Minnesota Twins players embrace crocheting, delighting fans and boosting craft buzz

A photo of Minnesota Twins players crocheting between baseball duties landed like a curveball on social media. The official Twins account drew more than 6,000 likes and 300 reposts, and the reaction turned a quiet craft into the latest clubhouse conversation piece.

The appeal is not hard to see. Crochet has been surging online again, especially among young adults on TikTok, and a digital-history exhibit at Kennesaw State University points to a bigger boom in recent years as handmade goods have regained cultural cachet. In a sport built on repetition, travel and pressure, the rhythm of yarn and hook fits neatly. An American Counseling Association resource says repetitive yarncraft can help relieve depression and anxiety through calming motion and social connection, which helps explain why pro athletes might reach for it during a long season.

The Twins’ post also arrived with an extra layer of baseball wordplay. Earlier in April, Minnesota scored 11 runs against Boston Red Sox ace Garrett Crochet in a 13-6 win at Target Field, chasing him in the second inning after he allowed 11 runs, 10 earned, in 1 2/3 innings. FOX Sports reported that the Twins trolled Crochet on X after the game, and the coincidence of the pitcher’s last name only made the team’s craft post feel more perfectly timed.

That crossover is not new, but it keeps finding fresh audiences. ESPN previously chronicled Olympic diver Tom Daley stitching and crocheting at the Tokyo Games, where he said, "The one thing that has kept me sane throughout this whole process is my love for knitting and crochet." Daley’s knitting Instagram page later reached one million followers, and he used the attention to raise money for The Brain Tumour Charity. MLB.com also profiled Boston fan Anna Gailbreath crocheting a red-and-white sweater during Garrett Crochet starts, a reminder that the joke has already traveled through baseball fandom and landed in the stands.

For the Twins, the moment worked because it felt both unexpected and ordinary: players with names like Byron Buxton, Ryan Jeffers, Royce Lewis, Bailey Ober and Joe Ryan sharing space with a craft that prizes patience, texture and repetition. Crochet has long belonged to living rooms, craft circles and quiet spare moments. Seeing it in a Major League Baseball clubhouse suggests the hobby’s image has changed. It is no longer only a niche skill passed hand to hand; it is a mainstream stress-relief practice with enough reach to delight fans, rack up engagement and slip easily into the daily rhythm of pro sports.