Major League Baseball’s new collective bargaining agreement made more strides toward preventing hazing in the sport, but not everyone is on board.
The league’s new CBA, struck hours before the Dec. 1 deadline, included a new Anti-Hazing and Anti-Bullying Policy that will outlaw baseball’s hazing tradition of making rookies dress up as women or wear suggestive costumes in public.
The policy, obtained by The Associated Press, prohibits teams from “requiring, coercing or encouraging” players to “(dress) up as women or (wear) costumes that may be offensive to individuals based on their race, sex, nationality, age, sexual orientation, gender identity or other characteristic.”
MLB players making rookies play dress-up is nothing new; Bryce Harper and the Washington Nationals’ rookies posed as members of the U.S. Olympic women’s gymnastics team in 2012, while Mike Trout sported a Lady Gaga outfit in the same year.
Kevin Youkilis recalled a similar experience during his rookie year with the Boston Red Sox in 2004, and apparently he doesn’t agree with MLB taking away the “tradition.”
The mild hazing was considered a rite of passage for many big leaguers, but as MLB points out, times have changed. In explaining the new rule, MLB Vice President Paul Mifsud said Monday it came about “in light of social media, which in our view sort of unfortunately publicized a lot of the dressing up of the players … those kind of things which in our view were insensitive and potentially offensive to a number of groups.”
Youkilis and others probably have fond memories of what they thought was a harmless ritual, but their costumes obviously can be considered offensive, which is why the league is taking another step in the right direction on the issue.
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Thumbnail photo via Kim Klement/USA TODAY Sports Images
