The body of the Chinese Taipei article was written by Stuart Wallace.
Chinese Taipei IBAF Ranking (out of 74) 5th 2013 Pool Netherlands Austrailia Korea 2013 Players of Note Chien-Ming Wang, P Yao-Lin Wang, P Che-Hsuan Lin, OF Dai-Kang Yang, OF Hong-Chih Kuo, P 2009 Record 0 - 2, First Round 2006 Record 1 - 2, First Round
Formosa, Taiwan, Chinese Taipei. Whatever moniker you use to
call this small island nation, its history is inextricably married to not only
mainland China, but Japan, and its baseball history is no different. While the
origins of baseball in the country are somewhat recent compared to some of the
other baseball playing nations of the WBC, Chinese Taipei baseball can boast
the unique quality of being a battle born endeavor, brought to the nation by
the Japanese, after defeating the Chinese Qing Dynasty in the First Sino-Japanese
War, which saw Taiwan being ceded to Japan in 1895. At this time, it was a
pastime for the colonial elite, only played by Japanese administrators.
However, with the ushering in of the 20th Century, the game, then
called Yakyu, the Japanese word for baseball, quickly spread across both
country and social class, with passion for the game being shared by Japanese
and native Taiwanese alike. In spite of these dubious early beginnings, a path
was nonetheless forged for baseball to become the national sport of the nation,
and for the nation to be a sleeping giant in international baseball circles,
culminating in a current
IBAF ranking of 5th, rubbing shoulders with such powers as Korea and
Canada.
The first organized baseball game in Chinese Taipei happened
in 1906 in the nation's capital city and largest city, Taipei, between schools
that would be precursors to the Jianguo High School and the Taipei Municipal
University of Education. The game was played to a 5-5 tie, but set the
precedent for teams to form across the island, primarily in the more populated
northern portion of the nation. However, the sport wasn't a truly national and
international affair until 1931, when the Chiayi School of Agriculture and
Forestry, located in the southern, and more rural part of the island, was the
Taiwan representative for the Pan-Japanese High School Yakyu Tournament, ultimately
placing second. However, as soon as Chinese Taipei enjoyed the fruits of their
baseball labors, it was quickly dampened by impending war. With World War II
came a large resentment and concomitant disassociation with their Japanese
occupiers, and with it a reduction in the popularity of baseball.
With the end of the war, and the formation of a nationalist
government came a renaissance of sorts of baseball on the island, seen
especially in their dominance of amateur youth baseball; from 1969-1982, the
country enjoyed not only a resurgence of amateur baseball programs and
participation, but 13
Little League World Series championships. Postwar baseball in Taiwan also
found itself under a new name in international circles – Chinese Taipei. While
initially performing under the name the United Team of Taiwan, diplomatic and
political pressures forced the name change that we know today. More recently,
Taiwanese baseball has enjoyed a modest amount of regional and international
success, with appearances in the Asian Championship (26), Baseball World Cup
(14), Intercontinental Cup (10), Asian Games (4), and Olympics (4), culminating
in a bronze medal in the 1992 Olympics, as well as championships in both the
Asian Games (2006) and Asian Championships (1987, 2001).
Professional baseball on the island has experienced a short
albeit tumultuous history. The Chinese Professional Baseball League had its
start in 1990, and has been rocked by a number of gambling and game fixing
scandals between 1997 and 2008. An expansion of sorts occurred in 2003 with the
CPBL absorbing the rival Taiwan Major League amidst these scandals, with the
modern day CPBL consisting of four teams: the Brother Elephants, Lamigo
Monkeys, Uni-President 7-Eleven Lions, and the EDA Rhinos, a team in the news
recently for having
a deal in place for Manny Ramirez to suit up for them, should he not find
MLB work this season. In terms of Taiwanese baseball players in the major
leagues, the list is short, starting with Chin-Feng Chen, debuting in 2002 with
the Los Angeles Dodgers, and ending most recently with 12 game winner, Wei-Yin
Chen of the Baltimore Orioles. Overall, MLB talent coming from the island is of
the pitching variety, with 5 of the 8 players with MLB experience being
pitchers.
Speaking of pitchers, the 2013 iteration of the Chinese
Taipei WBC roster is loaded with current of former MLB level pitching talent,
including the oft-injured likes of former New York Yankee and Washington
National Chien-Ming Wang and former Dodger Hong Chih-Kuo, along with Chicago
Cubs prospect Yao-Lin Wang. Overall, the team's hopes for moving on to the
second round of the WBC, and overcoming the power of Pacific Rim foe Korea will
be its pitching, with offensive production resting in the hands and bat of
current Brother Elephant first baseman Cheng-Ming Peng. The future of Chinese
Taipei is bright, and tied heavily to its young talent having a breakout WBC.
With a significant presence already forged in the major league ranks, having 28
Taiwanese players with professional ties in the US, it will be a matter of
their youth to build upon their past WBC performance, and their 1-4 record in 2
previous appearances. While small geographically, Chinese Taipei continues to
loom large on the international baseball landscape; however, in order to rise
above the likes of Canada and Korea, it will be a question of timely pitching
and the continued development of their MLB caliber prospects that will propel
them to victory in Taichung.
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