Wang Chien-Ming...Overkill?!?

I read Forumosa.com often but post rarely. But being a big female baseball fan (Giants) I had to throw in 2 cents on this one. I see him everyday, he’s on every newspaper. His number 40 is everywhere I go on toddlers to 80 somethings. McDonalds, PCs, and electronic store flatscreens!

I talk about babseball in my adult and kids classes and they LOVE this guy to death. Funny thing is most people especially women don’t know other members of the team, well maybe A-Rod, perhaps Jeter, and thats mostly guys. When Wang wins, HE wins. If the Yankees lose a game he starts, THEY lost. Also team sports is something most Taiwanese just don’t do. They seem to feel sports are not that useful, and not for their kids (though it’s changing), but then they get a very successful sportsman and everybody goes gaga over him. He is very good, great no, not yet anyway, but am I being too hard on the local folks, cause I think I see him when I sleep now! If he starts to do poorly will they jump off the bandwagon?

Its all about the money here…grok that and it all makes sense.

WHAT? The Pride of Taiwan?

In a New York minute, kid. A New York minute. Taiwanese faddism at its finest. He’s this year’s Portuguese eggs tarts, don’t you know? :unamused: Although of course you CAN eat him – or at least you can buy his burger.

What a fucking joke.

Wang is a bit more than egg tarts…

It doesn’t happen often that someone from Taiwan’s sports world succeeds on the world stage (let’s forget about snooker, archery and taekwondo for a while). He’s arguably the best starting pitcher of the most famous team in baseball in a city where the fans are highly demanding and he is calm and steady as a rock for the second year running. Let his compatriots have some fun while it lasts.

Could be worse. It could be some celebrity who feels she/he must actually TALK all the time. AT least Wang keeps his mouth shut.

That said, I am tempted to carry a black marker pen for “alterations” to his posters…which are everywhere.

He’s not as bad as that bint with the freckle near her eye. She seems to advertise everything :fume:

One of those ‘famous athletes’ is from Tainan. Not sure which one.
I was in a restaurant with some friends and while I was in the can him and his ‘entourage’ came in. It seems that I was washing up as he came in to use the facilities and one of his monkeys wanted me to leave so he could use it alone. He told me this in rather broken engrish and I proceeded to laugh in his face and tell him to f*ck off. The ‘famous athlete’ himself was rather nice about it all and cuffed his monkey about the head.

The story got me a round of drinks back at the table.

I agree completely Dangergryl.

My 3 year-old daughter knows Wang’s name and recognizes his uniform (when a local is wearing one) and she didn’t learn that from anyone in her family. In fact, I’m not completely sure where she picked that up – maybe her former nanny, maybe her kindergarten. The other day I was messing with her. I pointed at his picture and said, “there’s Hu Shao-Bing,” or something like that. “No,” she strongly corrected me, “it’s Wang Chien-Ming.” Ok, whatever.

I don’t even watch baseball. But now my wife, who’s not into professional sports at all, has started watching the Yankees. Whatever again.

This too shall pass.

Btw, Hi Dangergryl, feel free to post more often. :slight_smile:

my two year old likes sports (as does dad), but i’m hardly impressed that he now calls the sport of baseball itself “wang chien ming”. he knew the word baseball not long ago, and it still comes out, albeit rarely as compared to WCM.

A Taiwanese friend of mine decided not to travel to Cambodia with me last Oct because he wanted to stay in Taiwan to watch the play-offs. I laughed when the NYY lost early on.

Wow, there are a lot of haters on this forum regarding Chien-Ming Wang. Oh well, I can’t expect too much from the OP since it’s a Giants fan talking :smiley: (Go Dodgers!)

