China’s landmark win over Taiwan in the group stage of the 2008 Beijing Olympics baseball competition was a game in which the best team beat the best talent, but Taiwan’s baseball prowess cannot be denied, a former manager of the Chinese national baseball team said on Tuesday in Taipei.
Jim Lefebvre, who led China to a thrilling 12-inning 8-7 win in Beijing — its first ever victory over Taiwan in major international baseball competition — said the game displayed the plain beauty of baseball because “that day the best talent did not win. That day the best team won.”
Taiwan’s group stage loss to China did not affect the final placing as Taiwan ranked fifth out of eight teams and China finished in last place. However, the upset loss was still described by Taiwan’s fans as “heartbreaking,” “unbearable” and “a national disgrace.”
“But it was just our day ... I have no idea how we won,” Lefebvre said, drawing laughter from reporters.
Lefebvre, 68, recalled that Taiwan seemed to think it had sealed the game after taking a 2-0 lead. But the game went into extra innings and China scored five runs in the bottom the 12th inning after Taiwan scored four times in the top of the same inning.
According to Lefebvre, Taiwan let the game slip away because of some tactical and positioning mistakes late in the game.
Taiwan’s talent has always been impressive, but good talent doesn’t always guarantee a win, he said. He advised Taiwanese baseball players to learn “how to play the game hard and play it right.”
South Korea, the eventual gold medal winner in Beijing, showed dedication and commitment every time its players stepped into a ballpark and its “one-way training system” was consistent at every level, he said.
Given Taiwan’s passion for the game and its rich tradition in the sport, it is well-positioned to be successful internationally, he said. Local coaches have been doing exceptionally well in the Little League level by teaching the fundamentals, he said.
Lefebvre, who managed three Major League Baseball clubs from 1989 to 1999 and the Chinese national team from 2003 to 2008, held a six-day clinic in which he and another MLB coach Rick Dell trained 60 coaches from local high schools and senior-level teams.
The clinic is a part of Taiwan’s four-year Baseball Revival Program, which was set up after Taiwan’s Chinese Professional Baseball League was crippled by a major game-fixing scandal involving dozens of active and former players and coaches.
Hong Kong-based cricket team Hung See this weekend found success in their matches in Taiwan, even if none of the results went their way. Hung See played the Chairman’s XI on Saturday morning, the Daredevils that afternoon and PCCT yesterday, with all three home teams winning. The team for Chinese players at the Happy Valley-based Craigengower Cricket Club sends teams on tour to “spread the game of cricket.” This weekend was Hung See’s second trip to Taiwan after visiting Tainan in 2016. “The club has been traveling to all parts of the world since 1982 and the annual tradition continues [with the Taiwan
The San Francisco Giants signed 18-year-old Taiwanese pitcher Yang Nien-hsi (陽念希) to a contract worth a total of US$500,000 (NT $16.39 million). At a press event in Taipei on Wednesday, Jan. 22, the Giants’ Pacific Rim Area scout Evan Hsueh (薛奕煌) presented Yang with a Giants jersey to celebrate the signing. The deal consisted of a contract worth US$450,000 plus a US$50,000 scholarship bonus. Yang, who stands at 188 centimeters tall and weighs 85 kilograms, is of Indigenous Amis descent. With his fastest pitch clocking in at 150 kilometers per hour, Yang had been on Hsueh’s radar since playing in the HuaNan Cup
Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei yesterday advanced to the semi-finals of the women’s doubles at the Australian Open, while Coco Gauff’s dreams of a first women’s singles title in Melbourne were crushed in the quarter-finals by Paula Badosa. World No. 2 Alexander Zverev was ruffled by a stray feather in his men’s singles quarter-final, but he refocused to beat 12th seed Tommy Paul and reach the semi-finals. Third seeds Hsieh and Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia defeated Elena-Gabriela Ruse of Romania and Marta Kostyuk of Ukraine 6-2, 5-7, 7-5 in 2 hours, 20 minutes to advance the semi-finals. Hsieh and Ostapenko converted eight of 14 break
HARD TO SAY GOODBYE: After Coco Gauff dispatched Belinda Bencic in the fourth round, she wrote ‘RIP TikTok USA’ and drew a broken heart on a television camera lens Defending champion Hsieh Su-wei of Taiwan yesterday advanced to the quarter-finals of the women’s doubles at the Australian Open, while compatriot Chan Hao-ching on Saturday dominated her opponents in the second round, as world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka swept into the quarter-finals. Third seeds Hsieh and Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia toppled Hungary’s Timea Babos and Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the US 6-4, 6-3, hitting 24 winners and converting three of seven break points in 1 hour, 18 minutes at 1573 Arena. Although rivals at last year’s Australian Open — where Hsieh and Belgium’s Elise Mertens beat Ostapenko and Ukraine’s Lyudmyla Kichenok 6-1, 7-5
RSS