Fans of professional baseball are taking their appeal to the streets again on Nov. 22, asking the government to save baseball.
Yu Tsung-ming (余宗鳴), founder of a baseball fan club, said that the club is asking those who “cannot stand it anymore” to unite and defend the sport they love. Yu and 400 other baseball fans staged a march titled “Baseball Alive” on Nov. 1. This time they will gather at Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall to make their demands known.
Their appeal will focus on the actions taken by the government, the Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL) and players. They say they support prosecutors’ efforts to catch mobsters threatening or bribing baseball players. They also hope that the government will lift restrictions on betting on CPBL games in sports lottery shops.
PHOTO: CNA
Meanwhile, fans will ask the CPBL to guarantee it will fine any club NT$10 million (US$300,000) if its players are involved in gambling. The league, they say, should publicize why they hire or fire certain players.
Fans will also ask the players to voluntarily sign an agreement on ethics.
In related news, the entire Brother Elephants squad bowed and apologized to the public yesterday after some of its players were implicated in the game-fixing scandal.
“The club is deeply sorry for all the harm caused by the misconduct of certain players,” new Elephants president Yang Ai-hua (楊愛華) said before the team started their fall training. “We have learned the lesson this time and will not disappoint you again.”
When addressing the players, Yang also said the club would fire any player who fails to report any suspicious behavior to management, adding that every player on the team is on probation.
New Elephants manager Chen Ruei-cheng (陳瑞振) also told the players that the word “Brother” on their uniforms used to be a trustworthy brand, but now it has become a symbol of shame because of the gambling scandal.
“I know you cherish your friendship with players because you have been together on the same team for so long,” Yang said. “But if a player asks you to lose a game on purpose, the friendship should end there.”
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