Baseball in Chiayi a dud as volunteers outnumber the fans

Year of the baseball?

Not in Chiayi yesterday, where 25 South Korean reporters who turned up for their team's match against South Africa nearly outnumbered fans.

Just 35 people went to watch the game at a stadium that can seat 6,000, reports said.

College volunteers mingled with the police and reporters, while the South Koreans battered South Africa on the pitch.

They even outnumbered the estimated 100 onlookers who watched the game free-of-charge from behind a brick fence near the stadium. Tickets priced as low as NT$150 for the bleachers could not pull them in.

Security tight

Following the Sept. 11 outrage security had been beefed up for the tournament and police have been setting up checkpoints on roads to the stadium in Chiayi.

Uniformed officers patrolling the grounds inside and outside the stadiums are noticeable.

At Tienmu Stadium, fans are searched with hand-held metal detectors before entering the stadium.

The time required to conduct the security checks resulted in long lines at the entrances and many fans missed the start of the opening game on Tuesday.

Among the items that have been confiscated are air horns.

The bear necessities

"Tom Bear" has been getting everywhere recently, trying his best to drum up support for the Baseball World Cup.

According to organizers, "The bear has the [characteristics] of vigor, courage and friendliness, which [fits] with the image of baseball."

But, why the number "66" on Tom's sweater?

Unlike in the West where anything beginning with six-six is likely to be followed by another six (the mark of Satan), in Chinese "liu liu ta hsun" [六六大順] means everything is going smoothly.

`Mercy me'

The Philippines was saved by the the "mercy rule" yesterday in its 21-0 pounding by Japan -- the first ever appearance for the Philippines in the Baseball World Cup.

Under International Baseball Federation rules, a game is stopped if a team is losing by ten or more runs after having batted in at least seven innings.

Japan's at home

Japan's team could have been excused if they temporarily felt they were playing a home game in Tienmu.

The stadium is plastered with advertisements for Japanese companies like Panasonic, Mizuno, SSK, and Asashi -- proudly proclaimed "Japan's No. 1 beer." Even the media room serves Asahi tea for after-game interviews. Also nearby is the Japanese-owned Tayeh Takashimaya department store.

contributing reporters: Dan Bloom and Jules Quartly