Dong-Shan H.S. Baseball Field of Dreams

    When my son, Ariel, came to visit from Shen-Zhen, PRC, one thing he wanted to do the most with me was play baseball. Even though he is twenty-nine years old, a game of catch, hit, and pitch were tops on his list of father-son activities. Like the good old days back in the school yard in Brooklyn, there was no better way to communicate than with a ball and bat.
     "It will be nice to play some baseball again," my son said, nodding his head. "It's hard to find a baseball field in Shen-Zhen. The Chinese kids don't like baseball; they prefer basketball." 
     I had a George Foster autographed glove that I had packed with me when my wife and I moved to Taiwan. I also had some bats, but I sure wasn't going to smear up an official, signed Duke Snider, Jose Canseco, or Will Clark bat! I also had eighteen priceless autographed baseballs but I wouldn't use them any more than I would flip my Sandy Koufax or Nolan Ryan rookie Topps baseball cards. We had to get usable items, and so off to the local hardware store we went. 

   My son grimaced when I said we could get a bat and balls at a hardware store, but he didn't know what hardware stores in Taiwan were like. He didn't believe me when I said anything could be bought there. "Anything," I repeated, to his disbelief, until we walked up the sporting goods aisle and he saw what I meant. In addition to the little baseball bats that taxi drivers like to carry under their seats in case of an altercation with another driver, they also had a small selection of little league and adult sized bats, aluminum and wooden, though nothing fancy. We picked up one we both felt comfortable 
with, for a mere 150 NT-$5.00 US. Next, we had a selection of baseballs to choose from, hardball, softball, and spongy balls (though I didn't see any whiffle balls or bats, apparently an "American" variation on the sport.) We chose a pack of three balls, 180 NT, which came out to $2.00 US each. Ari was even able to find an imitation leather glove, made in Taiwan (300 NT -$10.00 US)  that fit him well enough to catch a hardball. 
     There is a baseball field next to Dong-Shan High School in Beitun, Taichung where you can go to throw the ball around a little or get some batting practice. The gate door was open last week and the field was empty so my son and I did some father-son bonding on a field of dreams.
     The Dong-Shan H.S. baseball field is grass, acceptably manicured, about 200 feet down the lines, three hundred in center field. The pitching mound is flat on a red clay infield. 

     Usually there is a softball game in progress on the field, though not mid-day. High schools from around Taichung use it for practice and games and there are even some semi-pro or company games that are cool to watch. 
     The little fungo we had that afternoon brought us together better than any wordy discussions. My son and I could just relax doing what we enjoyed when he was young. When my son said that I still had some umph in my hitting I wondered how good I could get (and how much weight I could lose) if I played some baseball every week. 
     Anybody for softball or baseball? I have a place to play。