MDK
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http://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/18266346/new-mlb-rookie-hazing-rules-ban-dressing-women-offensive-costumes
NEW YORK -- That baseball hazing ritual of dressing rookies as Wonder Woman, Hooters Girls and Dallas Cowboys cheerleaders is now banned.
Major League Baseball created an Anti-Hazing and Anti-Bullying Policy that covers the practice. As part of the sport's new labor deal, set to be ratified by both sides Tuesday, the players' association agreed to not contest it.
The policy, obtained by The Associated Press, prohibits teams from "requiring, coercing or encouraging" players to engage in activities that include "dressing up as women or wearing costumes that may be offensive to individuals based on their race, sex, nationality, age, sexual orientation, gender identity or other characteristic."
David Price, then a rookie with the Tampa Bay Rays, left a 2009 game at Yankee Stadium dressed as a woman as part of a rookie hazing ritual. AP Photo/Bill Kostroun
MLB vice president Paul Mifsud said Monday that the new rules resulted 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."
"There's lots of pictures of baseball players dressed up as Disney princesses," he said.
Or even more outlandish things, often for late-season plane trips: Bryce Harper as a member of the U.S. Olympic women's gymnastics team, Mike Trout as Lady Gaga, Manny Machado in a ballet tutu and Carlos Correa as Wonder Woman. Those are all out starting next season.
"Although it hasn't happened, you could sort of see how like someone might even dress up in blackface and say, 'Oh no, we were just dressing up,'" Mifsud said. "We've also understood that a number of players have complained about it."
Exactly when the annual dress-up day began around the majors isn't clear. Players often consider it a form of bonding, and it has become more and more of a production in recent years.
Chase Headley and San Diego Padres newcomers wore the skimpy, shiny orange shorts and tight white tops of Hooters servers for a September 2008 flight from Denver to Washington.
"Times have changed. There is certain conduct that we have to be conscious of," MLB Players Association general counsel Dave Prouty said. "The important thing for us was to recognize there was a policy but to preserve the players' rights to challenge the level of discipline and the imposition of discipline."
The Oakland Athletics rookies wore a variety of female costumes for a bus ride after a 2008 game in Texas. AP Photo/LM Otero, File
Not all outfits are banned; superheroes such as Batman and Spider-Man are OK. Other past costumes that would be allowed include San Francisco ace Madison Bumgarner as a giant ketchup bottle, Miami slugger Giancarlo Stanton on the U.S. Olympic men's water polo team and Los Angeles Dodgers outfielder Yasiel Puig as Gumby.
The issue of locker room bullying erupted a few years ago, when an NFL investigation found that Richie Incognito and two other Miami Dolphins engaged in persistent harassment toward teammate Jonathan Martin.
MLB looked at several college anti-hazing policies while developing these new rules, and they are already being criticized by some current and former players.
"Seriously?!" former Red Sox star Kevin Youkilis wrote on Twitter. "Had to wear a Hooters outfit going through customs in Toronto and wore it proudly [because] I was in the Show."
Dodgers pitcher Ross Stripling tweeted a photo of himself and teammates sporting cheerleading uniforms and said he was "honored to be one of the last players ever to be dressed up as a woman."
Has there ever been a professional team in any sport that has pointed to their hazing of rookies that season as the key event which brought the team together to win a championship????
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MAGA needs to change to MAWA= Make America White Again
Tom Smothers RIP: Easter "is when Jesus comes out of his tomb and if he sees his shadow, he goes back in and we get six more weeks of winter."
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