Ok. So with all this World Cup talk that's probably happening on all the other sites in the blog community, I decided to take this post in the other direction. Lets talk China baseball. Well, not really. It's way better than baseball!

I never thought baseball was a big sport in China. The first year that I was here, I brought my baseball glove only to leave it at the bottom of my suitcase for the duration of my trip. But something happened last night that tells me that maybe baseball is finally catching on in China. Pull up a chair, whilst I'll tells ya a story...

So last night I'm sitting at a local outdoor meat-on-a-stick (aka Yangrou chuanr) place. Sippin' some local beer, and enjoying the lively atmosphere that is synonymous with barbeques. Me and my two friends had occasionally exchanged pleasantries with the commoners at the table next to us. One of them spoke English and seemed to be itchin' to put it to use.

Anyway, us three laowais were about up to our elbows in yangrou grease when from out of nowhere came a man that can only be described as a cross between a fat smiling buddha and Ichiro Suzuki. Lets call him Mr. Baseball. One of the men sitting at the adjacent table (the folks we chatted earlier) was suddenly attacked from behind by Mr. Baseball, with (did ya guess?) a baseball bat. The first strike landed square on top of his skull, making a sound that I hope I never hear again. I really don't know how this guy stayed conscious. But this poor guy did manage to get up and run away, as the bad guy and his sidekick yibian chased him, yibian beat his ass. Yes, Mr. Baseball had a sidekick - every good vilian does - and his weapon of choice was a medium-sized metal stool. All together, about 4 or 5 hits were landed. A pretty decent slugging percentage if ya ask me. And yes, there was blood everywhere...

After the initial shock of this incident wore off, and we got back to our meat-sticks, I started thinking about how Mr. Baseball here had decided upon using a baseball bat. As I said, baseball is not at all popular in China, with the exception of maybe Taiwan "province," and not too many sports stores carry baseball bats.

But what about the stores that do have baseball bats? I'd be very curious to get a glimpse at their market research. When they stock bats on their shelves, are they actually anticipating that some Chinese kids are going to suddenly take an interest in the sport? Or are they aware of the criminal demand for baseball bats, and thus taking advantage of this market niche by kicking out a small supply.

I couldn't help but imagine how Mr. Baseball here purchased his bat. It probably went something like this:

A scary, massive, tattooed Chinese guy walks into a sporting goods store.
"One baseball bat please."
"Ah. You're gonna go play some baseball, are ya?"
"Yes, that's right."
"Here you are sir. Might I interest you in our new Archery sets?"


Tags: China, Chinese, Baseball in China, Dalian, Newfoundland, ichiro, newfie, Chinese ass whoopin', pandapassport, baseball, baseball bat