Three weeks into the Detroit Tigers' instructional league in Lakeland, Florida, right-handed reliever Drew Carlton got a message from Leones del Escogido, his new offseason team in the Dominican Winter League.
They needed him in the Dominican Republic, where preseason camp was getting ready to begin. By Oct. 26, Carlton was on a plane. He flew from Tampa to Miami, and then to Santo Domingo.
"I wasn't really knowing what to expect," Carlton told the Free Press on Monday. "The way of life down here is completely different."
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The 25-year-old had never been to the country before.