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Hall of Famer visits Taiwan and tells its rising baseball stars to `work out'

George Brett poses yesterday in Taiwan. PHOTO: TAIPEI TIMES, JULES QUARTLY

Baseball in Taiwan is getting better but local players need to beef up if they are to make an impression on the major leagues, Hall of Famer George Brett said yesterday at a press conference.

Speaking at the Chinese Professional Baseball headquarters in Taipei, the baseball legend said that "strength and conditioning is the key."

He said that he told baseball team owners and players on a previous trip to Taiwan that if they wanted to compete on the world stage there was no reason they could not.

But local players "need to get stronger and work out," he said.

Giving the example of Asian stars like Ichiro, Nomo and Ichii from Japan, in addition to Taiwan's Chen Ching-feng (陳金鋒) ? -- who will be playing for the L.A. Dodgers in the Triple-A league -- Brett said Asian players would continue to make their presence felt in the US.

The former Kansas City Royals baseball player was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1999.

He spent 21 seasons in Major League Baseball and is an important icon of the primarily US sport.

He was the only one in the history of baseball to win batting titles in the 1970s (1976), 1980s (1980) and the 1990s (1990).

Brett also had more than 3,000 hits (3154) in his lifetime, joining the exclusive 3,000-hit club in 1992.

The former slugger is in Taiwan to promote his company, which makes a range of baseball goods, in Taiwan, the US and in China.

He said that he also wanted to promote the idea of baseball as a world game.

"See this," he said to reporters, showing them the championship ring he won with the Royals in 1985. "My dream is that one day there will be a true championship ring."

He said, "In all honesty I believe this is a US championship ring, not a `world' championship ring."

Brett will tour his company's factory in Taiwan and then take a tour of China where he said he hoped to see some games.
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