Among the things you would have learned about Travis Snider if you followed him on Twitter is that the Toronto Blue Jays outfielder really, really loves food, especially meat.

Appropriately, the 22-year-old chose the handle Lunchboxhero45 when he relented on his long-standing refusal to join the social networking site and opened an account a week and a half ago, embracing the opportunity to engage fans in a new and different way.

"If you read my tweets the last couple of days we've gotten a pretty good dialogue going about some of our favourite meals, even had a few recipes going out there," Snider said in an interview Thursday. "I'm excited to continue those conversations and see if I can't pick up a couple of new recipes for some delicious off-season cooking."

For Blue Jays fans, Snider's willingness to mix with the masses offers a rare chance for them to interact with one of the team's players on a personal level.

Reliever Dirk Hayhurst, who missed the entire season after undergoing shoulder surgery, is the only other member of the big-league club on Twitter (he's the very entertaining TheGarfoose), while 2009 third-round draft pick Jake Marisnick (JakeMarisnick) also posts fairly regularly.

According to the website tweeting-athletes.com, the Minnesota Twins have the most players on Twitter with eight, followed by the Tampa Bay Rays at seven and Florida Marlins' six. Stars that can be followed include CC Sabathia (CC--Sabathia), Carl Crawford (CarlCrawford--) and David Price (DAVIDprice14), although baseball players as a whole are nowhere near engaged as their NBA counterparts.

The Blue Jays have no formal policy to guide their players on Twitter although they do offer a reminder on representing the team well, and there should be no issues on that front with Snider. Dubbed "The Franchise" as he was quickly working his way through the organization, Snider is a solid citizen who isn't apt to rock the boat.

"For me the biggest thing is opening communication with the fans, for them to get a chance to see another side of my personality," he said. "During the season through interviews we do with the media, everything revolves around baseball. (Through Twitter) I can keep an open forum with them and keep them informed kind of on what goes on in our off-season."

Snider was convinced to take the plunge during a recent dinner with Chicago White Sox infielder Brent Lillibridge (BSLillibridge) and Seattle Mariners infielder Matt Tuiasosopo (allforHIM27), his training partners during the off-season in the Everett, Wash., area.

Information from some of Snider's more memorable tweets so far include revelations that he once downed a 48-ounce steak, that he feels turkey bacon is both delicious and nutritious but is not really bacon, and that he loves "street meat!"

"I enjoy barbecueing, that's a favourite pastime of mine when I'm at home with my family," Sinder said. "I've done some other types of cooking in the past because my mom used to be a really good cook, but when it's just me and my dad we don't get too crazy with the meals. If I get a couple of good recipes off the Twitter, I might have to throw those in the oven and see how they turn out."

Snider has also embraced perhaps his most unusual quote, taken from a nachos taste test he performed for a Toronto community magazine in 2009. One of the plates sent his way featured both beef and chicken and he responded to a question about it by saying, "Meats don't clash."

While one enterprising blogger, The Blue Jay Hunter, began selling shirts featuring the quote and Snider caught some ribbing from his buddies back home, he's used the phrase a couple of times on his Twitter feed.

"I'm a big meat-lover, obviously," Sinder said. "Meat-lover's pizza, meat-lover's omelettes, those kinds of things, I do honestly believe that meats don't clash and when I saw that article ... and I got to show some of my buddies back home, they were like, 'You're ridiculous, what are people asking you about nachos for?'

"I said, 'I don't know man. You gave me the name Lunchbox and they've ran with it, we'll just see where it goes."'

The off-season, however, isn't all fun and games for Snider, who batted. 255 with 14 homers and 32 RBIs in 82 games in 2010.

He's nearly finished rehabbing a hamstring injury he finished the season with and is working to strengthen the right wrist he sprained causing him to miss more than two months with some preventative exercises. Snider also plans to keep "leaning out a little bit."

"As you saw last year, I was down into the high 220s (pounds), low 230s, and have progressively gone down the last few years," he said. "I'm looking to get down into the 220s and be a bit leaner and quicker to improve on different aspects of the game, defensively, base-running."

Organizing four hitting camps for local children is also on his plate, and he plans on getting to spring training a couple of weeks before the mandatory reporting date to work on his outfield defence. New manager John Farrell recently phoned him and the two had "a great conversation."

"It was exciting for me to be able to talk to somebody who has planned games pitching against us, who knows us as hitters in our strengths and weaknesses and some of the things he saw," said Snider. "That was one of the first questions I asked him, as someone who's coached against me, what are the glaring issues you see, what are the things you want me to improve upon?

"He was very straightforward about that, working toward becoming a complete hitter, which I've shown at times but not consistently, and being able to use the whole field, trusting that approach up there."