Going To Bat For Taiwan

Not many fans in the crowd of 15,000 at the stadium or in the huge television audience were deceived by the outcome. There was grand strategy afoot here. It seemed everyone in Taiwan knew that neither team had started its best pitcher. Certainly most spectators considered Wang the strongest member of Tainan's staff, and there was no question that Lin Wen-hsiang, who had not appeared for Kaohsiung, might well be the best pitcher on the island.

When the scene shifted to Taipei for the decisive game of the national playoffs, Tainan's Wu had no choice but to overlook Wang and start the boy who had nearly no-hit Kaohsiung two weeks earlier. And Kaohsiung Manager Shau Chang-kueng was not about to keep Lin, who was described as "the Secret Weapon" during the fortnight of press speculation that preceded the game, in reserve any longer.

"We're a young team, we've got six 11-year-olds among our 14 players," said Shau. "We can't afford to get in a slugging match with Tainan, so I had to look for an edge in pitching. Last year our best pitcher beat Tainan in the regionals, but in the national playoffs the Giants had the advantage of already having seen his stuff and were able to defeat him. This time in the regional I knew we were sure of a trip to Taipei because we would finish second to the Tainan boys, even if we lost. So I saved Lin until now. This way they don't know any of his secrets."

Chen certainly had lost his mystery for Kaohsiung's batters. In the top of the opening inning he got the first two hitters on grounders to short, one a slow roller up the middle that Wang cut off in front of second base and the other a hard shot into the hole on which he made an excellent backhand play. But Chen's particular run of good fortune ended when Lin, batting third, singled sharply to center. A double, walk and single by the next three batters gave Kaohsiung a 2-0 lead and Wang was brought in to replace Chen. His first pitch to Kaohsiung's seventh hitter was a fastball for a called strike. His next pitch, a curve, bounced far in front and to the left of the plate. Tainan's catcher lunged for the ball, but it was beyond his range and another run scored on the wild pitch. Wang eventually got that hitter on a grounder to third and Tainan was out of the inning. He would pitch a no-hitter the rest of the way.

Shau now had the edge he had hoped for, but it very nearly disappeared in the bottom of the first when the Secret Weapon looked like a dud. Lin is lean and tall (5'7") with very long legs that twist and whirl as he goes through his slow windup. Shau says within earshot of the boy, "Ah, he's not so fast." And he isn't, compared to Nolan Ryan. Matched against other 12-year-olds, however, baby-faced Lin is lightning quick and an excellent hitter as well. In 12 tournament games this year he averaged .551 with seven homers.

Tainan's batters seemed unimpressed with all that. The first two singled and then Wang hit a line drive to the base of the fence in left center for a double and an RBI. Following an intentional walk to clean-up batter Chen and the first of Lin's nine strikeouts, Tainan's sixth batter got a base on balls to force in a run. That made the score 3-2, but from then until the sixth and last inning Lin did not allow a runner to reach base. Wang doubled into the left-field corner to open the sixth and again Chen was walked intentionally, even though it meant putting the potential winning run on. Working calmly, Lin struck out the next two batters. The third batter was retired on a hard one-hopper to second and Kaohsiung was an upset winner.

Predictably, it went right on winning through the five games of the Asian regionals last month at Manila and earned Taiwan the right to represent that part of the world in Williamsport for the sixth straight year. Lin started and won Kaohsiung's three games against its toughest opposition—South Korea, Japan and the Philippines—surrendering only three runs along the way. He also slugged four of the tournament's 22 home runs, and Kaohsiung's leadoff hitter. Center-fielder Kuo Yao-tsong, hit six more as Taiwan outscored its five opponents 66-6.

Whether Kaohsiung will be able to keep Taiwan's victory streak alive at Williamsport may depend on its development of some new secret weapons, such as a good second pitcher to back up Lin and better hitting than the team showed back home. And Shau's youngsters will have to demonstrate they can take tension the way Taiwan's other World Series representatives have. The pressure that Little League has been accused of subjecting American boys to does not remotely equal that borne by Taiwan's kids. They come 10,000 miles to play in a strange country with unfamiliar food, weird eating utensils and fans who boo them. But more than that, they carry with them extraordinary pressures from home. In 1968, when Taiwan lost in the first round at Williamsport, advertisers canceled their TV sponsorship of its subsequent appearances in the consolation bracket of that World Series, and the manager was—and still is—the object of severe criticism.

The island's ego is even more tender now, and a loss this time around would be markedly less well received. As the umpire in Kaohsiung can testify, the Republic of China is jumping with umbrella women these days.