Young baseball players said they will pursue their championship dreams by playing the game with strong determination, mental toughness and teamwork, by emulating the heroic exploits of the renowned 1930s Kano team of Chiayi City.
A player surnamed Lin, from Taipei’s Dali High School, said he and his teammates were impressed by the fighting spirit and never-give-up attitude portrayed in the movie named after the team.
“We want to have the same courage and dedication as shown in Kano. By learning from it, we can reach the finals of the Black Leopard Banner competition this year and have a shot at the gold medal,” Lin said.
Dali High School students were among representatives from 10 youth baseball teams at a special showing of the movie arranged by the Sports Administration in Taipei yesterday.
Kano is a box-office hit, having grossed more than NT$150 million (US$4.9 million) in Taiwan since its release two weeks ago. The Taiwanese production is set in the 1930s and portrays the Chiayi City team, led by Japanese manager Hyotaro Kondo, as they play through to the final of the annual Koshien championship in Osaka, Japan’s most prestigious high-school baseball tournament.
Taiwan’s Black Leopard Banner tournament aims to find the top team from Taiwan’s high-schools. Previously, the Golden Dragon Banner competition ran from 1995 to 2003.
“The film enabled these players to better understand baseball’s history in this country. The Kano team displayed the spirit and core value of Taiwanese baseball,” Sports Administration director-general Ho Jow-fei said.
“When we make the children practice and teach them skills, we sometimes tell them about how it was done in the old days. They did not believe us,” Dali High School manager Liao Yuan-feng said. “Now they have seen what the game was like in Taiwan in the 1930s. They better understand the many complex layers of baseball, and can improve their game.”
The winner of the inaugural Black Leopard Banner was Taoyuan County’s Ping Jen High School. Officials have said preparations will begin in autumn for the competition, with games scheduled for December.
HOMETOWN ZERO: Fans relished the fall of former Brewer-turned-Cubs manager Craig Counsell, as Milwaukee braces to face the Dodgers, who in 2018 denied them a pennant Milwaukee Brewers manager Pat Murphy has referred to his team as the “Average Joes,” a nod to their small-market status and lack of big names, but after they beat rivals the Chicago Cubs 3-1 in the decisive fifth game of their National League Division Series (NLDS) on Saturday night, Murphy decided it was time for an upgrade. “You can call them the average Joes, but I say they’re the above-average Joes,” he said. The Brewers relied on contributions from just about every player to get past the Cubs. Andrew Vaughn hit a tiebreaking homer in the fourth inning, and William Contreras and Brice
Mexico’s teenage playmaker Gilberto Mora has lit up the FIFA U-20 World Cup in Chile as he basks in the limelight afforded by the absences of Barcelona and Real Madrid stars Lamine Yamal and Franco Mastantuono. “I don’t know if I’m the biggest star, and I’m not really interested in that. I think you can always give more,” 16-year-old Mora said before Mexico’s 4-1 win against host nation Chile in the round-of-16 on Tuesday, in which he provided the assist for the opening goal. Next on Mora’s schedule is a quarter-final clash against Argentina this morning Taiwan time, but after
‘SOMETHING SPECIAL’: Nathan Lukes hit a two-run single and Addison Barger had three of Toronto’s 12 hits as the Blue Jays bounced back After taking down the storied New York Yankees in their own ballpark in their American League Division Series on Wednesday, Toronto Blue Jays manager John Schneider was ready to revel in the triumph. “Start spreading the news,” Schneider said while popping a bottle of bubbly to set off the Blue Jays’ jubilant celebration inside their Yankee Stadium clubhouse. With the party under way, the familiar lyrics from Frank Sinatra’s version of New York, New York — the Yankees’ long-time victory anthem — sounded in the background as roaring Toronto players sprayed each other with booze in the Bronx. This time, it was their
‘IT’S BASEBALL’: In just the second error to end a post-season series in the MLB, the Phillies reliever fumbled a comebacker and threw to home, despite the signal Eyes red, Orion Kerkering on Thursday received words of support from his Philadelphia Phillies teammates. “Just keep your head up. It’s an honest mistake. Just, it’s baseball,” he remembered hearing. “You’ll be good for a long time to come,” they added. “It’s not my fault, then. We had opportunities to score,” was the message he kept getting. Kerkering made a wild throw past home plate instead of tossing to first after mishandling Andy Pages’ bases-loaded comebacker with two outs in the 11th inning. Pinch-runner Kim Hye-seong scored and the Phillies were eliminated with a 2-1 loss that gave the Los Angeles Dodgers a
RSS