MESA, Ariz. - Several of the A’s have very specific things they’d like to do in Japan in the next week. Reliever Ryan Dull is hoping to meet up with former Double-A Midland teammate Hiro Nakajima. Reliever Liam Hendriks wants to check out the anime scene.
And Beau Taylor might have the best reason of all to look forward to the trip: The catcher’s longtime girlfriend, Tiarsa McDowell, lives in Japan, where she’s taught English for the past two years.
“She’s so excited,” Taylor said. “We would never have thought two or three years ago that I’d be coming to Japan and she’d be able to see me play at the Tokyo Dome.