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The MLB Taiwan All-Star Series was an end-of-the-season tour of
Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the no ...
made by an All-Star team from
Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (A ...
(MLB) after 2011 MLB season, contested in a best-of format against the
Chinese Taipei national baseball team The Chinese Taipei baseball team () is the national men's baseball team of the Republic of China ( Taiwan). It is governed by the Chinese Taipei Baseball Association. The team is ranked second in the world by the World Baseball Softball Confed ...
. The series featured many great players, such as Nori Aoki,
Barry Bonds Barry Lamar Bonds (born July 24, 1964) is an American former professional baseball left fielder who played 22 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB). Bonds was a member of the Pittsburgh Pirates from 1986 to 1992 and the San Francisco Gian ...
,
Ken Griffey Jr. George Kenneth Griffey Jr. (born November 21, 1969), nicknamed "Junior" and "the Kid", is an American former professional baseball outfielder who played 22 years in Major League Baseball (MLB). He spent most of his career with the Seattle M ...
,
Chase Utley Chase Cameron Utley (born December 17, 1978), nicknamed "The Man" and "Silver Fox", is an American former professional baseball second baseman who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for 16 seasons, primarily for the Philadelphia Phillies. ...
,
Ryan Howard Ryan James Howard (born November 19, 1979), nicknamed "the Big Piece", is an American former professional baseball first baseman. Howard spent his entire Major League Baseball (MLB) career playing for the Philadelphia Phillies, from to . He is ...
,
Hideki Matsui , nicknamed " Godzilla", is a Japanese former professional baseball outfielder and designated hitter who played baseball in Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) and Major League Baseball (MLB). He batted left-handed and threw right-handed. Mats ...
,
Ichiro Suzuki , also known mononymously as , is a Japanese former professional baseball outfielder who played professionally for 28 seasons. He played nine years of his career with the Orix BlueWave of Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB), where he began hi ...
,
Robinson Canó Robinson José Canó Mercedes (; born October 22, 1982) is a Dominican-American professional baseball second baseman who is currently a free agent. He previously played in MLB for the New York Yankees, Seattle Mariners, New York Mets, San ...
and
Manny Ramírez Manuel Arístides Ramírez Onelcida (born May 30, 1972) is a Dominican-American former professional baseball outfielder. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for parts of 19 seasons. He played with the Cleveland Indians, Boston Red Sox, ...
. In the beginning of all games the
American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...
and
Republic of China Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the northeas ...
national anthems are all played. This series was similar set up compared with the long-standing
MLB Japan All-Star Series The MLB Japan All-Star Series is an irregular end-of-the-season tour of Japan made by an All-Star team from Major League Baseball (MLB) since 1986, contested in a best-of format against the All-Stars from Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) or ...
. Jim Small, vice president of MLB Asia appreciated the reception of Taiwan during the series and mentioned possible return in future.


Background

In 2010, it was announced that MLB had agreed to hold a series of postseason baseball games at Taiwan in 2011 postseason. The major reason behind was to capture the growth in popularity in baseball by
Taiwanese Taiwanese may refer to: * Taiwanese language, another name for Taiwanese Hokkien * Something from or related to Taiwan (Formosa) * Taiwanese aborigines, the indigenous people of Taiwan * Han Taiwanese, the Han people of Taiwan * Taiwanese people, r ...
after several household names playing Major League games at the beginning of the Millennium. The trend started from
Chin-Feng Chen Chen Chin-feng (; born 28 October 1977) is a retired baseball outfielder who was the first Taiwan-born player playing in Major League Baseball in 2002. Chen is a Taiwanese aborigine of Siraya tribal ancestry. Career In 1999 in the Cal League ...
and Chin-Hui Tsao earned debut for
Los Angeles Dodgers The Los Angeles Dodgers are an American professional baseball team based in Los Angeles. The Dodgers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League West, West division. Established in 1883 i ...
in September 2002 and July 2003 respectively. The most famous player was
Washington Nationals The Washington Nationals are an American professional baseball team based in Washington, D.C.. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) East division. From 2005 to 2007, the team played in RFK Stadiu ...
pitcher
Chien-Ming Wang Chien-Ming Wang (; born March 31, 1980) is a Taiwanese former professional baseball pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the New York Yankees, Washington Nationals, Toronto Blue Jays and Kansas City Royals. He also played for ...
who played for
New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. They are one ...
during 2005 to 2009 seasons. In March 2010, manager
Joe Torre Joseph Paul Torre (; born July 18, 1940) is an American professional baseball executive, serving as a special assistant to the Commissioner of Baseball since 2020. He previously served in the capacity of Major League Baseball's (MLB) chief baseb ...
led a
Los Angeles Dodgers The Los Angeles Dodgers are an American professional baseball team based in Los Angeles. The Dodgers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League West, West division. Established in 1883 i ...
team that included
Manny Ramirez Manuel Arístides Ramírez Onelcida (born May 30, 1972) is a Dominican-American former professional baseball outfielder. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for parts of 19 seasons. He played with the Cleveland Indians, Boston Red Sox, ...
and James Loney for a rain-truncated two game series. This was the first visit of MLB team to Taiwan in the 21st century. Taiwan-born pitcher Hong-Chih Kuo was on the Dodgers roster.


