上班族必備軟實力

*Richard is a Cardinals fan.*

The first time that most people in the USA hear about Taiwan baseball is when the Taiwan team does really well in the annual little league tournament. Taiwan’s little league teams are legendary throughout the known baseball world. They have won the world title more than any other country and always seem to be one of the best teams.

 A Baseball Stadium in Taipei

Taiwan, like Japan, names their teams after corporate sponsors. Currently, there are four teams, the Chinatrust Brother Elephants, the Lamigo Monkeys, the EDA Rhinos, and the Uni-President 7-Eleven Lions. In the USA, we are used to cheering for teams associated with a city or state, like the St. Louis Cardinals or the New York Yankees.

I learned how to say “home run” in Chinese by watching the local baseball games on TV and listening to the announcers. It’s “Hasta la vista, baby!”

Cheering is more organized in Taiwan. They have leaders in the stands with megaphones, shouting instructions to the other fans. You should have a couple of those little plastic megaphones, they are just the thing to bang against each other to make noise.

Taiwan has been sending baseball talent to the USA. Players can get more money and fame in the major leagues. Wang Chenming and Chen Wei’in are two successful pitchers from Taiwan who are in the USA baseball leagues. This year we will be watching closely as Wang makes possibly his last effort to get back into the major leagues and Chen will be trying to improve on a good year. We wish them luck.