The Power and Pride of Baseball

Dear Editor,

Reading your article "Back to the Diamond" (July domestic issue) was a truly moving experience. I still remember our long, drawn-out battle with the South Korean team in last October's Asian Baseball Championship. The moment Kao Chih-kang sent that little white globe hurtling through the infield, I saw our collective dream of making it to the Athens Olympics start to become reality, and as the people of Taiwan applauded, Taiwanese baseball really started to shine.

On that day I was in the office, and everyone decided to finish up early. In the boss's conference room was a TV with cable, and we all crowded together in that narrow room. We applauded together, we gasped together, and when victory was finally in our grasp, we gave a massive cheer together!

This sort of scene is honestly nothing unusual for Taiwan. Remember our performance in the little league world series in Williamsport, Pennsylvania? Or our team taking bronze at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics? Even during our darkest days, as society's march to the future continues and the problems we face seem to keep growing and growing, at least we've always got baseball!

As Lin Hua-wei said recently, baseball is like a leader for us, leading us through despair and hopelessness to the other side.

Baseball is a constant source of pride and strength for the people of Taiwan. Through baseball, we can all set aside our political differences and look to the future as one. Through baseball, we can all find something to bind us together. Now, with the Athens Olympics rapidly approaching, the Taiwanese people can again bury the political hatchet and come together in cheering our boys on. This kind of feeling is something no politician could ever manufacture.

Through your feature on Taiwanese baseball, its development, and its prospects for the Olympics, you have helped bring all this to the attention of Chinese everywhere. Once August comes, I expect Chinese both in Taiwan and abroad will come together and cheer on the Chinese Taipei team. Just the thought of it excites me beyond belief!

Through baseball, the people of Taiwan have managed to set aside suspicion and jealousy. Through baseball, the people of Taiwan can be inspired to take the love we feel for our country from the ballpark and into society as a whole, and out into the wider world. Regardless of where you sit on the political spectrum, why not take this chance to put aside political point-scoring and together cheer on Taiwan's Olympic representatives!