Taiwan baseball fans may get the opportunity to see Major League action in person on their home soil next year if plans to host the San Francisco Giants’ season opening two-game series against the Arizona Diamondbacks materialize.
Taiwan would in the process become just the third foreign nation to host a Major League Baseball squad’s regular season home opener. Japan has hosted three such series in Tokyo in recent years, while Mexico has done so in the city of Monterrey on one occasion.
Bros Sports Marketing Inc. confirmed July 22 that it has been in continuous contact with the Giants over the past four months to discuss the invitation. Based on current progress, the chances are high that the plan for Taiwan to host the games will pan out, according to the marketing firm, which had made the arrangements for the Los Angeles Dodgers’ recent visit to the island.
Gaining the approval of players from both the Giants and Diamondbacks will be key to whether the games are played in Taiwan. Players union executive Gene Orza met with the Giants nearly two weeks ago in Washington to outline the travel schedule, which would also feature two exhibition games against the Chinese Taipei national squad before the two-game season opener in late March.
The players, who would receive additional compensation for taking part in the games overseas because of the travel inconvenience and earlier start to spring training, are slated to vote on the proposal next month. The two games would be recorded as home games for the San Francisco Giants.
Bros Sports pointed out that the Giants view the Chinese market with importance. This fact, coupled with the success of the Dodgers’ recent visit to the island and the presence of several Taiwan-born players in the Major Leagues, including Dodgers left-hander Kuo Hong-chih and Washington Nationals right-hander Wang Chien-ming, has led the Giants to seriously consider the feasibility of holding games in Taiwan, a company spokesman said.
On the planned warm-up games against the Chinese Taipei squad, both the Chinese Professional Baseball League and the Chinese Taipei Baseball Association said they have not heard any news about the proposed Giants season opener in Taiwan.
Richard Lin, secretary general of the Chinese Taipei Baseball Association, said the national squad could not just be mobilized anytime at will to play games. He said if the Major League executives confirm plans to schedule games against the Chinese Taipei team, his organization would directly contact Jim Small, managing director and vice president in Asia for Major League Baseball International, to discuss the details. He added that the association would not accept having an agent company negotiate on its behalf.
According to the San Jose Mercury News, if the plan for Taiwan to host the Major League games were to be approved, it would mark the Giants’ first ever regular season games outside the United States, its territories and Canada. The team played a series against the Montreal Expos in San Juan, Puerto Rico in 2004. (SB)