China gains a new sporting interest
By Steve Henson, Yahoo! Sports Mar 16, 9:32 am EDT
BEIJING – The three university students from different parts of China sat in the top row above the first base line at Wukesong Stadium, thoroughly captivated by the spectacle served up by Major League baseball.
Ricky is from Southern China, Brenda from the Northeast and Maureen a Beijing local. They share a dormitory at Beijing Sport University, where they playfully address each other by the English names they have chosen for themselves. And after watching the San Diego Padres defeat the Los Angeles Dodgers 6-3 Sunday in the second of two exhibitions in MLB’s unprecedented showcase event in China, the young women have a new sporting interest.
Beijing Sport University students Maureen, Brenda and Ricky take in their first baseball game.
“I’d seen movies about baseball but never seen a match,” said Ricky, a white baseball cap pulled low over her forehead. “It’s much faster than I expected. It is a skillful game and very interesting.”
It is new fans like these that MLB sought to reach by flying two teams halfway around the planet for the China Series.
“I’d like to see more baseball games,” Brenda said.
Right about then, Dodgers manager Joe Torre went to the mound to change pitchers, a ritual every U.S. fan has witnessed countless times. To the fledgling fans, though, the departing pitcher, head bowed, taking a solitary walk from the mound to the dugout was a deeply sad scene.
A Chinese fan poses with San Diego Padres mascot, the Swinging Friar.
Soon enough strains of the Beatles’ “Help” filled the stadium, noisemakers were clacking and the festive atmosphere returned.
“I think this is good for young people,” Maureen said. “More young people should learn about this game, then it will be popular throughout China.”
So far, reviews are mixed. Ricky, Brenda and Maureen might have been smitten, but there were more empty seats than at the near sellout Saturday. MLB announced that 11,890 were sold in the 12,500-seat stadium, but probably fewer than 10,000 seats were filled.
The overkill of security at the gates that delayed the first pitch Saturday improved Sunday. Three more gates were used and security personnel were instructed to speed up the process.
SAVING THE STADIUM
As president of the International Baseball Federation, Harvey Schiller wakes up every morning with the same task at the top of his to-do list – get baseball reinstated in the Olympic Games.
But the former head of Turner Sports and YankeeNets has a more immediate concern. The private owner of the land where Wukesong Stadium is situated plans to build apartments or a retail complex on it after the Games. Schiller views that as a disaster.
The question remains if Chinese youth will get to play in Beijing’s Wukesong Stadium.
“We have been working with the government to keep it open well beyond the Olympics,” he said. “It is unclear right now what will happen.
“It’s a great facility. It’s in the heart of Beijing and the fact that it was the venue for the first MLB games here makes it historical.”
Schiller said MLB and USA Baseball might provide funding to persuade the land owner to preserve the stadium. He envisions it becoming the home for a team in the Chinese Baseball League, which currently has six teams that play 30 games a year.
“We have to help economically and logistically for this stadium to survive,” Schiller said.
As for his primary task of getting baseball reinstated into the Olympic Games, Schiller’s plan is to get the sport voted into the 2016 Games – a decision that will be made at the IOC committee meeting in August 2009 – then begin to lobby for a reversal of the decision to exclude baseball from the 2010 London Games.
“There are millions who play and billions who watch and follow the game,” he said. “We will work to get it back into the Olympics. “
GLOBAL INFLUENCE
Long before the Internet, cell phones and every other technical marvel that has improved communication between people worldwide, Jackie Robinson touched at least one life in China.
Brightre Chen, a guest in Dodger owner Frank McCourt’s makeshift suite at Wukesong Stadium, couldn’t stop talking about Robinson and the impact the pioneering second baseman had made on his life. As a junior high student in Tianjin, China, Chen read a book about Robinson’s life and never forgot the lesson that “every person is equal and can overcome racial discrimination to reach their dreams.”
An adult now, Chen is director of a Tianjin government agency that promotes trade in the sports industry. He was among a group from China that visited Dodger Stadium a few weeks ago, and a wall photo of Robinson stopped him in his tracks.
“I remembered the Jackie Robinson story my whole life,” he said. “It’s a story of inspiration that applies to every race.”
FAMILY TIES
Padres pitcher Heath Bell, one of the best relievers in baseball, had a more personal reason to make the trip to China than most players. The grandparents of his wife, Nicole, emigrated from Beijing to Sacramento, Calif., about 30 years ago. Nicole came along on the trip.
“She never had any intention of coming to China,” Bell said. But this was the chance of a lifetime and she’s glad she did.”
The Bells drove through the Hou Hai area of Beijing, where homes deep in lanes called hutongs can be hundreds of years old.
“Nicole said that now she understands why her grandmother is the way she is,” Bell said. “She’s never moved, and is very frugal and set in her ways.”
REFLECTIONS ON CHINA
Dodgers outfielder Matt Kemp, one of the few regulars for either team that made the trip, sat in the clubhouse after the game contemplating a cultural experience he had looked forward to for weeks.
“I got to experience China, visit the Great Wall and meet the people, but most of all I can say I played in the first Major League game in this country,” he said. “That means something to me. It’s special.”