List of series


Rosters

The rosters were announced in October 2011.


Controversy

Due to scheduling conflicts and unable to agree on the terms with the event organiser,
CPBL The Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL; ) is the top-tier professional baseball league in Taiwan. The league was established in 1989 and played the first season in 1990. CPBL eventually absorbed the competing Taiwan Major League in 2 ...
players were not allowed to participate in the series.


Future

In 2011,
Jim Small James Richard Small (22 September 1933 – 29 October 2021) was an Australian politician. He was the National Party member for Murray in the New South Wales Legislative Assembly from 1985 to 1999. Small was born at Bondi in Sydney. He was e ...
commented on possible return of the series in future. However, this has not been materialized. In April 2017, during negotiation with
CPBL The Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL; ) is the top-tier professional baseball league in Taiwan. The league was established in 1989 and played the first season in 1990. CPBL eventually absorbed the competing Taiwan Major League in 2 ...
, Jim Small proposed to send an all star team to
South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...
and then to play 3 games in Taiwan next November. In June 2017, during a visit to Taoyuan, Small further confirmed the selection of hosting city. Mayor of Taoyuan
Cheng Wen-tsan Cheng Wen-tsan (; born 6 July 1967) is a Taiwanese politician. He is the first and incumbent Mayor of the newly established Taoyuan City, having served since 25 December 2014. Education Cheng received his bachelor's degree from the Department of ...
promised to search for a suitable venue such as
Taoyuan International Baseball Stadium The Rakuten Taoyuan Baseball Stadium (), originally known as Taoyuan International Baseball Stadium () until Rakuten acquired the naming rights in 2022, is a multi-use stadium located in Taoyuan City, Taiwan. The stadium opened in 2010 and has a c ...
. However, the series did not come to fruition. In 2019, after promotion to senior vice president of MLB’s international business, Jim Small reiterated the interest of hosting MLB Opening Series in Taiwan. He stressed on two important factors in consideration, adverse weather causing delays or cancelled games just like Dodgers game in 2010 and 2011 series and huge costs of hosting games in Asia. Therefore Small expressed hope for the completion of
Taipei Dome The Taipei Dome () also known as the Farglory Dome (), is a multi-purpose domed stadium under construction located in Xinyi, Taipei, Taiwan, that was originally scheduled to start construction in 2007 and be completed in 2011, although the st ...
with over 40,000 capacity as the first covered baseball stadium in Taiwan to enhance the possibility.


See also

* List of Major League Baseball games played outside the United States and Canada * MLB Japan Opening Series 2008 *
MLB Japan All-Star Series The MLB Japan All-Star Series is an irregular end-of-the-season tour of Japan made by an All-Star team from Major League Baseball (MLB) since 1986, contested in a best-of format against the All-Stars from Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) or ...
*
MLB China Series The Major League Baseball China Series, or MLB China Series, were two spring training games between the San Diego Padres and Los Angeles Dodgers played in the People's Republic of China. It marked the first time Major League Baseball teams playe ...
*
2019 MLB London Series The 2019 MLB London Series was a two-game Major League Baseball series between the New York Yankees and the Boston Red Sox at London Stadium in London, United Kingdom, in 2019. Sponsored by Mitel, it is branded as Mitel & MLB Present London Seri ...


References

{{reflist, 2


External links


MLB International Events
Major League Baseball international baseball competitions Major League Baseball competitions Baseball competitions in Taiwan Recurring sporting events established in 2011