Hsinchu Baseball Stadium, which reopened on Friday following a multi-year renovation project, has been closed indefinitely after complaints that its infield dirt is too soft and poses a safety risk to players, the Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL) said yesterday.
The league said in a statement that it postponed last night’s game between the Wei Chuan Dragons and Fubon Guardians after consultations with the teams and the Hsinchu City Government.
The move comes just days after the stadium reopened on Friday to a sellout crowd of 10,000 following the completion of a three-year NT$1.2 billion (US$40.11 million) renovation project.
Photo: Chen Chih-chu, Taipei Times
The stadium was closed following a call by the Taiwan Professional Baseball Players Association (TPBPA) earlier yesterday for it to be temporarily shut, citing problems with the field’s soil following games on Friday and Saturday.
During Friday’s game, Wei Chuan Dragons fielder Chang Yu-ming (張祐銘) slipped while running the bases, and third baseman Liu Chi-hung (劉基鴻) injured a finger while attempting to catch a ball that bounced irregularly off the soil, the TPBPA said.
During Saturday’s game, Fubon Guardians outfielder Lin Che-hsuan (林哲瑄) injured his shoulder while fielding a ball, due to stones littering the field being kicked up during play, it said.
The TPBPA said in a statement that it “sincerely urges the league to consider temporarily suspending the scheduling of games” at the stadium to ensure a safe playing environment.
The city government yesterday said it would collect input from players and fans, and would make adjustments accordingly.
Commenting on the temporary closure, Wei Chuan Dragons head coach Yeh Chun-chang (葉君璋) said the stadium “currently has too many problems that pose a risk to players, but if the problems can be worked out, Hsinchu Baseball Stadium will be a great place to play.”
Former Hsinchu mayor Lin Chih-chien (林智堅) on Saturday said on Facebook that the problems rest on his shoulders.
Lin, who resigned from the post to run as the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Taoyuan mayoral candidate, said that although he is no longer mayor, he would work with the city, the CPBL and the teams to see that improvements can be made at the stadium.
DPP Hsinchu mayoral candidate Shen Hui-hung (沈慧虹) said she was confident that the city government would respond to input from players and fans, and would work with the teams to resolve their issues.
Taiwan People’s Party Legislator Lai Hsiang-ling (賴香伶), the party’s Taoyuan mayoral candidate, yesterday said she supports the TPBPA’s position that safety should be the stadium’s top priority, but was skeptical of Lin’s ability to address the problem.
“Lin Chih-chien couldn’t get Hsinchu’s stadium right. Taoyuan’s stadium has also had its share of problems. Should the public trust it to Lin?” she said.
Additional reporting by Wu Ching-cheng, Tsai Chang-sheng and Lee Jung-ping
The manufacture of the remaining 28 M1A2T Abrams tanks Taiwan purchased from the US has recently been completed, and they are expected to be delivered within the next one to two months, a source said yesterday. The Ministry of National Defense is arranging cargo ships to transport the tanks to Taiwan as soon as possible, said the source, who is familiar with the matter. The estimated arrival time ranges from late this month to early next month, the source said. The 28 Abrams tanks make up the third and final batch of a total of 108 tanks, valued at about NT$40.5 billion
Two Taiwanese prosecutors were questioned by Chinese security personnel at their hotel during a trip to China’s Henan Province this month, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday. The officers had personal information on the prosecutors, including “when they were assigned to their posts, their work locations and job titles,” MAC Deputy Minister and spokesman Liang Wen-chieh (梁文傑) said. On top of asking about their agencies and positions, the officers also questioned the prosecutors about the Cross-Strait Joint Crime-Fighting and Judicial Mutual Assistance Agreement, a pact that serves as the framework for Taiwan-China cooperation on combating crime and providing judicial assistance, Liang
A group from the Taiwanese Designers in Australia association yesterday represented Taiwan at the Midsumma Pride March in Melbourne. The march, held in the St. Kilda suburb, is the city’s largest LGBTQIA+ parade and the flagship event of the annual Midsumma Festival. It attracted more than 45,000 spectators who supported the 400 groups and 10,000 marchers that participated this year, the association said. Taiwanese Designers said they organized a team to march for Taiwan this year, joining politicians, government agencies, professionals and community organizations in showing support for LGBTQIA+ people and diverse communities. As the first country in Asia to legalize same-sex
MOTIVES QUESTIONED The PLA considers Xi’s policies toward Taiwan to be driven by personal considerations rather than military assessment, the Epoch Times reports Chinese President Xi Jinping’s (習近平) latest purge of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) leadership might have been prompted by the military’s opposition to plans of invading Taiwan, the Epoch Times said. The Chinese military opposes waging war against Taiwan by a large consensus, putting it at odds with Xi’s vision, the Falun Gong-affiliated daily said in a report on Thursday, citing anonymous sources with insight into the PLA’s inner workings. The opposition is not the opinion of a few generals, but a widely shared view among the PLA cadre, the Epoch Times cited them as saying. “Chinese forces know full well that
RSS