Major League Baseball players will need to get a little more creative with their rookie hazing ideas going forward.
Under a new Anti-Hazing and Anti-Bullying Policy, MLB now prohibits “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.”
The new rules, first revealed by The Associated Press, are expected to be ratified by the MLB Players Association on Tuesday.
The annual ritual of forcing newcomers to wear embarrassing costumes as an initiation of sorts has long been popular inside MLB clubhouses, considered a method to build camaraderie.