We have followed Justin Verlander's pre-game date diet life rather closely here at D4L. When Verlander broke the news on Conan in 2012 that he would eat Taco Bell the night before every start, all the major tabloids picked up the story and it became quite the phenomenon. It added a whole new element to scrutinizing his every start — He gave up how many runs? Well, did he eat Taco Bell last night? It's all the cheesy nachos fault. … One-hitter? Yay Taco Bell!
2012 was largely a success. He probably should've won a second-straight Cy Young (he finished second in the voting) and thus, nobody could complain. Taco Bell was treating JV right — the gas was still there and JV was blowing hitters away with his cheese.
However, the honeymoon and hot sauce started to wear off. We knew that JV was still seeing Taco Bell during Spring Training because we caught them flirting on Twitter, but there were reports of other foods (WE SHOULD'VE SEEN THE CLUES!) and Taco Bell was starting to try new things, too.
When the season started, JV's gas was noticeably lower. He even left a game due to 'injury'! In all, it was a major down year for JV, and Taco Bell received a lot of the complaints. The power couple was officially on the rocks.
And now, according to JV himself (via the Detroit Free Press), the two may have decided to officially take a little break:
“Last year was a year to change any superstitions that I wanted to change,” he said. “I’ll just leave that up to interpretation.”
But Verlander, who is recovering from offseason core-muscle surgery, seems to maintain some fond feelings for the Mexican-style fast-food chain.
“I don’t want to hurt their feelings,” he said when asked to confirm he changed his routine. And when pressed about Taco Bell’s new breakfast menu and its much-heralded Waffle Taco, he said, “I’ll probably try it at some point.”
Who knows? Maybe they'll take some time apart and then, like all relationships that are meant to be, they'll wind up being spotted together at a Flyers hockey game or something.
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