Yankees Agree to Not Split Hairs in Lengthy Tiff With Mattingly

Don Mattingly did not get his hair cut Friday.

A day after he was benched and fined $250 because his hair hung at the back of his collar, Mattingly and the New York Yankees’ management agreed--at least publicly--that the length of his hair was unimportant.

Mattingly was back in the starting lineup against the Chicago White Sox. He was cheered in his first at-bat, then struck out against Wilson Alvarez.

Mattingly said he would probably get a haircut soon, and softened his stance on being traded.

“I think it’s all pretty silly,” Mattingly said. “I talked to my dad last night and he asked me what was going on and I said, ‘I don’t know.’

“I was pretty much embarrassed by the whole thing. I’ve never been the kind of player who has been a problem,” he said.

The Yankees said Mattingly would not be fined--and that pitchers Pascual Perez and Steve Farr and catcher Matt Nokes, all of whom were told their hair was getting too long, would not be forced to get haircuts, either.

None of them got haircuts Friday.

George Steinbrenner, principal owner of the Yankees who was banned from the day-to-day operation of the team, said the matter of Mattingly’s hair had come up before.

“It was never a problem,” Steinbrenner said. “I mentioned it to his agent, and it was always taken care of right away.

“I will not second-guess my people or be critical of them. Besides, I don’t know all of the facts. But anybody who doesn’t think Don Mattingly doesn’t need to be the leader of this team is crazy. Trade Mattingly? You can’t even think of it.”

Two months ago, Mattingly told the Yankees he wanted to be traded. He repeated that Thursday, but on Friday said that he would wait until the end of the season before deciding.