I have officially been in Mexico for a week, in ciudad de Obregon a farming community that is more than passionate about it's local baseball team. In just nine short days I have already learned a great deal about this town and their culture. One of the reasons I was so excited about the opportunity to come play winter ball in Mexico was the chance to experience new life situations that just do not come up in the U.S.
The most difficult challenge thus far has been the language barrier. This past week has defintely given me a greater respect for my Latin
teammates. I understand some Spanish and speak even less, so some of the simplest tasks - like looking for a particular supply in Wal-Mart - becomes a challenge, but I do believe I am improving.
The Yakis, the organization I am with in Mexico is one of the nicer places in the league. Our stadium seats around 13,000 people and the games here are most defintely a party. Opening night we had an hour-long Michael Jackson impersonation that was really good, followed by an enormous fireworks display. There was an impromptu band in right field where an entire section played songs and danced the entire game. No exaggeration either, they danced for three straight hours; it was impressive.
Right now, I am on an eight-hour bus trip to Mazatlan where we will take on another team in a three-game set. We won our first two games against Navahoa and I am pretty excited about our team chemistry. We should do well.
Well, there's my first update from south of the border and I look forward to any questions you might have.
If you have a question for Michael Taylor, you can send it in an email to: MTaylor@PhillyBaseballNews.com and he may answer it in a future blog entry.