A baseball league begins in Taichung today in a six-team format, including two Japanese teams, with fans promised plenty of Taiwanese culture and entertainment.
The Asia Winter Baseball league is in its fourth year, with 51 games scheduled over the next two months in Taichung and Yunlin County’s Douliou City.
Two teams from Taiwan, one from South Korea and a Europe United team of players from the Netherlands, Germany, Italy, Spain, France, Czech Republic and Romania are to play alongside Japan East and Japan West.
“Officials from Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball were very happy with the results from past years, with their players receiving good training and high-level competition. So more Japanese clubs wants to join the Asia Winter Baseball,” Chinese Professional Baseball League secretary-general Chu Kang-cheng said. “They will have two teams this year, Japan East and Japan West.”
The Taiwanese sides are CPBL Select, composed of prospects and farm players from the nation’s four professional ball clubs, and the National Trainees, a team of mainly under-23 college circuit players, Chu said.
Due to heightened interest from Japanese teams, two sports networks are to broadcast this year’s games in Japan, while local fans can catch the action on Fox Sports Taiwan and CPBL TV.
The Asia Winter Baseball league began with four teams in 2012 and was played in 2013, but was not held in 2014 after complications in the sport locally. It resumed last year with teams from Japan, South Korea, and Europe.
This year each team is to play 17 games before the playoffs start on Dec. 18.
Every weekend game is to have a theme, with the Pili Puppet Theater to host cosplay shows and other companies to stage a “Pride of Taiwan Day,” “Taiwan Multiethnicity Day,” “Taiwan Culture Day” and “Retro-Taiwan Nostalgia Day.”
There are also to be prize draws for ticket holders, along with limited-edition souvenirs of Pili-branded baseballs and Pili character jersey.
Today’s opening game at 6pm sees CPBL Select take on the trainee side at the Taichung Intercontinental Stadium.
Tomorrow, Europe Select face South Korea at 12pm in Taichung, while in Douliou the National Trainees host Japan East at 12pm before the CPBL side take on Japan West at 6pm.
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