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Kyle Higashioka, a 2008 seventh-round draft pick by the New York Yankees out of Edison High School in Huntington Beach, Calif., is in his fourth season with the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders. Higashioka homered in Friday’s 6-5 season-opening win against the Syracuse Chiefs.

Here are four things you didn’t know about the RailRiders catcher:

1. I play the electric guitar. My first year in pro ball, I was in extended spring training and I had a lot of free time. I love music and it’s always something I wanted to do. That was almost 10 years ago. It’s been a hobby of mine.

2. I’m a big Liverpool FC fan, in the English Premier League. Back in high school, when I first started supporting them, it was extremely difficult to watch the games because they weren’t on. NBC Sports didn’t have the contract where you could watch all the games. It was tough to watch, but over the years its become more commonplace, so it’s really cool. I used to get up at like 4:30 a.m. to watch the games on the West Coast.

3. In addition to rock and roll, I also like Irish folk music. Through soccer, some of the chants, some of the Liverpool chants are based originally off Irish folk songs. I was like, “Man, I kind of like these.” For some reason, whatever reason, they’re just catchy to me.

4. My favorite food is Spam musubi. It’s like a Spam sushi roll — like Spam with rice wrapped in seaweed. It’s a Hawaiian/Japanese thing, but it’s definitely one of my favorite foods.

Higashioka
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By DJ Eberle

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Reach DJ Eberle at 570-991-6398 or on Twitter @ByDJEberle