Editing Baseball in Taiwan

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[[Baseball]] is a major sport in [[Taiwan]] that is often characterized as the [[national sport]] ({{Zh|t=國球}}). It was introduced during the [[Taiwan under Japanese rule|Japanese rule era]] around 1897 and gained popularity over time, culminating in some successes of Taiwanese teams in the Japanese system. The sport remained popular following the [[retreat of the Republic of China to Taiwan]] despite the [[Kuomintang]] (KMT) government's deliberate policy of removing cultural links to Japan.

In the shifting international environment that eventually led to the ROC's departure from the [[United Nations]], the KMT government hijacked baseball as a tool for nation-building, pouring massive resources into the sport in the hopes of forging a stronger national identity.

The highest level of baseball in Taiwan is the [[Chinese Professional Baseball League]] (CPBL) founded in 1989. 

== History ==
=== Introduction and early years ===
{{see also|Taiwan under Japanese rule}}
Baseball was introduced to Taiwan around 1897, but it initially remained a game for Japanese bureaucrats and bankers in the colonial seat of Taihoku (modern-day [[Taipei]]).{{sfnp|Morris|2011|pp=10}} The first official baseball team in Taiwan was formed in 1904, when the island was a [[Empire of Japan|Japanese colony]], by the Middle School of the Taiwan Governor-General's National Language School (present-day [[Taipei Municipal Chien Kuo High School|Chien Kuo Senior High School]]). The first organized baseball game was played between this team and the team of the Normal School of the Taiwan Governor-General's National Language School (present-day [[Taipei Municipal University of Education]]) in March 1906.

From 1906 through the mid-1920s, Taiwanese baseball teams consisted mainly of [[Japanese people|Japanese]] players. Taiwanese did not become actively involved in the sport until the mid-1920s. Around 1921, the first team made up of [[indigenous Taiwanese peoples]] was established in eastern Taiwan, and it was reorganized into the Noko ({{zh|t=能高}}; also known as ''Nenggao'') team. As part of the reorganization, Japanese officials offered players on the team the opportunity to attend the Hualien Agricultural School.{{sfnp|Yu|2007|pp=15-16}}

That the Noko team consisted completely of indigenous Taiwanese, rather than Japanese or [[Han Taiwanese]] players, was a milestone in racial integration, albeit often noted through a colonial lens. Nonetheless, the success and popularity of the team laid the foundation for the further development of baseball in southern Taiwan, notably Takao First Public School in present-day Qijin, [[Kaohsiung]], and Mawuku Public School in present-day [[Taitung County]].{{sfnp|Yu|2007|pp=17}}

=== Colonial participation ===
{{see also|Kano baseball team}}
By 1931, high school baseball had become very popular in Taiwan, even though of all players dating back to 1923 in the Islandwide High School Baseball Tournaments, only 5.2% were [[Taiwanese people|ethnic Taiwanese]].{{sfnp|Morris|2011|pp=36}} The baseball team of [[National Chiayi University|Kagi Agriculture and Forestry Institute]], hailing from southern Taiwan, played its way into the final of that year’s [[Japanese High School Baseball Championship|Summer Koshien]] tournament. The team arrived as one of 22 district representatives out of a total of 631 team across the empire.{{sfnp|Morris|2011|pp=37-38}} Historians have noted the significance of the "tri-ethnic" Kano squad, consisting of [[Japanese people|Japanese]], [[Han Taiwanese]], and [[Taiwanese indigenous peoples|indigenous Taiwanese]] students.{{sfnp|Morris|2011|pp=32-33}}{{sfnp|Yu|2007|pp=20}}

== Professional baseball ==
'''Professional baseball in [[Taiwan]]''' started with the founding of the [[Chinese Professional Baseball League]] (CPBL) in 1989. At its 1997 peak, Taiwan had two leagues and 11 professional teams. The competing [[Taiwan Major League]] ran from 1997 until its absorption by the CPBL in 2003.

