Fujian Daily, May 16, 2024, page 08
Core Tips
A small baseball drew a wonderful arc in the sports exchanges between Fujian and Taiwan. In recent years, there has been a lot of baseball exchanges between Fujian and Taiwan, both at the game level and in the non-governmental field, and these exchanges have accumulated both goodwill and friendship.
A few days ago, the Fujian Provincial Baseball Team, which was formed in the form of "Fujian-Taiwan Joint Team", was officially established and participated in the 2024 China Baseball League Weihai Station. It is the first time in the country that the "Fujian-Taiwan joint team" participates in a national-level sports event, marking a further step in Fujian's exploration of the integrated development of Fujian-Taiwan sports.
Recently, the reporter has conducted in-depth interviews with the Fujian Provincial Baseball Team in Longyan Liancheng and Weihai, Shandong, to feel the pulse of Fujian and Taiwan youths working together to swing the baton.
19-year-old Fu Huachen holds the baton with one hand, points straight ahead, and then slowly swings it to his shoulder. This is the posture of hoping to hit a home run.
It's noon, and the game is halfway through. The Fujian team still did not score, and the score of 0:7 was as dazzling as the hanging sun.
Captain Lin Yujun shouted in the rest area: "Send him home!" "Home base in baseball. In a game, you can only score points if you start at home plate and then return to home plate.
Zhang Yuanxiang and his teammates stood together, clinging to the safety net in the rest area, "Come on!" Awesome! The shouts pierced the frozen air of the stadium. Standing on the edge of the second base area, Liu Ye bowed and stared at Fu Huachen's every move. With a distance of nearly 55 meters from second base to home plate, Liu Ye's "home" road needs to play against time and do his best.
Syllable! The ball hit, a straight white line. It wasn't a home run, but the White Shadow still passed through the Tianjin team's guard and went straight to the outfield. Liu Ye has already started......
It's April 27, 2024, an ordinary day.
In the competition on the first match day of the China Baseball League held at the Blue Whale Baseball Stadium in Weihai, Shandong, the scale of time recorded that Fujian and Taiwan baseball players joined hands to swing a baton for the first time in a national game and score for the first time in a national game.
The hot-blooded boy is back
Regarding the opportunity to join the Fujian Provincial Baseball Team, Lin Yujun said: "The hot-blooded teenager is back. For Lin Yujun, this is not a simple sport, but a pilgrimage to "youth", "blood" and "perseverance".
On April 19, at the baseball stadium in Liancheng Industrial Zone, Fujian, the players who had finished training gathered together.
Lin Yujun, 23, is a student at Xiamen University's School of Journalism and Communication and the captain of the Fujian baseball team. If it weren't for the fact that the "Fujian-Taiwan joint team" formed the Fujian Provincial Baseball Team to participate in the national competition, Lin Yujun, who is already a senior, would have been as calm as a straight ball, "As soon as I graduate from college, I basically won't touch baseball."
The "Opinions of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the State Council on Supporting Fujian to Explore a New Road for Cross-Strait Integrated Development and Build a Cross-Strait Integrated Development Demonstration Zone" issued in September last year proposed to support primary and secondary schools in Fujian and Taiwan to strengthen inter-school exchanges and carry out cooperation in youth sports such as baseball and softball. On this basis, Fujian Province further proposed to set up a regional development center for baseball and softball in Fujian and Taiwan to promote young people from Fujian and Taiwan to participate in mainland baseball and softball competitions in the form of "joint teams between Fujian and Taiwan". The successive introduction of policies is like a pitcher throwing a ball, prompting all the stories on and off the court to start turning.
At the end of last year, Lin Yujun heard that the Fujian Provincial Baseball Team was going to be formed, and a group of Taiwanese players were going to join, and he was both curious and looking forward to it, "This is a very happy thing." Fujian and Taiwan players are together, as if they are a new kind of blood, just like two brothers who are constantly communicating and integrating."
Perhaps, the hot blood never cools, it just flows quietly, waiting for the next throbbing. Since 2016, Lin Yujun has developed the habit of recording bits and pieces about baseball in his notebook, with gains, frustrations, joys and frustrations. On March 22, 2024, Lin Yujun wrote in his notebook: "The Fujian Provincial Baseball Team was officially formed, with two Taiwanese coaches, 6 Taiwanese athletes and 15 mainland players joining. ”
Among the six Taiwanese players who joined the team, Lin Yujun met his "acquaintance" - Lin Yongxiang, a former pitcher of Taiwan's Kaohsiung Gaoyuan Industrial and Commercial Baseball Team. "Trump! ACE！ Lin Yujun repeatedly emphasized, "It should be the 2018 competition, at that time he was inch-headed and fierce." ”
Now Lin Yongxiang has long hair, and he doesn't talk much on weekdays. "It's a great opportunity for me personally, a good opportunity to prove myself," he said.
