MLB to Ban Practice of Hazing Rookies by Dressing Them Up as Women

Nevermind. Now I see…get out of my head Google, you know me too well. This is Bryce Harper the gymnast. pic.twitter.com/NOyJXYKAbx
— Luis Guitart (@LuisGuitart) April 1, 2013

The new Major League Baseball collective bargaining agreement will contain language banning teams from hazing rookies by dressing them up as women. The Associated Press, which acquired a copy of the policy, reports that it will prohibit "requiring, coercing or encouraging" players from "dressing up as women or wearing costumes that may be offensive to individuals based on their race, sex, nationality, age, sexual orientation, gender identify or other characteristic."

All the fans who have taken to social media over the years to call out baseball's rather pathetic trend of dressing rookies as princesses, cheerleaders, and Hooters waitresses can rejoice: the league has heard you. According to MLB vice president Paul Mifsud, the change comes partly "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."

Though the practice of rookie hazing may be old, public dress-up photo-ops have gained more prominence in recent years. Who can forget the Washington Nationals dressing Bryce Harper as a member of the U.S. women's gymnastics team during his rookie season?

These rituals are meant to embarrass the youngsters. What's really embarrassing is the fact that the Nats failed to recognize that, unlike themselves, the U.S. women actually win titles.

The players' union has agreed not to contest the policy, which also bans forced use of drugs and alcohol, as well as physical and verbal conduct "designed to demean, disgrace or cause mental or physical harm to a member of his club."

Sounds good. Let's just play some ball, shall we?

[Associated Press]