Tampa Bay Rays Pitcher Tyler Glasnow Used To Look At Pictures of Martin Shkreli To Get Fired Up Before Starts

Everybody has their own routines to get their head right before going about their business.

Ray Lewis used to throw a temper tantrum and do some light gardening to get in the mood to make 10 tackles and 12 inspirational speeches every Sunday for 17 years.

Nomar Garciaparra made it his duty to make sure the OCD community felt seen three, four, sometimes even five times a night.

Tampa Bay Rays pitcher and Cillian Murphy stand-in, Tyler Glasnow used to get fired up before starts by looking at pictures of convicted felon, 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

In case you have no idea who Martin Shreki is.

Apart from the hilarious mental image of a borderline male model grinding his teeth looking at pictures of Martin Shkreli in the clubhouse, this actually makes a lot of sense.

This year has shined a spotlight on the issues facing mankind and society.  I believe it all starts with the distribution of wealth. Hell, it's why I'm not a Red Sox fan anymore. The Rays just made the World Series while boasting about paying their players entry-level wages with benefits that don't set in until 90 days.

So at first glance, to me, it sorta made sense that one of the best players on perhaps the most famous penny-pinching team in all of sports holds a liiittle animosity towards phama bros with extremely punchable faces, who exploit people for their own benefit while raking in monster profits. 

Then I did a little bit of research and it turns out, like most pretty white boys, Mr. Glasnow is a huuuuge fan of the Wu-Tang Clan and rap in general. Dude has a tattoo of ODB on the bottom of his foot (odd placement, but do you).

For comparision.

Which naturally poses the question: Did Tyler Glasnow get fired up looking at pictures of Martin Shreki because he doesn't like how he jacked up the cost of prescriptions and was sentenced to seven years behind bars in an unrelated incident?

OR

Does Glasnow love Wu-Tang Clan so much that just looking at the picture of a man who bought the only copy of Once Upon a Time in Shaolin and threatened to snap it in half adds another MPH or two to his fastball?

Unfortunately, it looks like Glasnow has moved on from using Shkreli as a motivator. 

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

With the increase of "untraditional" journalism and player interactions, I'm sure that someone will get down to the bottom of Glasnow's distain for Martin Shkreli in a podcast or postgame interview. For now, take solace in knowing that professional athletes with good start good looks aren't that much different from you, me and all other third estate plebs who hate those whomst profit off the pain and misery of others!