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| WANT TO MAKE SOME NOISE AT THE BALLPARK...? |
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| ...THEN VISIT TAIWAN WHERE THE FANS ARE SO PUMPED UP EVEN VISITING WRITERS ARE SIGNING AUTOGRAPHS! |
Designed by an orthopedic hand surgeon, patented Bionic Gloves are ergonomically designed for maximum comfort and performance.
Baseball's past, present, and future are ready for you to
see and be part of at the Louisville Slugger Museum & Factory.
When Portuguese sailors bumped
into an island 100 miles off the coast of China in the 1600s, they had but one word: 'Formosa," which
in Portuguese means "beautiful." They've been playing baseball on this subtropical island called Taiwan since
the late 1800s, and you can learn all about it, plus China baseball too, in The
World in a Ballpark: Baseball Goes Global, which is available
for purchase at the Buy Joe's Guides page. Taiwan was a participant in the inaugural World Baseball Classic along with China, the 1 billion strong Land of Mao.
Taiwan – an island of 23 million people and slightly smaller in size than
the U.S. states of Maryland and Delaware combined – is indeed a beautiful island. And it
has many very passionate baseball fans. Taiwan
has won 17 Little League World Series titles and 10 countrymen are now playing Minor League Baseball in North America, with more sure to follow.
| ONLY IN TAIWAN: MOUNTAIN BACKDROPS AT THE BALLPARK |
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| (above right) WHO NEEDS A TARP? GIVE US SOME BIG SPONGES AND WE'LL CLEAN UP MOTHER NATURE'S MESS |
| HONORING THE LITTLE LEAGUE TITANS... |
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| THE HONG-YEH MUSEUM PAYS HOMAGE TO THE INSPIRATIONAL BUNCH OF CHAMPIONS |
In 1990, professional baseball
debuted in Taiwan in the form of the Chinese Professional Baseball League. The league boasts
six teams and has included some former Major League pitchers. Two players have gone in reverse – from Taiwan to Major League Baseball. They are Ben Weber, who won
a 2002 World Series ring with the Angels, and Melvin Mora who was an All-Star for the Baltimore Orioles in 2003 and 2005.
China has a six-team league,
which is only a few years old since during the Cold War, communist leader Mao Zedong banned baseball from being
played because it was deemed "too imperialist."
| STRIKE A POSE, THERE'S NOTHING TO IT... |
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| BROTHER ELEPHANTS FANS BOND BEFORE A GAME; (above right) PROMOTIONAL SIGNAGE INSIDE TAINAN STADIUM |
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