It’s one thing to say you believe in something; it’s another to put that saying on a shirt and wear it for all the world to see.

On February 21, every member of the Minnesota Twins organization – from major league stars Byron Buxton and Carlos Correa, to minor league players on the backfields – at Lee County Sports Complex, the club’s spring training facility, wore t-shirts that said “Powered by Mental Health” on the front and featured phrases from the Twins’ major and minor league players, who were asked to submit words of encouragement that they say to themselves when they’re struggling or what they’d say to someone else who is struggling with their mental health. These phrases centered around a green ribbon for mental health awareness and the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline number to call in case of a mental health emergency.

The shirts were a collaboration between the Twins’ baseball operations department and their sport psychology department including Dr. Jaimie Rubin, Dr. Justin Anderson, and Carlos Coto with Premier Sport Psychology (PSP), an Edina, Minnesota-based sport and performance psychology group hired by the Twins to provide mental health and performance counseling and programming. PSP was originally brought into the fold to work with the club’s major and minor league players and staff; the partnership has been so successful within baseball operations that the Twins began engaging PSP to activate with the club’s business operations staff, too.

“That day at spring training was a culmination of years of work, of getting players and staff comfortable with talking about mental health and the value it has in both their lives and their performance” Dr. Rubin, Assistant Director of Sport Psychology Services for the Twins, said. “It’s been amazing to be a part of the intentional efforts the Twins organization have made to break the stigma and shift culture on mental health in sport, which makes us even more excited for the opportunity to expand that work and support to the rest of the Twins organization.”

That moment in spring was yet another instance of the Twins’ commitment to mental health as a crucial part of one’s overall wellbeing.

“We all have mental health,” Dr. Rubin said. “Recognizing it as part of who we are as people and that we need to care for it in the same way we care for our bodies is such an important part of being human.”

Look Inside

Wellness initiatives have long been part of the Twins’ corporate and community cultures, to encourage staff and fans to care for their mental and physical health. In the past, the emphasis was largely on physical wellbeing, with a little mental health sprinkled in. The events of the last few years – namely the pandemic and social unrest in the Twin Cities area – have taken a strong toll on global mental health, something that the Twins see and realize needs to be proactively addressed.

“We want everyone – from part-time staff to our senior leadership – to realize it’s ok to not be ok, mentally or physically,” said Cecilia Lettner, the Twins’ director, inclusion and people development. “So many people are comfortable talking about being physically sick or having an injury, yet feel guilt or shame mentioning their mental health, especially if they need to miss work due to it.”

In March, the Twins made the app Unmind available to all gameday, part-time and full-time employees. Unmind is a UK-based company whose app works specifically with companies to promote cultures of overall mental health and wellbeing. Among Unmind’s benefits is a plus-one sponsorship, allowing staff to share the app’s benefits and services with a member of their inner circle. MLB originally began offering Unmind and its services to minor league players and staff – the Twins saw enough value in the app to enroll the entire organization.

Also in early March, the Twins, in partnership with PSP, began offering on-site counseling with one of PSP’s licensed professionals. The 50-minute sessions were so popular and filled up so quickly that additional sessions had to be created.

Bringing awareness

May is Mental Health Awareness month, and the Twins have a full slate of activations planned, both internally for employees and externally around the ballpark and the community. The club is donating a total of 1,000 tickets to games throughout the month to various local mental health nonprofits, including Minnesota Mental Health Clinics and Prairie Care Fund.. Additionally, the Twins will host an Unmind webinar for staff called “Face Your Fears: Learning to Break the Anxiety Cycle” and a session with PSP called “Water Cooler Talk: Breaking the Stigma and Building Your Mental Health Resources”.

On May 10, a 6:40 p.m. game against the San Diego Padres at Target Field, the Twins hosted “Powered by Mental Health Night,” in which players and front office staff wore a version of that same t-shirt from spring training. The game also featured in-game activations and messages from current players about the importance of taking care of one’s own mental health.

“We see this as an area in which the Twins have an opportunity to make an impact because the stigmas surrounding mental health are so deeply set in our society,” Twins Vice President, Community Engagement Nancy O’Brien said. “We can help normalize it, in part, through seeing our players and staff talking about the importance of taking care of your mental health. We want people to know that they aren’t alone, and that help is available for those who need it.”

O’Brien, Lettner and Dr. Rubin all emphasized that while May might be Mental Health Awareness Month, it’s too important to be left to just one month.

“What we’re truly trying to emphasize is that it’s much bigger than that,” O’Brien said. “Prioritizing mental health is something we need to do every day.”