Report from China
by Dave StudemanApril 27, 2008
Ryan, one of THT's loyal readers, attended a China Baseball League game in Shanghai yesterday. His report follows... The venue was the Kangbei Baseball and Softball Stadium in southern Shanghai. I use the term "stadium" loosely - it's certainly no Oriole Park at Camden Yards. There were about 100-120 people at the game, half of which was a class of students. When they left at the end of the 6th, the place was really quiet. There were also a lot of foreigners there too, so not a huge crowd of Chinese fans.
The only available seats were behind home plate, which was great because admission was free. I didn't see concessions or anything being sold, but there was a really good Hunan restaurant across the street. Before the bottom of each inning, an announcer would come into the crowd and lead us in some cheering, and the mascot would help out by encouraging everyone to bang their thundersticks together.
The game itself was fun. The Beijing Tigers (the team in black) won 1-0 on a run scored in the first inning. The Shanghai Eagles never threatened except in the bottom of the ninth. Beijing's pitcher hit the DH, who then moved to third on a single by the catcher. With the third baseman up to bat, the catcher stole second, putting runners on second and third with no outs. Shanghai's dugout and the crowd started making some noise! But then the third baseman flew out to center, the first baseman grounded out to third, and the second baseman popped up to the catcher to end it.
Dave was called a "national treasure" by Rob Neyer. Seriously. Comments about this article can be sent to him through the miracle of e-mail.