China’s best pass Texas test
National team players making adjustment to life in US pro league
It was a typically scorching summer afternoon in Texas, and just as the temperature hit 100 degrees Fahrenheit (38 C), 10 players from China’s national baseball team arrived at the home field of the Texas AirHogs in Grand Prairie, about 20 miles west of Dallas.
Dressed in bright red Team China T-shirts, they began batting and fielding practice under the blazing Texas sun, getting ready for a night game against the SaltDogs of Lincoln, Nebraska.
After a couple of hours of drills, the Chinese players took a break and changed into their AirHogs uniforms.
By early evening, the stadium was basking in the golden glow of ballpark lights and the air had cooled down with an occasional gentle breeze.
After a few announcements, the Chinese national anthem was played as the Chinese national flag appeared on the big screen.
The US national flag and anthem followed suit.
Then the game against SaltDogs began, with five Chinese players among the starting lineup of nine for the AirHogs.
Professional Chinese baseball players have been playing for the AirHogs since May.
“We call the program ‘Dances with wolves’,” said Chinese coach Zhu Lin.
“We hope that by playing in a US independent league, our players will get better and stronger. And they have. ”
The arrangement was made between the AirHogs and the Chinese Baseball Association as a way to train Chinese players and prepare them for the World Baseball Cup and the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo.
Yan Xiaoling, a director with the Jiangsu Sports Administration and one of the team leaders, said that funding for the Chinese athletes to play with the AirHogs came from Beijing Shougang Group and the State General Administration of Sport of China.
They are known as the Beijing Shougang Eagles in the US.
More than 30 Chinese players have participated in the program, Yan said. About 20 of them left two weeks ago to take part in the ongoing Asian Games in Indonesia.
The Chinese contingent had played 70 games prior to leaving for Jakarta, said Yan. A few stayed behind and some new recruits joined recently to continue the training until Sept 3.
Aside from preparing for the 2020 Olympics, China’s national team hopes to learn something else too, Yan said.
“China’s baseball history is very recent, and there are only about 10 baseball diamonds in the country,” he said.
“We are relatively inexperienced, so we can learn a lot from US baseball in terms of training, professionalism and market development.”
By all accounts, the Chinese players have made remarkable progress in three months.
“When they first arrived, they were not accustomed to the speed of the game, particularly the velocity of the pitchers,” said Kevin Joseph, one of the coaches.
“There was a bit of a learning curve in the beginning. The hitters were having a hard time adjusting to American pitchers,” Joseph said.
“The first game of the season and the last game before the guys left for the Asian Games were against the best team in the league — the Sioux City Explorers. That team commented on the amazing difference between the first and final games.
“The last game was all Chinese players against Sioux City. They lost 3-2, but they made amazing progress in all facets — pitching, hitting and fielding.
“I think it’s very beneficial to the Chinese national team to be challenged and to rise to the occasion.”
Joseph lived in China for a few years and coached youth baseball, primarily in Tianjin. He speaks fluent Mandarin and serves as translator.
He described the Chinese players’ routine: They arrive each afternoon around 3 pm to do batting and fielding practice. Then they take a few hours off before playing the three-hour night games.
In addition, three mornings a week players do around an hour of weight training.
For the Chinese who were accustomed to playing about 20 pro games a year back home, the workload in Texas is tremendous: 100 games in 109 days.
AirHogs announcer Joey Zanaboni has watched the team grow.
“Evolution is the law of baseball,” he said.
“People grow, they adapt and they survive. Someone was telling me the Chinese team is here dancing with wolves. I just love that because this is a wild league. This is the wild west, this is Texas!
“In the past three months I have seen the team grind in the skillet on white-hot Texas turf.
“It takes survivors, it takes people who want to grow and want to improve to put their will to the test.”
The players only get nine days off over the three and a half months. It’s both physically and mentally grinding.
“They have to find ways to keep going, and I think everybody has their own way,” Zanaboni said.
With a 21-61 record on the season, it hasn’t been easy for the AirHogs. “But that’s why you do it, to improve,” Zanaboni added.
He credited head coach John McLaren, who left with the other group for the Asian Games, for doing so much to put a program together for the Chinese players to learn. Toward the end, one Chinese pitcher could go toe to toe with the best in the league, he said.
McLaren, who formerly managed MLB’s Seattle Mariners, has been involved in Chinese baseball since 2011.
Chinese pitcher Zhang Tao has been in Grand Prairie since the very beginning in May. He said the hardest thing was dealing with the constant losses early on.
“We could not win at all at the beginning,” Zhang said.
“It became very discouraging sometimes. It wore us down and made us feel exhausted both physically and in spirit.
“But the coaches have been very encouraging and helped us keep going.”
The much more intensive game schedule was hard at the beginning but quite beneficial, Zhang said.
“I learned more ways and types of pitching, positions and changes of the ball trajectories.
“My endurance has improved greatly. My pitching has become more accurate and faster. Later we began to win some games, and that was very encouraging,” he said.
Zhang said he hopes to maintain the intensity and retain what he has learned here when he returns home.
Second baseman Liang Pei is 20 years old and grew up in Japan before becoming a member of China’s national team last year. He joined the AirHogs a couple of weeks ago.
Liang said he was excited to play on the beautiful baseball fields in the US. He also finds the average American player’s skill far superior to their Chinese counterparts.
“At first I could not catch up with the speed of the pitches and it was rather difficult for me at the plate. But after four or five games, I began to get the hang of the rhythm of the game,” he said.
Liang said that while language and cultural differences exist, the US players are patient teachers.
“They are very diligent at what they do and their attitude is very positive and helpful,” he said.
Local resident Christopher DiMarco brought his visiting brother and a couple of nephews from Philadelphia to watch a recent AirHogs game. He was duly impressed by Liang, who pulled off a couple of sparkling defensive plays.
“They are doing great, that was a heck of a jam to get out of,” DiMarco said.
“The Chinese second baseman was crazy good, combining great running with spectacular catches. That’s always fun to watch — a bit of anxiety and a bit of excitement.”
Laura Streeb, another fan, said it was her first time seeing the Chinese players play this season.
“They are doing a great job, I hope they will keep on being on the team,” Streeb said.
Coach Zhu said the second team is doing better than he expected. “We have won two games so far and it has a positive impact on all of the players,” he said.
Aside from the professional facilities and business operation, Zhu said he was also impressed by the ritual of playing the US and China national anthems and raising the national flags before each game.
“We all promote patriotism, and the way the US does it gives us great ideas. They often have someone singing the American national anthem and we prepared a recording.
“However, at an away game, they invited a local Chinese to sing the Chinese national anthem. It was really nice,” Zhu said.
Chinese players will be back next year to play another season with the AirHogs, he added.
There was a bit of a learning curve in the beginning. The hitters were having a hard time adjusting to American pitchers.”
Kevin Joseph,
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