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China beats Taiwan again, but fails to advance in World Baseball Classic

Monday, 9th March 2009 ~ Maggie ~ Link ~ Comments (0)

Is China's national baseball team getting better or worse?

Its performance in the World Baseball Classic didn't seem to provide a satisfying answer to that question. After playing a competitive game against powerhouse Japan, then pulling off a big-time upset of rival Chinese Taipei (Taiwan), China got housed by Korea, 14-0.

American-born Ray Chang, who plays for the Pittsburgh Pirates' farm team, was the hero of the Chinese Taipei game, with his eighth-inning homer. WBC rules allow him to play for China because both of his parents were born there.

China beat Chinese Taipei in the Olympics as well. The 8-7 victory was China's only in the Beijing Olympics. China also gave Korea a good game in the Olympics, taking it to 11 innings before losing, 1-0. So why does China keep beating Taiwan, a country where people actually play and follow baseball, and losing to everyone else? Even with China playing pretty competitively against Japan and Korea, it is starting to look a little fishy.

Baseball America: China shocks Taiwan again

Asian-American Sports Examiner: Team China keeps it interesting, but loses first game to Japan, 4-0

Asian-American Sports Examiner: Hot-hitting Korean team defeats error-plagued Team China, 14-0

China's WBC page

Tags: baseball, Ray Chang, World Baseball Classic