棒球在台湾意味着什么?汗水,热闹和身份认同_公共英语阅读理解

棒球在台湾意味着什么?汗水,热闹和身份认同

新台币500元纸币上就印着一支棒球队，是在向一支取得傲人战绩的台湾少棒队致敬，在某段时间参加过少棒大赛(Little League World Series)的人都记得，从1969年到1996年，台湾的少棒队曾在这项赛事称霸，28次打入决赛17次夺冠。

At a time when China endeavors to isolate Taiwan diplomatically, baseball remains one of the island’s potent instruments of soft power and a path to international recognition. When the sport debuted in the Olympics in Barcelona in 1992, Taiwan won the silver medal, losing the championship game to another small, baseball-crazed island, Cuba.

在中国努力在外交上孤立台湾之际，棒球仍是台湾强大的软实力工具之一，也是台湾获得国际认可的途径。棒球运动在1992年巴塞罗那奥运会上首次亮相时，台湾获得了银牌，在决赛中输给了另一个爱棒球爱得发狂的岛国古巴。

“Brazil has football,” said Shih Fu-dao, a taxi driver, as he drove a colleague and me to another game, this time in Tainan, in southern Taiwan. “Taiwan has baseball.”

“巴西有足球，”出租车司机施复道边开车边说，他在送我和一名同事去台南看另一场比赛。“台湾有棒球。”

Quoting taxi drivers is a journalistic cliché that is best avoided, but Mr. Shih knew whereof he spoke. His son, Hsiang-kai, played professionally here for four seasons, from 2004 to 2008.