DETROIT — In a season of ups, downs, and eyebrow-raising superstitions, the Detroit Tigers may have just found their secret weapon. No, it’s not a blistering fastball or a hot bat. It’s… a mustache.
And not just any mustache. Riley Greene’s mustache.
What began as a lighthearted pregame moment quickly spiraled into one of the most talked-about superstitions in Major League Baseball this week, after Yankees infielder Gleyber Torres was caught on camera giving Greene’s upper lip a couple of respectful pats. The reason? A spontaneous burst of good luck — and some unfiltered clubhouse belief.
“We’ve all touched it,” Tigers manager A.J. Hinch told reporters, half-laughing, half-serious after Detroit’s 7-3 victory over the Rays. “I’m not sure how that’s going to go over with quotes around it… but in the handshake line, Riley said, ‘We’re 3-0 with it.’ So there’s a little bit of belief in there. Don’t let him fool you.”
Belief. In baseball, it comes in all forms. Rally caps. Lucky gum. Walk-up songs that never change. But mustache magic?
That’s a new one.
It all started three games ago in the Tigers clubhouse. Greene, 23, had been quietly growing the mustache for weeks. A silent protest against a minor slump? Maybe. A new fashion direction? Possibly. But no one paid it much attention until Torres, visiting from the Yankees and sharing friendly postgame banter with Greene, gave it a gentle stroke and quipped, “You better win with that thing.”
And win they did.
The Tigers have since gone on a 3-0 run, scoring 23 runs and delivering one of their most energetic stretches of baseball this summer. Coincidence? Don’t tell the players that.
“Look, baseball is weird,” Greene said with a grin, twirling the edges of his now-iconic facial hair. “We do whatever works. If the mustache stays hot, so do we.”
Torres, who has a playful reputation in the league, didn’t stop there. Before the second game of the series, he made his way over to the Tigers’ dugout again and pantomimed the same gesture. Cameras caught several Detroit players doing the same before the first pitch. What followed was a seven-run offensive explosion in the third inning.
“It’s like the baseball gods are watching and saying, ‘Alright, let’s see how far they take this,’” said Tigers reliever Alex Lange.
The inside joke has now become team folklore.
There’s a small printout taped on Greene’s locker now: “3-0: Don’t shave.” And teammates have taken to giving mock ceremonial touches to his mustache before heading out to the field.
Some players have even credited the streak to the chemistry and looseness the mustache moment brought to a team that had, up to this point, struggled to find its identity.
“Sometimes all it takes is one weird spark,” said veteran Miguel Cabrera, now a Tigers special advisor but often present in the clubhouse. “Guys are having fun. That’s dangerous for the other side.”
The fans are in on it now too. A group of young supporters behind home plate at Comerica Park were seen waving oversized cardboard cutouts of Greene’s mustache during the final game of the Rays series.
Social media? Exploded.
#MustacheMagic began trending on Twitter within hours of the Tigers’ third straight win. Memes, GIFs, and even fan-submitted photos of their own mustaches flooded the replies on Detroit’s official team account.
Even opposing teams are taking notice.
“If we lose to a mustache, that’s going to be tough to explain,” Rays manager Kevin Cash said with a smirk.
Of course, baseball is a game of streaks. Superstitions come and go. But for now, the Tigers aren’t messing with the magic. Greene has vowed not to shave until the streak ends — and maybe not even then.
“I might ride this all the way to October,” he joked.
And what about Torres?
“Hey, if it works for them, maybe I need one too,” he said, rubbing his own clean-shaven face. “I’ll take 10 percent credit for the streak. That’s fair, right?”
Whatever happens next, the Tigers have found something to rally around. It may be absurd. It may be unscientific. But it’s fun. And in a long season, sometimes that’s all a team needs to turn a corner.
So the next time you see a Detroit player reach out toward Riley Greene before first pitch, you’ll know what’s happening.
He’s not adjusting his uniform.
He’s tapping into the mustache magic.
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