New MLB hazing rules ban dressing as 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."
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."
MORE: http://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/18266346/new-mlb-rookie-hazing-rules-ban-dressing-women-offensive-costumes
About time ...