Ep 77 | Richard Wang Announcer of Taiwan Baseball Games: First Pro Sports Since Covid-19

A note from Talking Taiwan host Felicia Lin:

The exceptional way in which Taiwan has handled and contained the Coronavirus has thrust it into the international spotlight once again, but for a different reason. On April 11th, Taiwan's professional baseball league (CPBL) became the world's first professional sports league to open in 2020. And then it became the first to have spectators at their games on May 8th.

When I realized that Taiwan had became the only place on the planet where professional baseball was being played, and I knew there was a story there. I learned that Richard Wang had become the English broadcaster for CPBL games, so I reached out to him hoping that he'd agree to an interview for Talking Taiwan.

Richard kindly agreed to do the interview, and you'll see how just how kind, gracious and patient he was when our interview got off to a bit of a rocky start. Just watch the blooper video of our Zoom call, which shows that strange things happen when using a virtual background. Look for that video below in the related links section.

Here's a little preview of what we talked about in this podcast episode:

• What happened when Taiwan's baseball league (CPBL) realized that they were going to be the first sports league in the world to open in 2020
• The Eleven Sports Network's role in bringing English commentary to Taiwan's baseball league
• Richard's baseball broadcasting partner Wayne McNeil
• What it was like having live baseball games with no spectators
• What it was like when fans were allowed to attend baseball games
• The comparison between baseball games played in the U.S. and Taiwan
• How Richard became a Red Sox fan
• How Richard got the nickname Boston
• How Richard got interested in baseball
• How Richard became a baseball announcer in Taiwan
• How aspects of Taiwanese culture and traditions are introduced during the broadcasting of games
• A viral video of a home run call from 2013, when Manny Ramirez hit another home run for the EDA Rhinos in Taiwan
• How baseball was introduced to Taiwan
• The history of baseball in Taiwan
• Taiwan's Little League and its participation in the Little League World Series
• How baseball has boosted Taiwan's international image
• Why Taiwan's baseball league is called the Chinese Professional Baseball League
• The Taiwan Major League (TML)
• Parallels between the Spanish Flu of 1918 and the Coronavirus in 2020
• The precautions taken at the baseball stadiums in Taiwan
• Will there be a major league baseball season in the U.S.
• Where you can watch the CPBL games
• What baseball has to do with the New Taiwan Dollar 500 dollar bill

Richard Wang and Wayne McNeil (Photo courtesy of Richard Wang)

Richard Wang and Wayne McNeil (Photo courtesy of Richard Wang)

Related Links:

Blooper video of Richard Wang's interview with Felicia Lin:

CPBL English Website: http://www.cpbl.com.tw/eng/history/

For CPBL stats and stories visit: http://cpblstats.com/

[Can you embed this link to a video clip on Twitter]

Here's a video clip from a CPBL game that shows the robot drummers:

https://twitter.com/ElevenSportsTW/status/1251201807981768709

Watch CPBL games by going to Twitter.com and searching for one of the following four teams: Rakuten Monkeys, Uni Lions, Chinatrust Brothers and Fubon Guardians

Watch Rakuten Monkeys, Uni Lions on the Eleven Sports Taiwan Twitter account:

https://twitter.com/ElevenSportsTW

Richard Wang on Twitter: https://twitter.com/RWang_WBSC