President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday joined sports officials and boisterous fans in Tainan to launch this year’s baseball season, with the Uni-President Lions hosting the CTBC Brothers.
With 7,800 people — the limit under COVID-19 restrictions — in the Tainan Municipal Baseball Stadium, the game marked Taiwan’s lead in starting professional baseball ahead of other major leagues, highlighting the nation’s success in containing COVID-19.
The Brothers won 10-4.
Photo: CNA
Tsai sat in a VIP box to watch the game, accompanied by Tainan Mayor Huang Wei-che (黃偉哲) and CPBL commissioner Tsai Chi-chang (蔡其昌).
The president wore a Lions jersey, with No. 1 on the back, and presented Taiwan Series championship rings to the Lions’ manager Lin Yueh-ping (林岳平), and head coach Kao Chih-kang (高志綱).
Tsai Ing-wen did not throw out a ceremonial first pitch nor give a talk at the game, as she was attending as a fan to support the league and Taiwanese baseball, the CPBL said in a statement.
Photo: CNA
“We can be very proud that Taiwan is the first to start the season, among all baseball nations around the world,” Tsai Chi-chang said.
Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball starts on March 26, while US Major League Baseball (MLB) starts on April 1 and South Korea’s Korea Baseball Organization League commences on April 3.
Health authorities mandated 78 percent capacity at the ballpark, while staff measured the temperatures of spectators, who were required to leave information for contact tracing.
Huang took the mound for the ceremonial first pitch.
“Baseball is Taiwan’s national pastime, and the Uni-President Lions represent our city,” Huang said. “They won the Taiwan Series last year, to capture the team’s 10th championship title, so our city needs to give the players strong support.”
He added that there were plans to improve the stadium with a new video screen.
Another bright spot for worldwide sports fans is the presence of foreign players, with 23 playing among the five teams on the opening rosters, the most in the past two decades.
Sixteen have MLB experience, including two World Series winners: Venezuelan pitcher Felix Doubront and Japanese pitcher Junichi Tazawa.
Doubront signed with the Lions to solidify the starting rotation for the defending league champions, while Tazawa joined the Wei Chuan Dragons. They were teammates on the Boston Red Sox roster when they won the 2013 World Series.
It is the first time two former MLB championship winners would concurrently play in Taiwanese baseball.
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