On Friday Major League Baseball and the Major League Baseball Players Association announced the roster of MLB All-Stars heading to Taiwan this November for the Taiwan All-Star series, with a couple of familiar faces in the mix for Bay Area baseball fans.
That's right, skipper Bruce Bochy will lead the team of MLB All-Stars for the five game All-Star series that takes place from November 1st-6th, including none other than everyone's favorite baseball playing ursine Pablo Sandoval. They will join the likes of Curtis Granderson, Miguel Cabrera, Robinson Cano and many more as they showcase MLB's product against the talented Chinese Taipai national team.
Bochy will also be assisted by Giants bench coach Ron Wotus and bullpen catcher Billy Hayes on this trip, as well as Los Angeles Dodgers pitching coach Rick Honeycutt and Tampa Bay Rays hitting coach Derek Shelton. The five games will be played in three different cities: New Taipei City (XinZhuang Stadium) on November 1st, Taichung (Intercontinental Stadium) on November 3rd and 4th and Kaohsiung (Chengcing Lake Stadium) on November 5th and 6th. This marks the second time in three years that Major League Baseball has sent players to Taiwan for an exhibition as the Dodgers played two games there in the spring of 2010.
The remainder of the squad will be announced in the upcoming weeks.