Taiwan Wins Shocking Premiership 12 Why Taiwan Lost to Spain In fact, Latin American Team
Feb 22, 2025
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Taiwan's national baseball team suffered a 3-12 defeat by Spain in the World Baseball Classic (WBC) qualifying round held at Taipei Dome in Taipei, Taiwan on the 21st.
It was literally a crushing defeat. Taiwan's key hitter Zhang Yu-cheng hit a two-run home run in the third inning, but unfortunately, he did not prevent his team's defeat. Pitchers suffered a shocking defeat as they lost a lot of points in a row.
The loss is the first time in the history of the Taiwanese baseball team's loss to the Spanish baseball team. The Taiwanese media was also in shock. Taiwan's sports media reported that the national baseball team suffered its first defeat against Spain in 37 years due to the collapse of the pitching staff," he reported in a scramble.
Taiwan has faced Spain in international competitions for a total of four times in the past 37 years. They met in 1988, 2005, and 2007 at the World Championships, and all of them were big wins by Taiwan. In the 1992 Barcelona Olympics, he won a whopping 20-0 against Spain.
Taiwan lost a point from the first inning and struggled against the Spanish slugger. Each pitcher who came up, regardless of starting or bullpen, scored a run. He almost suffered a cold defeat, but managed to score an additional point in the bottom of the seventh inning, preventing humiliation.
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The WBC, a competition organized by the Major League Secretariat, can play as a representative of the country if the lineage is certified, even if it does not have the nationality. This is why Tommy Edman (LA Dodgers), whose mother is Korean and father is American, was able to play as a member of the Korean national team at the last WBC tournament even though he did not have Korean nationality. The same goes for other countries.
However, it is known that most of the Spanish national teams that played in the WBC qualifying round were from Latin America. According to foreign media, there was only one player born in Spain among the Spanish national team. The rest of the players are born and raised in Latin American countries with Spanish ancestry. Most Latin American countries have many young players who enjoy baseball from an early age and play baseball professionally. In fact, many players have experience in the U.S. minor leagues.
Spain itself, which does not have a professional league, may be called a 'baseball underdog', but it is at least an exception to the WBC tournament, which is convened for the national team by blood. In the end, Taiwan suffered an unexpected blow.
Taiwan's national team coach Chungha Ojee said `Spain's attack was too strong. The mound needs to be rearranged quickly. All the players did their best. It is my fault that today's result was not good. I'll take responsibility for it. "Our goal is to still make it to the finals."
Jang, who hit a home run, said in an interview with local reporters after the game that `Spanish hitters were really strong.'
The Spanish national team's surprise performance can also raise awareness of the Korean baseball team led by head coach Ryu Ji-hyun. On this day, coach Ryu Ji-hyun, Kang In-kwon, Lee Dong-wook, and Heo Sam-young watched the Spain-Taiwan match at the Taipei Dome site.
The fact that such an unusual event can occur at any time in WBC, which plays in bloodlines, is a point that the Korean baseball team should also be prepared.
This article was translated by Naver AI translator.
