Should Taiwan keep its professional baseball league?

Launched 20 years ago, the CPBL has been plagued by scandal after shocking scandal over the past half decade. Taipei district prosecutors are now looking into the latest. A bookmaker and half a dozen players and former players have been detained with the approval of a district court judge for fear they may collude with other suspects or destroy incriminating evidence. One suspect is Elephant pitcher Tsao Chin-hui, Taiwan's first player to go on the Los Angeles Dodger mound and win the game. The New York Times reported on the scandal with “Say It Ain't So Tsao!” as a headline patterned after that of the 1919 game-rigging that called on White Sox pitcher “Shoeless” Joseph Jefferson Jackson to “Say It Ain't So Joe!”

The bookmaker, Tsai Cheng-yi nicknamed “Windshield Wiper,” is believed to work for the mob that raked in at least NT$1 billion (US$30 million) a season by fixing games. Police investigators said Tsao, the ace pitcher of the Elephants, managed to lose a game when the Windshield Wiper appeared in the baseball park. Tsao, who came back from the United States a little more than a year ago to join the Elephants, has denied any wrongdoing, though he admitted he dined with the bookmaker.

One former player in detention is Kevin Huang, a Boston Red Sox pitching prospect who hurled for the La New Bears last year after he had failed to make it to the Major Leagues in the United States. The scandal infuriated Premier Wu Den-yih, who considers baseball to be Taiwan's national game just like his predecessor. He ordered a thorough investigation into the scandal involving the Elephants, of whom first lady Christine Ma is an avowed fan. Wu wants game-fixing by the mob stamped out.

That's impossible, unless bookmaking were made legal with strenuous government control. It took years for the Major Leagues to get rid of the mob manipulation. Japan still has trouble, though scandals have become much less of late. Taiwan's Legislative Yuan isn't ready to legalize bookmaking, of course. Remember a referendum was called in the Pescadores to legalize gambling not long ago? Residents of the offshore island county rejected the legalized gambling.

According to a public opinion survey published by the Apple Daily yesterday, a 62.34 percent majority of respondents support the survival of professional baseball in Taiwan, while a 27.50 percent minority want the CPBL to be disbanded. Random sampling was adopted to collect answers from 640 fans. Apparently, fans hope to continue to watch professionals play on the diamond.

1|2|Next Page>>

SharePrintEmail

Write a Comment

Enter your comments - 3000 characters max

Type in image code

Submit

 Receive China Post promos Respond to this email