Taiwan won two games and lost two at this year’s World Baseball Classic (WBC) and did not advance to the quarter-finals in Tokyo. Meanwhile, Japan won all seven of their games to claim the title.
This is the third time that Japan has won the WBC. The contrast between Taiwan and Japan this year was reminiscent of the 2013 WBC, when Taiwan reached the quarter-finals.
Their game in Tokyo that year was a classic. Led by legendary pitcher Wang Chien-ming (王建民), Taiwan gave Japan a run for their money, even though the hosts emerged victorious in extra innings with a final score of 4-3.
However, Taiwan this year did not even have a chance to confront Japan. There are many reasons, but the most crucial were due to organization and preparation of the squad.
For many years, the national teams of Taiwan and Japan were thoroughly organized, but that began to change in 2013, when Japan failed to secure a general manager for its national team, who lost in the semi-finals against Puerto Rico.
After the tournament, the Baseball Federation of Japan and Nippon Professional Baseball jointly founded the Japan Baseball Management Committee, which was put in charge of everything related to the national team, also known as Samurai Japan.
Their excellent performances have earned Samurai Japan reputation and profit, more than enough to cover most of their expenses, including its manager’s salary.
The team’s logo is particularly well designed. Shaped like a home base with “Samurai” and “Japan” clearly presented, the logo is completed by a red dot, conveying to the world the Bushido moral code of “Samurai Japan.”
Unlike Japan, Taiwan has not changed much since 2013, with the national team remaining more makeshift.
In 2013, the team were organized and trained by the CPBL. For the 2017 tournament, the national baseball association (CTBA) was in charge.
This year, the CPBL was in charge again and a general manager was not secured until September last year.
As early as 2015, then-CPBL commissioner John Wu (吳志揚) suggested that Taiwan emulate Samurai Japan. The next year, former Sports Administration director-general Ho Jow-fei (何卓飛) said that Taiwan should learn from Japan’s method of selecting a team manager and coaches.
Then-CTBA deputy chairman Kuo Chih-hui (郭智輝) also proposed running Taiwan’s national team like a business, similar to what Japan had been doing for years.
Regrettably, the suggestions have never been put into practice.
In collaboration with each other, Japan’s baseball organizations worked in tandem like a pair of chopsticks, successfully picking up a piece of gold called “Samurai Japan,” while the CPBL, CTBA and Sports Administration failed to form a collaborative relationship. For them, everybody’s business is nobody’s business.
It is not embarrassing to imitate Japan’s transformation of its national team. What is more shameful is an outright refusal to learn from others.
Lin Chih-yen is an English and Japanese-speaking tour manager and guide.
Translated by Emma Liu
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