It's that time of year again all across the world --- baseball season has begun! Here in Taiwan it's no different. Taiwan has it's own major league of 4 teams, which used to be much bigger but had to shut down and restart under a new name and management after years of corruption and match-fixing (much like the Canadian Soccer League http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/exclusive-canadian-soccer-an-easy-target-for-match-fixing-1.1212414)
Here is a picture of the stadium. It was busy but not insanely
busy like other sporting venues we've visited.
Unlike the CSL however, this is Taiwan's sport. You could argue that basketball could rival it, being that most kids either follow the NBA or play it (I actually met a teenager who said that Chris Bosh is his favourite player. What made this funny was that he said "not just because of the Heat, he liked him before when he was on the Raptors". I was stunned). However, with the significant Japanese influence in Taiwan's history, baseball has much deeper roots and well...... LETS PLAY BALL!
Elephant Clappers. No balls came our direction unfortunately...
It felt very much felt like we were at a soccer game. The stands were separated with the home team (Taipei Brother Elephants) on the left and the away team (Lamigo Monkeys) on the right.* There were chants, drums, a horn section, and a guy with a big microphone. It was as chaotic and lively as I've ever seen a sporting event. Check out the sites and sounds here:
*Note: The other two teams in the league are the EDA Rhinos and the Unified 7-Eleven Lions. If I weren't such a homer I'd be cheering for the 7-Eleven Lions.
As with baseball games, there's always other ways one must amuse themselves for 9 innings. Cassie for example made a friend today :)
She asked him to be friends, he said he'd have to mullet over
The Elephants won 10-6! Our team is now 2nd in league points which is amazing! We are however in 3rd last place...
...Sharon and Cassie bought clappers which will be great souvenirs as we look back on today. Byron bought a hat to match his jersey from last year and I purchased a sweet new jersey. Although you can't really see it in this picture it looks like Byron's.
Elephant is the new yellow
Around the 6th inning, Sharon lost her sunglasses under the bleachers. The stadium staff was very kind about it and let us find them after the game. This may have been the best part of the experience because we got to enjoy the sights and sounds of post game baseball. We ended up cruising around so long that we had to get escorted out of the building. They were all very friendly about it but I respect their wanting us outta there.
All in all it was a great experience. I can't say that it was MLB quality play or speed but that's not even necessary --- the atmosphere and experience was a definite grand slam!
-RS = T