Before the "Fujian-Taiwan joint team", Lin Yongxiang had been away from the baseball stadium for a while, "Now, everyone is a teammate of the same team, and they are all part of the Fujian provincial team, I hope to share what I have learned with everyone, and then follow everyone to the game to win."
On the evening of April 18, at the Fujian Provincial Baseball Team Station located in Liancheng County Junior Sports School, Lin Yujun (left) from Guangdong chatted with Zhang Yuanxiang (middle) and Lin Yongxiang from Taiwan.
"The baseball circle is really fateful, although we are in a different region, but now we can meet and get along, it's really wonderful." Lin Yujun sighed at the miracle of fate.
Baseball chose us
Zeng Huawei, head coach of the Fujian baseball team from Taichung, Taiwan, accepted fate.
On April 27, at the Blue Whale Baseball Stadium in Weihai, Shandong, the Fujian baseball team participated in the first game of the China Baseball League, and the players warmed up before the game.
The 47-year-old played for Taiwan's professional baseball Xingnong Cattle when he was a player, and was the head coach of Taiwan's Pingtung Red Tail team before coming to Fujian. A few years ago, Zeng Huawei had turned down the opportunity to work in the mainland, but this time it was different, "There are both mainland and Taiwanese players in this team, this is the first time in my life that I have encountered such a combination, it is a new beginning, I can try to see."
At this time, there is only one month before the opening of the Chinese Baseball League, and there is not much time left for Zeng Huawei to integrate the team. Zeng Huawei said frankly that as a professional coach, everyone wants to write their name at the highest point, "but in the details, in the run-in, and in the time is a big test, and it can only be said that step by step, through the game and training to correct the team's shortcomings, rhythm and situation, and then practice repeatedly."
The game has not yet started, and the Fujian and Taiwan players have already "played together". This surprised Tu Weilong, the coach of the Fujian Provincial Baseball Team. Tu Weilong told the story of the training camp in Xiamen: "Suddenly it rained heavily, and everyone crowded into the rest area to hide from the rain. Zhang Yuanxiang from Taiwan turned on the small stereo, and when the music sounded, the Fujian and Taiwan players began to sing together, and that kind of scene was really a special experience. ”
Regarding singing, Zhang Yuanxiang, who was born in Taichung, Taiwan in 2001, was also surprised. "Because I like to sing, when I was in Taiwan, I would sing with some good friends, but I didn't expect to sing with them within a few days of coming to the mainland. Moreover, the songs sung by the mainland are similar to those of Taiwan, so it is even more unscrupulous. Zhang Yuanxiang said that they are good friends who can sing together.
Xiamen University, where Tu Weilong works, is one of the earliest universities in Fujian Province to carry out baseball sports, and it is also a frequent visitor to cross-strait exchanges. Tu Weilong has led the team to participate in baseball exchanges between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait many times before, "In addition to the game, it is more of some social activities, and it does not go deep into life." The biggest advantage of the Fujian-Taiwan joint team this time is that everyone lives together, eats together, practices together, and enters each other's lives, which is unprecedented."
Among the members of this baseball team, except for one "post-90s", the rest are "post-00s", which also makes Zeng Huawei have to sigh that he is old, "The same language, the same culture, in fact, there is no gap between young people on both sides of the strait now." Moreover, the mainland has made more progress in many technologies, which has opened the eyes of young people in Taiwan and attracted them to yearn for it. After all, when the field of vision is bigger, the pattern is bigger."
On April 27, at the Blue Whale Baseball Stadium in Weihai, Shandong, head coach Zeng Huawei (right) high-fived the players on the field. Originally from Taichung, Taiwan, Tsang was previously the head coach of the Pingtung Red Tail Team in Taiwan.
"The timing of the formation of the Fujian baseball team is very good, so that more Taiwanese people can get to know Fujian through baseball, come here to work, travel and study." Zeng Huawei said that it was not we who chose baseball, but baseball who chose us.
Go and see the scenery higher
After traveling to Pingtan and Xiamen, the Fujian Provincial Baseball Team finally chose to settle in Longyan Liancheng.
On April 27, at the Blue Whale Baseball Stadium in Weihai, Shandong, Chen Yuxuan from Taiwan threw the ball hard.
