The popularity of baseball

     My topic will be the popularity of baseball. In all the sports, baseball is the most advanced one in Taiwan. So, let us think about the question why baseball is so popular in Taiwan first. And why Taiwan considers Baseball as our National sport?

     Well. For Taiwan, it is a small island. Before, lots of foreigners even do not know the existence of Taiwan. What’s more, because of the suppression by China, Taiwan cannot be a member of United Nation. It is hard for us to get help from other countries and enjoy the same benefit that most countries in the world have. But, because of baseball, people start to get to know Taiwan. In 1968, the Red leaves beat the Japanese team which has just won the world championship in a great win with the run 7-0. After this incident, Taiwan starts to pay attention to the baseball.

The picture when The Red leaves are going to have a baseball competition with the Japanese team

The Red leaves' team clothing

     Unlike basketball, the inborn ability matters too much. I mean. The height and the structure of one’s body play a very important role in basketball. And we all know that we are not as high as those foreigners Therefore, it is not so easy to beat them in the basketball field. But for baseball, it is a different situation. Although the inborn ability still matters, it is not as important as basketball. What really matters in baseball are skills. Baseball players need to practice a lot. After all, we need to know that baseball has only 0.4 second to react whether it is a strike or a ball and decide whether or not to hit the ball, because the time for the ball from the pitcher’s hand to the plate is that short. Without tons of practices, it is impossible to do that. What’s more, there are too many unsure elements in baseball. Everything is possible in baseball. No one can say that they can definitely win the game before the umpire calls the end of the game.

Batter only gets 0.4 second to hit the ball

     In 2009, in the Little League Baseball in Williamsport, Taiwan’s team from Taoyuan beats every team which blocks them the way to the championship until the very last game. Finally, they lost their championship to the American team. Although they only get the second place, what they have done is excellent. Especially for 宋文華 and 歐晉, their achievement impresses people a lot. Both of them are great hitters and pitchers. They are the good models. They give baseball player’s mother the faith to keep supporting their children to play baseball and also give Taiwan’s children the power to keep practicing and playing.

In 2009, in the Little League Baseball in Williamsport 

宋文華

    

歐晉

     After we know why baseball is so popular in Taiwan, Then, we can talk about why people enjoy watching baseball so much. Baseball is a popular sport in Taiwan. Professional baseball players are just like super stars. People adore them and want to become just like them. Of course, we know that is not possible. But it is not hard to solve the problem. At the same time when we are watching the baseball, we are playing it by ourselves. We can understand this from the scene that people will raise their hand, make a fist, and yell when they see their supporting players hit a single. We can always witness the scene that after the pitcher strikes the batter out, the fans may stand up and cheering for the pitcher. Why will we or they do that? It is because we imagine ourselves to those players. We think we are them. Therefore, when they hit a homerun, we will feel that it seems that it is us who hit the ball out of the fence.

The time when the Brothers win the game, and the fans are so glad that throws the colored ribbon into the  field

Although recently something bad happened in Taiwan's baseball, I believe that we will get through it. Taiwan's baseball will become stronger and stronger.