On a serious note, Chieng-Ming Wang has turned into something special. Now, I must say that I hate the Yankees almost as much as I hate the Giants but living in NY, it’s hard to avoid Yankees news. Over the course of this season, Wang has been very solid and has built a pretty good winning streak for himself. He would have at least 2-3 more wins than his total of 7 right now if it wasn’t for his hamstring injury that kept him out of the first few weeks of the season. Everytime he goes out there, he goes deep into the game and gives his team a chance to win. Like Joe Torre (the Yankee manager) said, all he asked for from his starters is to give the team a chance and Wang delivers most of the time. While not your traditional dominant strike-out pitcher like Nolan Ryan, Randy Johnson, or Roger Clemens, Wang dominates with his sinker, which really frustrate hitters like you can’t believe.

As far as the Taiwanese jumping on the bandwagon, well that’s tough to say. On one hand, the media loves the guy but he deserves the spotlight because he’s able to transcend the politics and bring Taiwan to the world stage. His teammates love him, NY fans love him, baseball fans respect him. Why shouldn’t the Taiwanese do the same?

One thing that the Taiwanese media should lay off is their high expectation of Wang. I was in Taiwan last year and every interview they’d ask him if he would better his 19-win season. That’s a little unfair I think. 19 wins is a lot and if Wang gets 15 wins per season, I’d be very happy. The media should leave him alone a bit and just let him pitch.

This weekend, Wang will pitch against the hated SF Giants and Barry “Steroid” Bonds. I hope he shines again.

-Dodger fan in NY

Wang Chien-Ming is an escape for Taiwanese. It is an escape from political turmoil, economic regression, social problems and work stress.

Sports, especially baseball, is a good escape for Taiwanese in hard time. I still remember Taiwanese were fanatically zealous for 2001 Baseball World Cup in Taiwan. It helped Taiwanese find their identity and pride. No one cared about the political turmoil at that time.

2007 Baseball World Cup will be held in Taiwan, the games will start in December.
Hehe…I learn the open game is Taiwan vs. Japan. :smiling_imp:
I wonder who would care about the election by the time.

[quote=“Mellow Yellow”] Over the course of this season, Wang has been very solid and has built a pretty good winning streak for himself. He would have at least 2-3 more wins than his total of 7 right now if it wasn’t for his hamstring injury that kept him out of the first few weeks of the season. _snip

I was in Taiwan last year and every interview they’d ask him if he would better his 19-win season. That’s a little unfair I think. 19 wins is a lot and if Wang gets 15 wins per season, I’d be very happy. The media should leave him alone a bit and just let him pitch.

[/quote]

Hang on, isn’t it a team sport? I admit I know nothing about baseball, but if the Yankees have already won 7 games this year, and won 19 last year, shouldn’t the credit go to all of them, not just Wang? Don’t the batters have to score runs and the guys in the field have to stop runs as well?

OT - I was watching CNN last weekend while in a hotel (don’t normally watch TV) and the sport news was on. It was really weird hearing them calling him Chien-ming Wang. It took me a moment or two to realise who they were talking about. I’d only ever heard his name spoken in the Chinese way - Wang Chien-ming. Sounded strange saying it the western way (in the same way, I can never get used to having to write my surname first on documents here, just feels weird).

Nice post Kate. Hit the nail on the head I guess.

Exactly. Of course the locals are going to lap this up. Why shouldn’t they?

Whine and fuss about the the perceived over-exposure he gets if you want, but when it comes down to it, Wang is pretty fucking good. Taiwan should be proud.

[quote=“cfimages”][quote=“Mellow Yellow”] Over the course of this season, Wang has been very solid and has built a pretty good winning streak for himself. He would have at least 2-3 more wins than his total of 7 right now if it wasn’t for his hamstring injury that kept him out of the first few weeks of the season. _snip

I was in Taiwan last year and every interview they’d ask him if he would better his 19-win season. That’s a little unfair I think. 19 wins is a lot and if Wang gets 15 wins per season, I’d be very happy. The media should leave him alone a bit and just let him pitch.

