Baseball fans vented their anger and frustration on the Internet yesterday following Taiwan’s loss in the World Baseball Classic to China on Saturday.
The result, Taiwan’s second defeat by China in a year, means Taiwan are already eliminated from the competition.
“Losing to [South] Korea by nine points first and to China by three points next. My father kept cursing. Taiwan’s baseball is really hopeless!” a fan identified as “Gary” said.
PHOTO: LO PEI-DER, TAIPEI TIMES
“Bill,” another fan, showed similar pessimism about the future of baseball in Taiwan.
“Who cares about the championship of the Chinese Professional Baseball League [CPBL] anymore? Who could possibly be concerned now how many Wang Chien-ming’s (王建民) we will have?” he said. “Taiwan got beat by China in two international games in a row. People will stop watching baseball games if this becomes a pattern, which will potentially turn into a major catastrophe.”
Both attributed the loss to the fact that the players drafted for the World Baseball Classic this year were mostly young and inexperienced. They also blamed CPBL teams for their unwillingness to release more experienced players and the government for not spending enough on professional baseball.
“You win or lose in a game, that’s just life” Bill said. “But baseball has been played in Taiwan for 100 years, and we lost to the Chinese baseball team that has only been around for less than 20 years! This is an embarrassment.”
Some fans, however, thought that the loss may serve as a wake-up call to the nation’s baseball industry.
“You can’t say China just had better luck anymore because we have lost twice to them now. Their players, their strategies and the government support — all these are things we should learn from,” said another fan “Fatty Ape.”
Government officials, team managers and sports commentators also believed the defeat exposed the problems facing baseball in Taiwan.
“Baseball in this country is dead!” said senior sports commentator Fu Da-jen (傅達仁) in a TV interview. “You have the Chinese Taipei Baseball Association and you have Chinese Professional Baseball League, and they don’t work together. And what’s the government doing?”
Sinon Bulls manager Hsu Sheng-meng (徐生明) said the teams were in a bind about sending players to play in an international game and protecting them from injuries.
Sports Affairs Council (SAC) Tai Hsia-ling (戴遐齡) Minister said in an interview with the Central News Agency that the council was striving to develop second-tier teams in professional baseball, which could be supported by the revenue generated by the sports lottery.
Government Information Office Minister Su Jun-bin (蘇俊賓) said that the government took the loss seriously. He said Premier Liu Chao-shiuan (劉兆玄) has asked the SAC to develop a long-term plan on baseball using resources across different government departments.
UPGRADE: The Kang Ding-class frigate is replacing its Chaparall missiles with Tien Chien II and Hua Yang VLS, which would provide it with long-range, 360° air defense Taiwan plans to produce 1,200 to 1,376 Hai Chien II missiles (海劍二, Sea Sword II) — also known as TC-2N — to serve as the standard air defense system of the navy’s surface combatant fleet, a source said yesterday. Last week, the Hai Chien II, the naval version of the Tien Kung II missile (天劍二, Sky Sword II), completed a live-fire test in waters off the National Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology’s Jiupeng facility (九鵬) in Pingtung County’s Manjhou Township (滿州). The MIM72 Chaparral and other dated air defense missiles that currently arm Taiwanese ships have inadequate range to combat Chinese
REASONS FOR TRAVEL: An assistant professor said that proposed amendments to penalize drivers if they used drugs overseas would not deter people from traveling People who operate a motor vehicle under the influence of marijuana would have their driver’s license revoked, even if they used the substance while overseas, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications said yesterday, citing proposed amendments to the Road Traffic Management and Penalty Act (道路交通管理處罰條例). The amendments would also authorize the government to revoke the licenses of people determined to have used Category 1 or Category 2 narcotics, even if they were not operating a vehicle while under the influence of drugs, as well as ban them from taking the license test for three years, the ministry said. People aged 18 or
HEAVY WEATHER: Typhoon Jangmi is due to crash straight into the Ryukyus as airlines look to shift flights to larger aircraft or cancel flights to Okinawa entirely Taiwan’s international air carriers announced flight adjustments over the weekend as Typhoon Jangmi is forecast to hit the Ryukyu Islands today and tomorrow. The Central Weather Administration (CWA) upgraded Jangmi from a tropical storm to a typhoon at 8am yesterday, with the eye located 580km south of Naha city. It was moving north at 19kph. Today, China Airlines’ CI-120, CI-121, CI-122 and CI-123 flights between Taoyuan and Naha, Okinawa, have been canceled as well as CI-132 and CI-133 between Kaohsiung and Naha. EVA Air’s BR-112, BR-113, BR-186 and BR-185 flights between Taoyuan and Naha are also canceled. Low-cost carrier Tigerair Taiwan canceled IT-230,
Johanne Liou (劉喬安), a Taiwanese woman who shot to unwanted fame during the Sunflower movement protests in 2014, returned to Taiwan last night after being deported from the US. She is to stand trial in Taiwan for charges involving embezzlement, fraud and drug crimes. The Criminal Investigation Bureau (CIB) said it took her into custody at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport and would first question her before transferring her to the New Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office. She was arrested upon disembarking a flight from San Francisco that landed shortly before 7pm. Liou absconded to the US in 2019 after jumping bail
RSS