The professional game has had several [[Match fixing|game-fixing]] [[scandal]]s which had led to sharp declines in game attendance. However, as of 2016 baseball in Taiwan had begun to see a renewed interest in the sport in spite of this setback due to major cheating scandals.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Jennings |first1=Ralph |title=Baseball was nearly dead in Taiwan after a major cheating scandal. Here's how it made a comeback. |url=https://www.latimes.com/world/asia/la-fg-taiwan-baseball-snap-story.html |newspaper=LA Times |date=18 October 2016 |access-date=21 September 2021}}</ref>

=== Chinese Professional Baseball League ===
{{main|Chinese Professional Baseball League}}
The '''Chinese Professional Baseball League''' was founded in 1989 with four teams and grew to seven. As of 2009, however, there were just four teams competing for the championship of the [[Taiwan Series]].

Since 2005, the winner of the [[Taiwan Series]] represents Taiwan in the [[Asia Series]], competing with the championship teams of [[Japan]] and [[South Korea]], and with [[China]]'s professional leagues.

=== Taiwan Major League ===
{{main|Taiwan Major League}}
The '''Taiwan Major League''' was founded in 1997 by the chairman of [[TVBS]], a popular cable TV channel company, after it lost the nine-year (1997 to 2006) broadcasting rights for CPBL games to [[Videoland Television Network]]. TVBS had held the broadcasting rights from 1993 to 1996.

The TML was meant to compete with the CPBL, but after 6 years of financial losses, it merged with the CPBL in 2003.

== International play ==
Teams from Taiwan dominated [[Little League World Series]] in the 1970s and 1980s.

Taiwan's dominance in international baseball was demonstrated when the men's team won top three medals across all levels of baseball in 2022, including the [[2021 U-12 Baseball World Cup|U-12]], [[2022 U-15 Baseball World Cup|U-15]], [[2021 U-18 Baseball World Cup|U-18]], [[2022 U-23 Baseball World Cup|U-23]], and [[2022 Baseball5 World Cup|Baseball5]] competitions, the only team to do so in baseball history. <ref>{{cite web |last1=藍 |first1=宗標 |title=五人制世界盃奪下季軍 各級中華隊都進前3創紀錄 |url=https://udn.com/news/story/7002/6761348 |website=聯合新聞網 |publisher=聯合線上公司 |access-date=17 December 2022}}</ref> Taiwan's [[Chinese Taipei national baseball team|men's baseball team]] and [[Chinese Taipei women's national baseball team|women's baseball team]] are world No.2 in the [[WBSC Rankings]] as of December 2021. In 2024, the men's team won Global Champion in Premier 12.

== Exporting talent ==
{{see also|List of Major League Baseball players from Taiwan}}
Taiwan has produced great baseball talent, but its best players usually leave for the higher salaries offered by professional teams in [[Japan]], the [[United States]] or [[Canada]]. In the 1980s, Taiwanese pitchers [[Tai-Yuan Kuo]] and [[Katsuo Soh]] (莊勝雄) posted impressive numbers at the [[Seibu Lions]] and [[Chiba Lotte Marines]], in Japan's [[Nippon Professional Baseball]]. Young stars, such as outfielder [[Chin-Feng Chen]] and pitchers [[Chien-Ming Wang]], [[Chin-Hui Tsao]], and [[Hong-Chih Kuo]], became the first group of Taiwanese players to play for teams in North American [[Major League Baseball]].

==See also==
*[[Taiwan Series]]
*[[Asia Series]]
*[[Chinese Taipei national baseball team]]
*[[Professional baseball in Japan]]
*[[Baseball in China]]
*[[Baseball in South Korea]]
*[[Sport in Taiwan]]

== References ==
=== Citations ===
{{Reflist}}

=== Cited sources ===
{{refbegin}}
* {{citation|last=Morris|first=Andrew|title=Colonial Project, National Game: A History of Baseball in Taiwan|date=2011|publisher=University of California Press|location=Berkeley}}
* {{citation|last=Yu|first=Junwei|title=Playing in Isolation: A History of Baseball in Taiwan|location=Lincoln, Nebraska|publisher=University of Nebraska Press|date=2007|isbn=0-8032-1140-6}}
{{refend}}

== External links ==
* [http://baseballguru.com/andrewwong/taiwanesebaseballprimer.html Taiwanese Baseball Primer]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20101121084644/http://culture.tw/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1322&Itemid=157 Taiwan Culture Portal: The CPBL roller coaster and the future of Taiwan baseball ]

{{Sport in Taiwan}}
{{World baseball}}

[[Category:Baseball in Taiwan| ]]