After a rest day yesterday, the Baseball World Cup resumes today with several teams still battling for a place in the next round of competition.
The top four teams in the two eight-team groups advance to the medal round, which begins Friday.
Taiwan (4-1), which suffered its first loss of the tournament on Sunday to the US, plays two stiff opponents today and tomorrow in Group A.
Taiwan may qualify if they beat either the Dominican Republic (4-1) today at noon in Chiayi City or South Korea (4-1) on Thursday.
Taiwan could also qualify if Nicaragua (3-2) does not win its two remaining games against South Korea and Italy (2-3).
Taiwan manager Lin Hua-wei (
Hsu, who pitches for the Seibu Lions in Japan, beat Italy in Taiwan's opener last Tuesday.
Lin is also expected to shake up his infield after Taiwan committed five errors and gave up six unearned runs in the loss to the US.
The US (3-2) needs to defeat both Italy (2-3) and France (0-5) to be assured of advancing. Italy (2-3) would need to defeat both the US and Nicaragua to advance.
In Group B, Japan is the only team in the tournament unbeaten after five games and is assured of advancing.
Cuba (4-1) and the Netherlands (4-1) need to win one of their two remaining games to be assured of qualifying.
Group B's final spot should be decided tomorrow when Panama (3-2) and Australia (2-3) meet.
Looking Presidential
President Chen Shui-bian (
Chen, not known for being a sports fan, usually just throws out a first pitch and moves onto his next scheduled event.
This time, he donned a Taiwan team warm-up jacket to watch almost the entire game, sitting between the Kaohsiung County Commissioner Yu Cheng-hsien (
The game was actually the second time this year Chen has watched US teams play.
In June, he watched the Houston Astros play the Los Angeles Dodgers at Houston's Enron Field during a stopover in the US.
Full house
The estimated 23,000 fans who packed Chengching Stadium on Sunday night not only represented the largest crowd ever to watch a baseball game in Taiwan, they also made a huge impression on the visiting Americans.
"The atmosphere was just incredible," said US manager Terry Francona.
Team USA Press Officer Dave Fanucchi noted in his daily report: "The sold-out, Taiwanese crowd was everything you'd expect Yankee Stadium to be like in the fall, and more.
Raucous from start to finish and simply deafening at times, the Taiwanese natives banged drums and waved their country's flags throughout the game," he said.
The game followed another good turnout for foreign sides in the competition after a full house for the Japan vs. Cuba match.
Desperately seeking talent
Meanwhile, reports from Chiayi suggest scouts from around Asia are taking note of the tournament.
With the exodus of Japanese and South Korean players in particular, to the US Major League, Asian teams are looking to South America for players.
Three scouts from the Korean Major League -- specifically from the Hyundai Baseball team -- were spotted at a Chiayi hotel lobby for the game against Nicaragua.
At the same hotel, some of the Nicaraguan team were relaxing outside after beating Team USA.
Our correspondent asked what they were doing.
"Just getting some night air here in beautiful downtown Chiayi," they replied in perfect English, before insisting they were not Sandinistas.
Gold Medal Prediction
There is no doubt in the mind of Australian manager Jon Deeble which team will win the Baseball World Cup.
"I think Japan will be the gold medalist," said Deeble, after his team was blanked 8-0 by Japan on Sunday.
Why?
"Their pitching is outstanding and their fundamentals are fantastic and they swing the bat well. They do everything well," Deeble said.
With additional reporting by Dan Bloom
A sumo star was born in Japan on Sunday when 24-year-old Takerufuji became the first wrestler in 110 years to win a top-division tournament on his debut, triumphing at the 15-day Spring Grand Sumo Tournament in Osaka despite injuring his ankle on the penultimate day. Takerufuji, whose injury had left him in a wheelchair outside the ring, shoved out the higher-ranked Gonoyama at the Edion Arena Osaka to the delight of the crowd, giving him an unassailable record of 13 wins and two losses to claim the Emperor’s Cup. “I did it just through willpower. I didn’t really know what was going
The US’ Ilia Malinin on Saturday produced six scintillating quadruple jumps, including a quadruple Axel, in the men’s free skate to capture his first figure skating world title. The 19-year-old nicknamed the “Quad god,” who is the only skater to land a quadruple Axel in competition, dazzled with an array of breathtakingly executed jumps starting with his quad Axel and including a quadruple Lutz in combination with a triple flip and a quadruple toe loop in combination with a triple toe. He added an unexpected triple-triple combination at the end to earn a world-record 227.79 in the free program for a championship
Shohei Ohtani’s interpreter is being criminally investigated by the IRS, and the attorney for his alleged bookmaker said Thursday that the ex-Los Angeles Dodgers employee placed bets on international soccer — but not baseball. The IRS confirmed Thursday that interpreter Ippei Mizuhara and Mathew Bowyer, the alleged illegal bookmaker, are under criminal investigation through the agency’s Los Angeles Field Office. IRS Criminal Investigation spokesperson Scott Villiard said he could not provide additional details. Mizuhara, 39, was fired by the Dodgers on Wednesday following reports from the Los Angeles Times and ESPN about his alleged ties to an illegal bookmaker and debts well
MLB on Friday announced a formal investigation into the scandal swirling around Shohei Ohtani and his former interpreter amid charges that the Los Angeles Dodgers superstar was the victim of “massive theft.” The Dodgers on Wednesday fired Ippei Mizuhara, Ohtani’s long-time interpreter and close friend, after Ohtani’s representatives alleged that the Japanese two-way star had been the victim of theft, which was reported to involve millions of dollars and link Mizuhara to a suspected illegal bookmaker in California. “Major League Baseball has been gathering information since we learned about the allegations involving Shohei Ohtani and Ippei Mizuhara from the news media,” MLB