Scalpers are making a killing at the Baseball World Cup, with some supporters of Taiwan buying tickets for both the final and bronze-medal games today.
Unsure of whether their team was going to beat Team USA, some fans doubled their bets by buying tickets for both games.
"We just want to watch Taiwan and we don't want to lose any opportunity to see them," said Wang Tsai-ting (王才婷), who went to Tienmu yesterday after finding that all the tickets at 7-11s were sold out.
Tickets for the Taiwan against Team USA match were on offer for between NT$6,000 to NT$10,000, according to other sources at the ground.
The pride and the passion
To some observers, Taiwan's fans were more impressive than their team.
Professional flag wavers, fireworks, airhorns, whole sections of the crowd lighting sparklers after home runs, were part of the game.
Though it may be presumed that most foreign teams did not realize it, calls of "sha, sha, sha" (殺), or "kill, kill, kill" often rang out when an opposing batter came to the plate.
These shouts were not death wishes on the part of Taiwan's fans, however, as they refer to a strikeout, or "K" -- which baseball fans everywhere post when a batter is retired.
Bin Laden ban
Stadium security forced a fan to remove a poster with a drawing of Osama bin Laden prior to the game between the US and Taiwan.
The public address announcer then asked the crowd not to hold signs or refer to the Sept. 11 attacks or bin Laden, as happened in the Nov. 11 game in Kaohsiung between Taiwan and the US.
additional reporting by Jeffrey Wilson
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