Mike Ford brings the power of the stache
*Note: Yes, the Yankees did go back to their losing ways last night. I'm not saying that the power of the stache is perfect, but this was mainly in relation to them snapping their losing streak on Tuesday.
The Yankees snapped their five-game losing streak on Tuesday night, defeating the Braves 3-1. It wasn’t the prettiest game to watch, but a win is a win. But was there some mystical force that spurred on that win? Enter Mike Ford.
Ford was called up before the game, finally giving them an actual first baseman to play first base (shocking concept, I know). But Ford didn’t just bring himself — he also brought his stache.
Now I know what you may be thinking: Ford’s mustache did not win the game for the Yankees. Maybe not directly, but there’s a chance it played a part. For one, Ford did have a big RBI walk to give the Yankees an insurance run. The team is notorious for their strict facial hair policy, in which players cannot sport facial hair below the lip. Yet many players over the years have taken the liberty to grow mustaches, specifically when they’re in a slump.
Take Jason Giambi, for instance. In 2008, he started growing a mustache around May 17. The Yankees were 20-22 at the time, fourth place in the AL East and 4.5 games out of first. He ended up shaving it on August 3. In the stretch with the stache, the team went 41-28, which equates to a 96-win pace over a full season. Giambi himself was hitting .181 before the stache and .249 after, getting up to .271 in the first month with the facial hair. Additionally, during that initial stretch, his OBP went from .345 to .403, his slugging percentage rose from .468 to .575, and his OPS jumped from .813 to .973. He would cool off a bit, but the stache is a powerful entity.
In 2015, Brett Gardner started growing a mustache in April. He started a trend as some of his teammates hopped on the whisker bandwagon. The team went 13-4 after that. I would also be remiss to not include guys like Don Mattingly and David Wells.
All I’m saying is the Mike Ford’s mustache could be a rallying cry for this team after their very slow start. I’d like to think that instead of doing Gardner’s patented bat bang whenever they get a hit, they will now hold up a finger mustache. But I’ll settle for a much-needed win. #StacheSZN