Baseball in Taiwan

In the shifting international environment that eventually led to the ROC's departure from the United Nations, the KMT government used baseball as a tool for nation-building, pouring massive resources into the sport in the hopes of forging a stronger national identity.

The highest level of baseball in Taiwan is the Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL) founded in 1989.

History

Introduction and early years

Baseball was introduced to Taiwan around 1897, but it initially remained a game for Japanese bureaucrats and bankers in the colonial seat of Taihoku (modern-day Taipei). The first official baseball team in Taiwan was formed in 1904, when the island was a Japanese colony, by the Middle School of the Taiwan Governor-General's National Language School (present-day Chien Kuo Senior High School). The first organized baseball game was played between this team and the team of the Normal School of the Taiwan Governor-General's National Language School (present-day Taipei Municipal University of Education) in March 1906.

From 1906 through the mid-1920s, Taiwanese baseball teams consisted mainly of Japanese players. Taiwanese did not become actively involved in the sport until the mid-1920s. Around 1921, the first team made up of indigenous Taiwanese peoples was established in eastern Taiwan, and it was reorganized into the Noko (Chinese: 能高; also known as Nenggao) team. As part of the reorganization, Japanese officials offered players on the team the opportunity to attend the Hualien Agricultural School.

That the Noko team consisted completely of indigenous Taiwanese, rather than Japanese or Han Taiwanese players, was a milestone in racial integration, albeit often noted through a colonial lens. Nonetheless, the success and popularity of the team laid the foundation for the further development of baseball in southern Taiwan, notably Takao First Public School in present-day Qijin, Kaohsiung, and Mawuku Public School in present-day Taitung County.

Colonial participation

By 1931, high school baseball had become very popular in Taiwan, even though of all players dating back to 1923 in the Islandwide High School Baseball Tournaments, only 5.2% were ethnic Taiwanese. The baseball team of Kagi Agriculture and Forestry Institute, hailing from Chiayi, played its way into the final of that year’s Summer Koshien tournament, becoming the only Taiwanese team to every do so, although they lost in to Chūkyō Commercial. The team arrived as one of 22 district representatives out of a total of 631 team across the empire. Historians have noted the significance of the "tri-ethnic" Kano squad, consisting of Japanese, Han Taiwanese, and indigenous Taiwanese students.

Republic of China era

The sport remained a steadfast passion in the face of political turmoil after World War II and Chiang Kai Shek's regime. In 1968, the Taitung Red Leaves defeated a Japanese team which sparkled stories about poor indigenous boys defeating baseball giants. Following the Republic of China's expulsion from the United Nations in 1971 and losing the United States' recognition in 1979, Chiang Kai Shek viewed baseball as a means for national cohesion and soft power. Chiang had attempted to eradicate all ties with the Japanese colonial era but realized the sport's role in morale. The national team was, however, barred from competing under the name of "China" as well as utilizing the ROC flag and competed as "Chinese Taipei". Chiang was particularly driven to invest resources in youth baseball. On seventeen ocassions between 1969 and 1995, Taiwan claimed the Little League World Series.