Earlier this month, Taiwan’s national baseball team were vying for an Olympic berth at the Premier 12 tournament, a qualifying event for next year’s Tokyo Olympic Games.
Even though the national team played splendidly, with more wins than losses for the first time at a world-level international baseball competition and with many outstanding performances, such as shutting out South Korea’s all-star team, Taiwan still failed to secure a berth for the Tokyo Olympics.
Feelings of regret are inevitable, but the nation’s baseball power has been considerably enhanced in the past several years, as evidenced by the tournament. During the games, Taiwanese players fought unremittingly and had a few chances to defeat the US and Japan, but the lack of a clutch hit or a winning pitch has always been Taiwan’s weak point and has long bothered the national team.
The major reason for that deficiency is found in the composition of the team, which mainly consists of players from the Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL). Over the past 10 years, the league has only had four teams competing against each other during one long season. Little variety in opposition has led to monotony and mutual familiarities between players on opposite sides.
These are factors that could slacken a player’s abilities to see through the game on the spot and prepare for contingencies during international games.
In contrast, South Korea’s KBO League has 10 teams and Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) consists of two leagues with a total of 12 franchises. The US’ Major League Baseball has 30 teams and the Mexican Baseball League has 16.
The matchups in these leagues are diverse and plentiful. Facing different kinds of pitchers and dealing with a wide variety of tactics, the players rehearse spontaneous responses and polish improvisatory skills during the regular season, making games resemble preliminary matches for international tournaments.
The last chance for the national team to secure a berth for the Tokyo Olympics is the final Olympic qualifying tournament to be held in Taiwan in April next year. By that time, the new season for professional baseball leagues around the world would have started, which could cause difficulties for the nation in recruiting overseas Taiwanese players.
For international games, Taiwan relies on players signed to professional leagues in the US and Japan, but these players are unlikely to receive permission to return for the final qualifying event, for which Taiwan’s national team would probably be comprised of domestic players.
Therefore, the CPBL needs to strive for self-reliance and self-enhancement. Here are a few practical solutions to enhancing the power of Taiwanese baseball players.
Theoretically, the first step in forming a competitive strategy is to integrate all available resources. For instance, the CPBL could negotiate with its five franchises, including the soon-to-return Wei Chuan Dragons, to assist the national team in warmup matches by strategically assigning foreign players — who come to franchises for testing — to form an opposing team along with foreign coaches.
For these matches, different types of pitchers and batters could be assigned to the opposing team according to Taiwan’s possible opponents in the final qualifying tournament. This way, the national team would gain practical experience, while the franchises could examine their foreign players’ skills.
Generally speaking, foreign players and coaches would try their best and give their greatest efforts during the spring training period to pass a team’s test for a formal contract.
Holding warmup matches at this point not only provides the national team with real-game practice, but also allows the league’s franchises to gain a firm grasp of their foreign players’ strengths. This should create a win-win situation.
The government could also subsidize the Chinese Taipei Baseball Association or the CPBL to specifically target opposing foreign national teams or franchises from other leagues that play in similar styles by inviting them beforehand to exhibition games and compete against Taiwan’s national team before the qualifying tournament officially starts. This would help Taiwanese baseball players adapt to the situation and intensity of competition, as well as try out strategies in advance.
When Taiwan is plunged into political turmoil, baseball has the ability to bring the nation together: Everyone is rooting for the national baseball team to advance to the Tokyo Olympic Games.
Charles Yu is an associate professor and head of National Chung Hsing University’s Graduate Institute of Sports and Health Management.
Translated by Chang Ho-ming
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