(This story originally appeared in the April 2019 edition of Yankees Magazine.)
Guys like Clint Frazier fascinate me. Sure, there’s the simple baseball talent. But I’m always drawn to polarizing figures in sports, trying to figure out what exactly makes them so complicated. So I definitely approached this feature on Clint Frazier with a bias in his direction.
Because here’s the thing with Frazier. Everyone has such an easy time talking about the ways that the’s not living up to some part of the game’s code, the rules passed down from Abner Doubleday to Babe Ruth to Mickey Mantle to Derek Jeter. He needs to carry himself differently. He needs to stop making everything about himself. He needs to just shut up.
And yet, anytime you ask the obviously follow-up question — what has he actually done in defiance of those rules? — you get silence. There’s the simple answer, that he had hair that was too long and flashy, and that he expressed some reticence to cut it. But does anyone really care about that? Does anyone actually think that the wildly outdated grooming policy is a good thing? Frazier cut his hair like he was supposed to. Does it really matter that he wasn’t thrilled about it?
A couple of points about this piece: in the quotes I used and the ways that I framed them, I really had to hold in my frustration with the conversation I had with Nick Swisher. I went to talk to him because I figured he would probably be someone to share my irritation with everyone’s overheated takes on Frazier. Instead, I listened as Swisher went on and on about Frazier needing to rein it all in, that he can’t act the way he does. I tried to get him to explain what he meant, but Swisher just kept giving me the rote nonsense.
Conversely, Clint was interesting and willing to engage with all of my questions, even if it might seem weird to have to explain to a reporter why everyone has an opinion about you, and why it’s not necessarily OK. I’ve had plenty of chats with Frazier over the years, but this was probably the deepest we went together. I enjoyed it, and I really think that by the time the season’s over, he’s going to be playing a big role in the Bronx.
Hope you’ll enjoy.
https://www.mlb.com/yankees/news/healthy-frazier-ready-to-bring-energy-to-yankees?t=yankees-magazine