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Tyler Glasnow is 6-foot-8 and is easily one of the most feared pitchers in Major League Baseball. His size and ability to throw a baseball over 100 mph are enough to intimidate hitters.
According to ESPN’s Jeff Passan, Tyler Glasnow used to have an interesting method prior to each game in order to get angry enough to give him that extra bit of anger he needed on the mound; he’d look at pictures of Martin Shkreli.
I’ve been saving this anecdote for a story, but screw it. Too good to squirrel away.
Someone suggested Rays pitcher Tyler Glasnow try to get angry before starts. To do this, he would look at pictures of one person. He pulled out his phone and showed me.
It was Martin Shkreli. pic.twitter.com/TJHpgp1iTE
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) December 21, 2020
Passan later added that Glasnow has since moved on from looking at pictures of Martin Shkreli, but it’s still an unbelievable story.
Update: Tyler Glasnow has moved on to other methods of pre-game motivation, as athletes often do, making sure to shake up their routines when they hit a funk.
But he still thinks Martin Shkreli is a turd.
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) December 21, 2020
One could imagine that not too many people disagree with Glasnow on this one. Shkreli, also known online as “Pharma Bro”, is an American former hedge fund manager and convicted felon responsible for jacking up the price on the drug Daraprim from $13.50 to $750 per pill.
If that doesn’t give you enough reason to dislike the guy, let me add that he also has one of the most punchable faces in America. Shkreli is notably one of the most disliked men on the planet and is expected to be released from federal prison in 2024.
This tweet from Passan is truly incredible. First off, good for Glasnow using any advantage he can get, even if it comes at the hands of the despised “Pharma Bro” himself. The timing of this story could not be better as the Internet was set ablaze recently by a viral interview in which a former reporter for Bloomberg News described how she upended her “perfect little Brooklyn life” by falling in love with Shkreli.