News broke this afternoon that Yankees sluggers Robinson Cano and Curtis Granderson would be going on tour! And no, they are not forming a super-group a la the Travelling Wilburys or Monsters of Folk. Instead, they are joining 17 others -- including possibly Miguel Cabrera, the Detroit Tigers slugger -- on a barnstorming tour of Taiwan, the awesome little culturally Chinese, politically something-in-between island off the coast of Fujian, China.
↵I, as a humble fan of both the Chinese culture and history as well as æ£’çƒ (baseball), have a particularly vested interest in these little series. Add on the fact that I'm a huge fan of barnstorming, and it makes it all a little absurd that this is the first I heard of this Taiwan tour!
↵Anyway, the Tampa Bay Rays may not have any players on the roster (a roster that features a good deal of "feh" players -- Jeff Mathis, Jeremy Guthrie, and Michael Morse to name a few), but they do have hitting coach Derek Shelton joining the team. With nine roster spots still open -- and presumably one more hanging on the balance depending on Cabrera and the Tiger's World Series status -- the Rays still do have a chance to get some players on the roster.
↵The Marlins will be sending Emilio Bonifacio (okay, alright) and Logan Morrison (OOH! FUN!), so at least the state will have some representation.
↵The tour starts on Taiwan's northern edge in New Taipei City November 1st, works it's way south, and then concludes in Kaohsiung on the island's southern coast, November 6th.