The arrival of the team kept Lin Benkun, who was in charge of logistics, very busy. In August last year, this "post-90s" graduate student from Fuzhou chose to "drive in the opposite direction" and was admitted to Liancheng County Junior Sports School as a baseball coach. This is an act that puzzles many people, but Lin Benkun is very calm: "Here, in addition to teaching, you can also participate in event operations. The national women's softball team has come before, and now the Fujian provincial team is here again, and the training mode and management model of these high-level sports teams are not something that can be learned by spending money. ”
This small city in western Fujian has been associated with baseball since the summer of 2006. At that time, Taiwanese businessman Liao Fangzhou set up the first baseball factory here. After 18 years, Liancheng has already become the most concentrated baseball production base in mainland China and an important procurement point for global baseball sports goods. At the same time, 23 schools in the county carry out baseball, and the baseball team of Liancheng County Experimental Primary School also won the third place in the U12 group of the National Youth Baseball Championship in 2019.
Also in 2019, 30-year-old Ren Zhiyun quit his stable job and devoted himself to the newly established Fujian Baseball and Softball Association. Ren Zhiyun said that baseball exchanges between Fujian and Taiwan are the focus of the association's work, and "this idea runs throughout."
Ren Zhiyun admits that he was born in Sanming and did not have many opportunities to contact baseball before going to college, "I didn't join the baseball team until I went to college and fell in love with the sport." After five years of resignation, Ren Zhiyun said: "Fujian baseball has a thin foundation, and it was really hard to promote it at the beginning, but now it is a good time." ”
In recent years, there has been a lively exchange of baseball between Fujian and Taiwan, both at the level of the competition and in the non-governmental field. Last year alone, Fujian Province held more than 12 events of various kinds, initially realizing "monthly events", with more than 80 Taiwanese teams participating.
This is the breadth and strength that time steps on step by step. As early as the early 90s of the 20th century, Taiwan compatriots in Japan had an exchange with the baseball team in Fuzhou at the Fujian Provincial Sports Center; The Xiamen Airlines baseball team, established in 1995, is also the first amateur baseball team in mainland China to go to Taiwan for exchanges. In 2005, Xiamen Ruijing Primary School began to carry out baseball sports......
Just like the seeds of Huangshan pine, they can germinate and grow when they fall into stone crevices; It's like a dandelion seed that can inadvertently float in all directions. The increasingly active baseball factor makes Lin Benkun always look forward to the future: "Work hard to train athletes, I don't have the opportunity to see higher scenery, and I have to send players up." ”
The baseball exchange between Fujian and Taiwan is also looking forward to going to higher peaks and seeing higher scenery. In addition to the formation of the Fujian baseball team, it will also build four high-level baseball and softball event bases such as Xiamen University, Fujian Normal University, Pingtan and Liancheng, create 10 municipal-level Fujian-Taiwan baseball and softball regional development centers, and promote 300 schools to carry out baseball and softball within three years.
Today, Ren Zhiyun is also the vice leader of the Fujian Provincial Baseball Team. In his view, this team is a bright spot in the integration of Fujian and Taiwan, "more and more friends in Taiwan have learned from me about the situation of baseball in Fujian, whether it is to come to the team in the future, or to be a coach at the grassroots level, this is a catalyst."
Two balls and one core
Shandong Weihai Blue Whale Baseball Stadium on April 27, 2024.
On April 27, Shandong Weihai Blue Whale Baseball Stadium, Lin Yujun (left) cheered up Zhang Yuanxiang who was about to play.
Whether they are behind, chasing points, or even having little hope, Lin Yujun and Zhang Yuanxiang have always maintained a strong fighting spirit - "The game is only five rounds!" "It's time to show your strength!" "Is it hard to score five points in the last inning?"
However, unlike most of the victories full of a refreshing sense of strength, speed, and enthusiasm, the much-talked-about "Xia Ke Shang" did not play out at the end of this game - the Fujian team, which finally broke the scoring drought in the fifth game, did not achieve a reversal, and the Tianjin team took away the victory.
Liu Ye, who scored the first point for the Fujian team, brought a match ball back to the rest area. He said solemnly: "This is the first hit of the Fujian Provincial Baseball Team." "The offense and defense on the court have changed hands several times, and it is obviously Liu Ye's wishful thinking. The teammates next to him came up from time to time and kept laughing and "questioning" the baseball of unknown origin, but Liu Ye was unmoved. Young, what's not to do?
Zeng Huawei is still full of expectations for the future of the team, "This is just the beginning, the road ahead is very long, and our goal is always to win the championship." However, I hope that this championship is not only the champion of Fujian, but also the champion of Fujian-Taiwan integration."
The road to the bases is also very long.
"The appearance of a baseball consists of two balls with a thread stitched in the middle and 108 red stitches. Two balls and one core. Tu Weilong said, "This is what I always said to the players when I was at Xiamen University, and there is another sentence that baseball is a sport that starts from home and then comes home." ”
Source: Fujian Daily