take it, facial hair is just a trivial thing," Williams said, smiling. "If you're gonna not want to play for one of the best franchises in sports because you have an issue with facial hair – I mean, some people can't even grow a beard properly. So, I think it's kind of a trivial point, and you have worse issues if you think, 'I'm not going to play for the Yankees because I'm not going to cut my hair.' That would be some other problems you have to deal with." The Yankees are also making some changes to the music played in the Bronx after home losses, showing that the organization is looking to modernize itself a bit. However, Williams knows the tradition and nostalgia that is the Yankees will remain. So, perhaps introducing another jersey, something fans have debated about for years, won't be in the cards just yet. Then again… "I think if you do it tastefully, you kinda not try to beat people upside the head with a tremendous, sudden change. You do it progressively with good taste, I don't see anything wrong with that," Williams said. Williams will have to get a look at the beards first. Follow Fox News Digital's sports coverage on X, and subscribe to the Fox News Sports Huddle newsletter.
Fox News
28-02-2025
- Entertainment
- Fox News
Yankees legend Bernie Williams using his music to help those affected by disease that took his father's life
Bernie Williams knows many people recognize him for wearing pinstripes, hitting from both sides of the plate and winning World Series titles with the New York Yankees. It is where his main legacy lies in the game of baseball. However, throughout the years manning centerfield for the Yankees, Williams' love for music, specifically the guitar, was always prevalent. He recalled to Fox News Digital how, one day in the Yankees clubhouse, rock legend Bruce Springsteen was walking around meeting the players. Usually, the Yankees are the ones being asked for an autograph, but this time, Springsteen was the main attraction as he made his way through the clubhouse. Williams did not want an autograph on a bat or baseball, though. That was too simple. "So, I have this Fender Telecaster in my locker and I said to him, 'Hey, would you please sign this? I'm not going to make you sign a ball or bat. I think this would be really cool,'" Williams said. "So, he signed the guitar saying, 'To Bernie, if you ever get tired of baseball…'" Springsteen, a wizard on stage, may have foreseen the sweet-swinging Williams getting into music in the future. It is his musical career, post-baseball, that is being used to honor his late father's legacy, while helping others along the way. This Friday marks Rare Disease Day, and Williams spoke to Fox News Digital about his work with Tune In To Lung Health, a program created to support patients dealing with interstitial lung disease (ILD), as well as their loved ones. ILD causes irreversible scarring of the lungs that can make it difficult to breathe – so difficult that many patients are left needing to carry oxygen tanks. The disease affects roughly 50,000 Americans each year, and it has no cure. Bernabé Williams Figueroa Sr. died in 2001 due to idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, a type of IDL. "He was the one that taught me how to play baseball," Williams recalled about his father. "He was the one that taught me how to play music with my guitar and all that. All of these things come together full circle with this initiative, where I can really give back to the community, remember his legacy and do great things to my mind as well, being able to feel rewarded as I help other people navigate through these really challenging times." This program explores how music and breathing can help people cope with both the physical and mental aspects of disease, and it has allowed Williams to connect with patients and caregivers through his music. "Music has always been a really important part of my life, and as I've grown older, I can see how powerful music is in all aspects of life," he said. "You can use it for healing. If you're emotional, it can get you through hard times. You can use it for working out. The power of music is just so vast, and for me, it just seems like a no-brainer to introduce it and to try to make it part of this campaign, which utilize the power of music to cope with a lot of these things that you have to deal with when you're going through these interstitial lung diseases like my Dad went through when he was alive." Through the initiative's website, Williams, who has a Latin Grammy nominee under his musical career belt, loves the different ways patients and caregivers can use music and breathing exercises to better their daily lives. "Breathing is a huge part of [singing], using your voice as an instrument," he explained. "The application for people that really value every single breath they take and everything going on in their life is really important, too. So, having that information on hand, you can have these exercises to really improve the quality of your life." Williams said this initiative is "very therapeutic" for him because it allows him to remember those great times with his father through his other passion in life outside of baseball. In fact, Williams will be at the iconic Stone Pony in Asbury Park, New Jersey, with his band on March 27 – MLB Opening Day – to play some tunes and have a fireside chat with fans, which will include this initiative. The signature Jersey Shore venue is the one Springsteen got his start in. It was the start of a pathway to rock greatness, and eventually, to a professional baseball player hungry to share his own music with the world. They would connect again down that pathway. "20 years later, I'm playing on stage with him for one of those Joe Torre Safe at Home Foundation dinners. [Springsteen] was a guest performer, and he brought me on stage, and we had this great acoustic version of 'Glory Days' that we played together, him and his wife. That was a great moment in my young musical career. It's one of the things I remember and will never forget," Williams said. Williams will also never forget the man who taught him how to strum that guitar. "As long as I have a breath, I will try to give people information and try to educate people about what I went through and what my father went through," Williams said. Follow Fox News Digital's sports coverage on X, and subscribe to the Fox News Sports Huddle newsletter.
