全通翻譯/翻譯社

Big Stars,New Management and WBC Buzz Boost Baseball Fever

Whenever you are a baseball fan or not, it was impossible to avoid the baseball fever inspired by this year's World Baseball Classic. With attendance figures for the Chinese Professional Baseball League fluctuating in recent years, the WBC reignited the nation's passion for the sport, as everyone got behind Team Taiwan. The game against Japan marked the peak of this collective mania with nearly 10 million viewers tuning in. Such was the enthusiasm that companies even granted their employees baseball leave. 

The new CPBL season is bound to benefit from all of this. Founded in 1989, the league has seen a record upsurge in average attendance figures of 250 percent, representing 8,533 viewers per game, since this March. Along with the WBC feel-good factor, several other factors have contributed to this. Firstly, there was former MLB superstar Manny Ramirez's move to the newly-formed EDA Rhinos, which has helped garner local and a certain amount of international attention for the 25-year-old league. Celebrities have been invited to start games, helping to engage more new baseball fans, too. For example, Japanese writer Hirotada Ototake, who was born without arms and legs, threw the opening pitch at a CPBL game in April, a moving moment for many spectators.

However, it hasn't been an overnight success for the CPBL. Much of the credit for the current resurgence is being given to chairman Huang Zhen-tai for his efforts to increase the game’s visibility.

一棒三響 大明星‧新官上任‧經典賽風潮

無論你是不是棒球迷，都無法避開今年世界棒球經典賽所帶起的棒球熱潮。相對於近年中華職棒進場觀賽人數起起伏伏，經典賽重新燃起了全國上下對這項運動的熱情，讓所有人都為中華隊加油。抗日賽事標誌了這股集體狂熱的巔峰，將近有一千萬人收看這場比賽。這股熱情甚至讓有些公司准許員工放棒球假。

新的中職球季鐵定受益良多。成立於一九八九年的中華職棒見證自三月以來，平均觀賽人數破紀錄地成長 250%，這代表著每場賽事平均有 8,533 位觀眾。除了經典賽帶來的好感因素外，還有其他要素對此帶來貢獻。首先，前美國大聯盟超級巨星曼尼‧拉米瑞茲加入新成立的義大犀牛隊，有助讓已廿五歲的中華職棒獲得本土和一定數量的國際關注。名人受邀開球也有助吸引更多新的棒球迷。舉例來說，出生即缺少手腳的日籍作家乙武洋匡便在四月替中職開球，這對許多觀眾來說，那是感動的一刻。

不過，這對中華職棒來說並非突然的成功，目前的復甦有許多功勞必須歸在黃鎮台會長對於提升棒球能見度的努力。

資料來源：biz 互動英語電子報