It's customary in Taiwan to doff your cap before drinking the blood of a snake.
Last week, Giants outfielder Andres Torres was nominated by the MLB Players Alumni Association for the 2011 “Heart & Hustle” award (you can read about that here).
After a couple of days in Taiwan, Torres may get nominated for Craziest Pendejo Award.
Torres, who’s part of the American contingency that traveled overseas to play in the Taiwan All-Star Tourney this week, hopped off the bus in Taipei City, found himself a night market in a bustling west side neighborhood, and promptly downed three — count ‘em — three shots of snake blood.
Was this a case of Torres wanting to make a point to the Arizona Diamondbacks for stealing the NL West pennant?
Maybe, maybe not. But legend says that the blood of a serpent can give a person more stamina.
And after the disappointing season Torres had at the plate in 2011, it looks like he’s up for anything to regain his stroke.
“I just want to try different things,” Torres said. “I think it’s pretty cool. It’s a different culture, so you embrace it. Why not? Plus it’s supposed to give you energy, and we’re playing tomorrow, so we’ll be ready.”
Sandoval displays the international symbol for what it takes to drink serpent blood in Taiwan. (Photo by Ben Platt/MLB.com)
Torres and fellow Giants teammates Pablo Sandoval and Ramon Ramirez are joined by Curtis Granderson, Robinson Cano, Logan Morrison and other major leaguers who will play five exhibition games (starting today) in three Taiwanese cities. The games will be broadcast on the MLB Network. Click here for dates and times.
Drinking snake blood wasn’t on manager Bruce Bochy’s workout agenda for Monday, but the Giants skipper says he does expect his team to try to win while also serving as ambassadors for the game.
“We plan on having a good time,” Bochy said, “but we plan on playing good baseball, too.”
Sandoval echoed Bochy’s sentiment by saying, “[My plan is to] respect the game and play the game hard.” And if that means a little cold-blooded snake juice, so be it.
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