Taiwan Embassy donated $1,000 to the Palau Baseball Federation on Dec 19th, 2018 to support 18-under All Stars to participate in World Cup Championships to be held in Guam from January 22 to 29, 2019.
Palau Baseball Federation is organizing a team of 18 players aged 18 or under, 1 manager, 2 coaches, 1 trainer and 1 umpire to participate in the game.
Ambassador Wallace Chow told Atley Kazuma, baseball development officer, that baseball is also a national sport in Taiwan. Fans often stay overnight just to watch Taiwan Teams play in the Baseball World Cup.
Like Palau, baseball has ingrained in Taiwan’s culture and Taiwan’s baseball teams often make headlines on the world stage. The Taiwan youth teams won the US based Little League World Series 17 times from 1969 to 1996.
Player like Kuo Tai-yuan won more than 100 games in Japan for the Seibu Lions in the 1980s and 1990s. In the US, Wang Chien-ming was a key rotation member for the New York Yankees, winning a World Series in 2009, and Chen Wei-yin inked a $80 million contract with the Miami Marlins in 2016.
According to the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC), Taiwan has vaulted past Mexico to the fifth place in the latest world baseball rankings. US, Japan, Korea and Cuba maintained their previous positions at first, second, third, fourth respectively.
Atley Kazuma told Ambassador Chow that Palau has always been the best baseball team among the Pacific Islands and has won many championships.
Ambassador Wallace Chow extended his wish for the success of Palau Team in the coming game. He also encouraged more exchanges between Palau and Taiwan baseball teams.(PR)