Like baseball, the game of life is not always fair

Like so many celebrities and public figures that wish their lives were more private, professional baseball players in Taiwan live a life that is at times troublesome or even unfair.

The Brother Elephants' highway brawl last Monday that resutlted in a truck driver sustaining a broken leg was just one of numerous off-field incidents that may have been initiated by the other party, but ended with the team looking like a group of immature villains.

"This is why teams like the Elephants impose very strict rules on their player conduct," Elephants senior official Huang Ying-po (黃瑛坡) said earlier this year.

The last thing that a team wants to see is its star players and role models to many youngsters, in trouble with the law.

"It is extremely unfair, but it also comes with the territory" said an Elephant player who wishes to remain anonymous. "Being a public figure is fine, but there are times that you wish to be treated like everyone else."

Being in the spotlight and living a somewhat public life should not come as big surprises to most professional baseball athletes in Taiwan because most of them have had prior experience representing their country in various international competitions, making them genuine heroes in their communities, schools, or even throughout the island.

"When you sometimes become a target like Mike Tyson or Tiger Woods, you just have to hold yourself to a different set of standards, because you can bet that everyone and their cousin would like a piece of you any way they can," Jonathan Hurst said.

Many only see the glory and glamour that surround professional athletes, but they are also criticized for making big money playing a kid's game.

In addition to the competitive and unforgiving nature of professional sports, where everyone is dispensable, a player often has to cope with the possibility of sustaining career-ending injury at any given moment.

If one can only begin to understand the sacrifices, hard work, and uncertainty involved in being a star in the world of professional sports, maybe some members of the public would not be so eager to slight these wonderful athletes who give their all for the public's enjoyment.