COBB COUNTY, Ga. \u2014 A new tradition has hit the Braves clubhouse for the month of May. <\/p>\n
Channel 2\u2019s Luke Hetrick shares how new outfielder Mike Yastrzemski is actually bringing attention to an important cause in a fashionable way. <\/p>\n
Three things stand out about Mike Yastrzemski: the name, the game, and lately, the \u2018stache.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t take it too seriously. I think I look silly with it,” he said.<\/p>\n
Now it does need to be said, it doesn\u2019t matter how quickly or if at all you can grow in a mustache. This is not so much about style but support.<\/p>\n
Mustache May brings attention to mental health awareness.<\/p>\n
If you ask Yastrzemski, the message is very simple: \u201cCare for your homies. I think that as human beings, we think we have to carry our own problems ourselves, but there\u2019s a whole world out there, so somebody will help you.\u201d<\/p>\n
Yastrzemski created Mustache May when he was struggling in the minor leagues.<\/p>\n
He took a fun idea and then gave it a bigger purpose. <\/p>\n
\u201cI found a pathway to mental health with veterans and felt really successful to me. And I\u2019ve had so many great opportunities to have conversations. You know, part of it is being vulnerable is OK,\u201d Yastrzemski said.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s something he knows all too well. <\/p>\n
\u201cI actually thought about retiring, you know, before I ever got called up. And, you know, I was talking to my wife about it, and she kind of laid the law down where she\u2019s like, Hey, I didn\u2019t work four jobs grinding my butt off to make sure we can survive just for you to quit,\u201d Yastrzemski said.<\/p>\n
\u201cBeing able to just have someone there to tell you it\u2019s OK to not stop trying, to not give up, and now we\u2019re here and I\u2019m very grateful for her for that,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
It doesn\u2019t take a mustache to remind us we\u2019re not alone. <\/p>\n
\u201cWhen you have somebody to talk to, whether it be a friend, a family member, anybody who\u2019s willing to just listen, then things feel a lot lighter,\u201d Yastrzemski said.<\/p>\n
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