Rookie dress-up day is a longstanding tradition in baseball. But back in December 2016, MLB enacted a new rule to target hazing: players, rookie or otherwise, would no longer be forced to dress up like women for rookie dress-up day. It was part of the anti-bullying and anti-hazing policy that was in the most recent collective bargaining agreement.
Players definitely had issues with the ban when it was announced. So did fans. But it was announced nine months before the next rookie dress-up day would occur. Why don’t we take a look at some of the recent rookie dress-up day themes from around baseball and see how teams are doing with this new restriction?