臺灣文化「譯」起讀

Baseball is one of the most popular sports in the world. It originated from America. Afterwards, baseball was popular in Asia, Taiwan and other countries. This article will introduce the baseball history in Taiwan.

In 1895, Japan ruled Taiwan. At that time, Taiwanese people started to know the baseball sport. At first, only Japanese people played baseball. After 1920, baseball begun to be popular among Taiwanese people. In 1931, the Chiayi School of Agriculture and Forestry took the second place in the Yakyu Japanese tournament.

After World War II, China ruled Taiwan. The government implemented a policy to marginalize baseball. Baseball was no longer popular among Taiwanese people. However, during the 1950s and the 1960s, Taiwanese’s passion for baseball came back again. Many schools had their amateur baseball teams. From 1969 to 1982, Taiwan won 13 Little League World Series Champions.

In 1990, the Chinese Professional Baseball League was founded. For the first time, Taiwan has its own professional baseball league. However, in 1997, there was a gambling scandal; the scandal ruined the league's reputation. After the scandal, the Chinese Professional Baseball League was terminated. Taiwanese people discriminated and despised on baseball players. Baseball team bosses disbanded their baseball teams.

On the other hand, the Taiwan Major League was established. In 2003, two leagues agreed to merge together. The new league is composed of four teams: brother Elephants, LA-NEW Bears, Sinon Bulls, and Uni-President Lions.

Although Taiwan baseball has had the hard-times experience, Taiwanese people are still very fond of baseball. Every time when Taiwanese teams compete in some tournaments, Taiwanese people will cheer for them.