[/quote]

Hang on, isn’t it a team sport? I admit I know nothing about baseball, but if the Yankees have already won 7 games this year, and won 19 last year, shouldn’t the credit go to all of them, not just Wang? Don’t the batters have to score runs and the guys in the field have to stop runs as well?

OT - I was watching CNN last weekend while in a hotel (don’t normally watch TV) and the sport news was on. It was really weird hearing them calling him Chien-ming Wang. It took me a moment or two to realise who they were talking about. I’d only ever heard his name spoken in the Chinese way - Wang Chien-ming. Sounded strange saying it the western way (in the same way, I can never get used to having to write my surname first on documents here, just feels weird).[/quote]

You’re right, it’s a team sport. The Yankees actually has a 35-35 record, meaning that they have won 35 games so far this season and lost 35. A full baseball season has 162 games for each team.

When I wrote about how many games Wang has won, it’s actually his pitching record. Each baseball team usually have 5 starting pitchers (which Wang is one of them) and they rotate throughout the season. In my opinion, a pitcher with a 15-win season has done a very good job. A 20-win game is absolutely lights out!

Getting back to your comment, yes the batters have to do their job and the fielders have to do theirs too. A pitchers win-loss record is just one of the indicators on how good he is. Aside from that, there’s also the ERA (earned run average), WHIP (walks and hits per inning pitched), etc. etc. For the hitters, there is the batting average, homeruns, and RBI (runners batted in) while the fielders have the fielding percentage.

For Wang, he’s been great lately. In his last few starts, he’s only given up 2 runs or less while going 7-8 innings per start. It means his team only has to score 3 runs to win. Therefore, he is helping his team to win and lessening the burdens on the hitters and fielders. You’re still right- it’s a team game but Wang is certainly pulling his own weight, and then some. Hope this clears up my point a bit better.

Ahh, yes the Dodgers, bottom of the 7th better leave the game B4 the L.A. traffic jam. (Yawn).

I’m not one of the haters. Actually not one post here is hating on Wang from what I see. But Taiwanese people are very fickle when it comes to many things. Wang just seems overexposed. He is playing in NYC and he is a fine player, but by contrast other Taiwanese players(in any sport) get very little support and I wonder, if indeed Wang performs poorly or goes downhill what will happen? In Taiwan sports heroes are often forgotten down the line. I just think it’s overkill, but oh well. Hopefully the Giants will score 10 runs on em heh heh! Love the Giants and well Bonds…a shame. Yes. it is a team sport, that seems to be forgotten by many local folks. I asked the ladies in my class to name other players 1 said A-Rod. The other 3 :unamused:!

I guess it has more to do with the media sensationalizing everything with CMW. It is a double-edged sword, especially with regards to CMW’s privacy, as when they found out the stuff about his parents.

[quote=“Dangergyrl”]Ahh, yes the Dodgers, bottom of the 7th better leave the game B4 the L.A. traffic jam. (Yawn).

I’m not one of the haters. Actually not one post here is hating on Wang from what I see. But Taiwanese people are very fickle when it comes to many things. Wang just seems overexposed. He is playing in NYC and he is a fine player, but by contrast other Taiwanese players(in any sport) get very little support and I wonder, if indeed Wang performs poorly or goes downhill what will happen? In Taiwan sports heroes are often forgotten down the line. I just think it’s overkill, but oh well. Hopefully the Giants will score 10 runs on em heh heh! Love the Giants and well Bonds…a shame. Yes. it is a team sport, that seems to be forgotten by many local folks. I asked the ladies in my class to name other players 1 said A-Rod. The other 3 :unamused:![/quote]

Have you been to Dodger Stadium lately? The traffic is insane! While I never leave early nor arrive late to games, I can understand how parents want to get their kids home before bed time. That’s responsible parenting :smiley:. Now, I’ve been to “the Stick” many times during my college days to watch Dodger/Giant games and the fans are absolutely nuts. I do respect them though as they cheered for blue collared guys like Will Clark. These days they are the only dummies who still cheer for Barry Bonds.

