Why does Joc Pederson wear a pearl necklace?

(Photo by Daniel Shirey/MLB Photos via Getty Images)

If you've watched any of the MLB playoffs, you might have wondered why Atlanta Braves player Joc Pederson has a pearl necklace hanging off his neck.

After all, it's not something we're used to seeing baseball players -- or any athletes, really -- wear.

But the outfielder has been the talk of the baseball world since he started wearing them Sept. 29th in a game against the Philadelphia Phillies. Washington Post has written about it. So has Forbes. Even GQ has chimed in on Pederson, saying "We're pretty sure this is the first string of pearls in baseball history."

So why does the outfielder, who was traded to the Braves this past summer, wear the unique necklace?

JOC POP!!! Braves' Joc Pederson smashes 3-run homer to put Atlanta up in NLDS Game 3!www.youtube.com

"I've seen black chains and gold chains but I saw the pearls and I liked them," he recently said. "So I reached out to my jeweler." (He also recently gave a pretty not-suitable-for-the-family answer as well.)

Simple enough. But that hasn't kept us from talking about it -- or reporters from asking about them.

A reporter asked him if he takes them off when he sleeps. (He does.)

He's been asked if they're real pearls. (Yep, of course.)

And of course, everyone is asking his teammates about the necklace as well.

Third baseman Austin Riley, who's an MVP candidate, was recently asked about why the outfielder wears the necklace. "Guys had to find out, and you know what, we still don't know," he said, according to USA Today. "I don't know. It's Joc. There's no rhyme or reason. He told us he just woke up one day and said, 'Hey, let's try this pearl necklace.' And that was that.''

Right fielder Joc Pederson reacts after hitting a 2-run home run in the fourth inning during the game against the Los Angeles Dodgers at Truist Park on October 17 in Atlanta. (Photo by Michael Zarrilli/Getty Images)

And Atlanta manager Brian Snitker has even gotten in on the fun.

"You look at the big screen in Atlanta and you got all these, you know, big, rough, tough guys, and they got pearls on," he said. "And all the ladies went in their jewelry boxes and got their pearls out.

"Shoot, I'm fine with it. I'm (just) not going to wear them.''

At the end of the day, Pederson is just amazed people have talked about it so much.

"It wasn't something that was supposed to get this much media attention," he said, according to USA Today. "It's just something that I like. It's getting blown way out of proportion."