The Decline of Baseball in 1943 Taiwan

The Team of Cooperate Bank (Photo by Wang Ron Chi)

　　Jiayi Agricultural School won the second place in the Koshien Baseball Tournament in 1931, enhancing baseball to become one of the most popular sports in Taiwan. With the eruption of WWII in 1940, the resource and manpower were mostly directed to the war, which deeply affected the development of baseball. Baseball, therefore, gradually declined.

In 1946, the baseball injected a stimulant for Taiwan after World War Two

Taichuang Team (Photo by Mr. Hsieh Shih Yuan)

　　After the Second World War ended on August 15, 1945, the colonization period of Japan was over, too. At this time, baseball kept company with Taiwan to pass the harsh but optimistic recovery course.
　　On the Youth day of 1946, the baseball tournaments everywhere in Taiwan had been resettled. Many companies formed their own teams to play after work. The Taiwan Cooperative Bank and the Taipower had organized their own baseball teams at that time.
　　Although the baseball fields were very poor then, people were still happy to watch the games even if they had to climb on the trees. In this simple but optimistic time, baseball was just like a stimulant in life. It offered excitement, beauty, and hope for people living in Taiwan.