At a press conference at Taipei City Hall yesterday it was confirmed that US Major League Baseball team the Los Angeles Dodgers will visit Taiwan to play two exhibition games against a team of local stars on March 13 and 14.
The event, held by Bros Sports Marketing, was attended by Jim Small, Major League Baseball Vice President for Asia, Sports Affairs Council (SAC) Chairwoman Tai Hsia-ling, Taipei Mayor Hau Lung-bin and Kaohsiung Deputy County Commissioner Ye Nan-ming.
“We hope the Dodgers’ visit will broaden the horizon of Taiwan’s baseball fans and rekindle their passion for the sport despite a string of negative news on Taiwan’s professional baseball,” Tai said in a statement.
PHOTO: AFP
The final list of which players will come to Taiwan is not yet known, with a preliminary list scheduled to be released at the start of next month.
Bros Sports Marketing had originally said that they would release the list of players coming to Taiwan at the press conference but said yesterday that they could not confirm the list yet.
Small apologized for failing to announce the players list and said that they would have to wait for spring training to ascertain the fitness of the players before being able to confirm who would come to Taiwan.
Small said that fans would definitely not be disappointed with the caliber of players the Dodgers will send.
Tickets go on sale tomorrow. Responding to questions about the appropriateness of selling tickets to fans before the Dodgers lineup was known, Bros Sports Marketing senior management said they would be happy to refund fans if they were not satisfied with the visiting players.
Taiwanese players Kuo Hong-chih and Hu Chin-lung will be on the trip as well Dodgers manager Joe Torre. Still many fans are anxious to know whether huge hitter Manny Ramirez will also be visiting Taiwan.
In related news, the Dodgers signed pitcher Vicente Padilla on a one-year contract on Thursday, retaining the services of a proven game winner.
After joining the Dodgers from the Texas Rangers in August, Nicaraguan Padilla went 4-0 with a 3.20 ERA in seven regular season games to give the National League West champions a much-needed boost.
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