Aside from our beloved little leaguers (whom I’ve seen twice in person at Williamsport), I don’t know if there are any sports figures who’ve accomplished more or have successfully brought Taiwan to the international stage. Let’s see, there were those two tennis players who went to the finals of the Aussie Open (it’s really a shame that they lost), Hong-Chih Kuo, who pitches for the LA Dodgers (but only have two career wins), Chien-Feng Chen, who had a cup of coffee for the Dodgers before deciding to return to Taiwan to play baseball, and that dude who competed in the Olympics in the '60s in the decatholon. The taekwondo gold medalists obviously deserve huge props, but it’s not major league basebll, aka- America’s game.

I think the fact that Wang pitches for the Yankees (the baseball version of the Cowboys) helps his exposure a lot. I don’t know if he’d get the same amount of attention if he pitched for a team like the Kansas City Royals. Of course the Taiwanese media is overplaying this thing but then again, they don’t name themselves like tv"BS" for nothing. I’m all for leaving this guy alone and let him pitch.

Finally, as for knowing the other players on the team, I’d bet you a Dodger Dog that most NY residents don’t know half of the Yankee roster so you shouldn’t blame the Taiwanese for not knowing who Miguel Cairo is. As for you, can you name the entire starting rotation on your own team?

:slight_smile:

PS- I know you’re still mad because our “B-team” (The Angels) beat the Giants in the WS 5 years ago…

[quote=“Mellow Yellow”][quote=“cfimages”][quote=“Mellow Yellow”] Over the course of this season, Wang has been very solid and has built a pretty good winning streak for himself. He would have at least 2-3 more wins than his total of 7 right now if it wasn’t for his hamstring injury that kept him out of the first few weeks of the season. _snip

I was in Taiwan last year and every interview they’d ask him if he would better his 19-win season. That’s a little unfair I think. 19 wins is a lot and if Wang gets 15 wins per season, I’d be very happy. The media should leave him alone a bit and just let him pitch.

[/quote]

Hang on, isn’t it a team sport? I admit I know nothing about baseball, but if the Yankees have already won 7 games this year, and won 19 last year, shouldn’t the credit go to all of them, not just Wang? Don’t the batters have to score runs and the guys in the field have to stop runs as well?

OT - I was watching CNN last weekend while in a hotel (don’t normally watch TV) and the sport news was on. It was really weird hearing them calling him Chien-ming Wang. It took me a moment or two to realise who they were talking about. I’d only ever heard his name spoken in the Chinese way - Wang Chien-ming. Sounded strange saying it the western way (in the same way, I can never get used to having to write my surname first on documents here, just feels weird).[/quote]

You’re right, it’s a team sport. The Yankees actually has a 35-35 record, meaning that they have won 35 games so far this season and lost 35. A full baseball season has 162 games for each team.

When I wrote about how many games Wang has won, it’s actually his pitching record. Each baseball team usually have 5 starting pitchers (which Wang is one of them) and they rotate throughout the season. In my opinion, a pitcher with a 15-win season has done a very good job. A 20-win game is absolutely lights out!

Getting back to your comment, yes the batters have to do their job and the fielders have to do theirs too. A pitchers win-loss record is just one of the indicators on how good he is. Aside from that, there’s also the ERA (earned run average), WHIP (walks and hits per inning pitched), etc. etc. For the hitters, there is the batting average, homeruns, and RBI (runners batted in) while the fielders have the fielding percentage.

For Wang, he’s been great lately. In his last few starts, he’s only given up 2 runs or less while going 7-8 innings per start. It means his team only has to score 3 runs to win. Therefore, he is helping his team to win and lessening the burdens on the hitters and fielders. You’re still right- it’s a team game but Wang is certainly pulling his own weight, and then some. Hope this clears up my point a bit better.[/quote]

Ok, that makes sense. Thanks for clearing up my ignorance.