Ninja Catchers and Chivalrous Eagles: Taiwan Baseball and a Globalized Taiwan Identity

Abstract

On March 25, 2000, Chen Shui-bian chose a special engagement for his first public appearance as Taiwan’s new President-elect. That night, Chen spoke at the Taiwan Major League’s opening game, which also served as the opening ceremony of the new Chengqinghu Stadium in Gaoxiong County (see Figure 1). Before the contest between the Taizhong Robots and the hometown Gaoxiong-Pingdong Thunder Gods began, the capacity crowd heard Chen describe baseball as a “symbol of the Taiwanese spirit,” and pledge to fight the influence of organized crime on professional baseball. The President-elect announced he would designate 2001 “Taiwan Baseball Year,” and promised to consider Gaoxiong County Magistrate Yu Zhengxian’s proposal to designate baseball Taiwan’s national sport. Joking with fans in his customary self-deprecating fashion, Chen told of his childhood fascination with baseball, and how he only decided to be President after he realized he was not athletic enough to succeed in baseball. President Chen’s official attention to the sport marks only the latest chapter in the history