Thank You Taiwan Fans!

August 21, 2011

The month of August is considered to be Ghost month in Taiwan. There are many rules to follow to ward off bad luck and evil spirits. You are not supposed to open umbrellas indoors, go into the ocean, leave your shoes outside, hang your laundry up to dry at night, and whistle at night. To keep these spirits away many locals will pray outside of their homes and businesses. They set up a table with certain food and other items and a large metal tin to burn “fake money”. This is a part of the traditional and ritual of prayer.  When our team does a wish luck ceremony at the field we have a very similar setup.

My luck with ghost month has not seemed to be on my side on and off the mound. Before my first start in August, my scooter engine blew up on me and I had to buy a completely new engine. Before my second start my scooter was towed from in front of my apartment. Then most of my starts in August always had one bad inning in them. And to top it off I was released by the team.

I was notified by my translator of my release around 1am via text mail. We knew someone was going to be the odd man out, because the team was activating Shane Youman. I came to the field the next day to sign all of my termination papers, get my things from my locker, and say my good byes. I had a great time playing for Lamigo. My teammates were an amazing group to play with. They loved the game and always were laughing and having a good time. I wish Lamigo the best going forward and making it to the playoffs. I will be following their progress online.

Questions from the comments

– I like to use a lot of rosin because it is so HOT and HUMID in Taiwan. My hands get to slippery and I need the rosin to dry up the sweat. The rosin they give us is not the same as in the US. So I have to use more of it.

– Once released from a team over here, you can not join another team in the league for 2 years. You can only join the team you played for prior to the 2 year ban.

– I think I am going to let the hair grow a little more.

– Some unforgettable things are the drumming and chants during the games. Night Markets in Taipei, smell of stinky tofu, fans and all of their signs.

My next step is to head home and give my body some rest. I’m going to talk with my agent about playing winterball in possibly Venezuela, Mexico, or the Dominican Republic. I will keep you all posted where I end up.

Finally, I want to tell all my friends, fans, and supporters from Taiwan thank you so much for all of your support and comments in my blog. During my time in Taiwan you have all being so kind and welcoming. You have made my experience here very enjoyable and I do hope to come back to play or visit your beautiful country. Your excitement and passion for the game of baseball can not be described with words. You all are so dedicated to your teams over here and I had a blast playing in front of crowds like that. I will miss Taiwan and hope to be back playing soon.

Written by Scot Drucker Posted in Uncategorized Tagged with A's, AAA, athletics, atlanta, braves, china, CPBL, detroit, detroit tigers, dominican, drucker, elephants, florida, fu ti ni, giants, indians, Japan, KBL, ken ray, Korea, Korea baseball, lamigo monkeys, licey, mets, miami, milb, mlb, mudhens, Nationals, new york, nike, NPB, Oakland, oakland athletics, playoffs, rangers, red sox, redsox, republic, scot drucker, taipei, taiwan, tigers, toledo, toledo mudhens, twitter, winterball, yankees