Japan-based baseball legend Sadaharu Oh said yesterday in Taipei that the enthusiasm for baseball in Kaohsiung makes it the perfect place to host next year’s World Children’s Baseball Fair (WCBF).
During a visit to the Sports Affairs Council, Oh said Kaohsiung’s “passion for baseball,” its warm climate and stadiums gave it an advantage over Taoyuan, which also bid for the tournament.
Oh, a co-founder of the WCBF, announced on Monday, along with Kaohsiung Mayor Chen Chu, that the next WCBF would take place at two stadiums in Kaohsiung between July 28 and Aug. 5 next year.
WELCOMING THE KIDS
The former Tokyo Giants slugger, who holds citizenship in Japan and Taiwan, said that by hosting the non-competitive annual event, Taiwan will become better known to children from other countries.
Children from 15 to 20 countries will be invited to take part in the WCBF, said Oh, who is in Taiwan to thank the government for supporting the event.
HOME-RUN KINGS
The WCBF was founded in 1989 by Oh and another home-run king, Hank Aaron, along with Akiko Agishi, a Japanese academic dedicated to boosting cultural exchanges between the US and her home country.
The mission of the non-profit organization is “to share the dream of friendship and teamwork with the children of the world and to sow the seeds of that dream through our international baseball fair,” according to the WCBF Web site.
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