Dr. James Andrews is having a busy week, you can add Chien Ming Wang to his patient list this week as well. Same goes for Wang, cut him and take a flyer on a prospect.- Paul Leume
Paul Leume is a MLB columnist from Montreal, Canada. Paul, a one-time beat writer covering the Montreal Expos for the Montreal Gazette is a proud grandfather of 3 girls and now spends his time offering his thoughts and prospective on Major League Baseball on a variety of blogs and websites throughout Al Gore’s internet.
Baseball Star Pitcher Mr. Wang Goes to Washington; 'grandfather' in Taiwan Passes Away Tragically
ReplyDeleteFor Wang Chien-ming, Taiwan's Ace Pitcher for the New York Yankees and the Washington Nationals, Life Has Not Been Easy
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Print Flag Close Post a comment America loves sports and America loves baseball, and Hollywood has
always mirrored our love for the game, from such films as "Bull
Durham" and "Field of Dreams" to
"Air Bud: Seventh Inning Stretch" and "The Rookie." Now comes news of
a baseball story with an
overseas twist, from Taiwan, and with a tragic arc as well.
The 82-year-old biological grandfather of Washington Nationals star
pitcher Chien-Ming Wang was found dead hanging from a tree in a local
neighborhood park in
Taiwan recently, according to police reports, and while there was no
suicide note found at the scene or at his home, police observers
suspect it was
a suicide, as foul play has been ruled out.
While the news hit all the
national newspapers in Wang's homeland of Taiwan, in both Chinese and English
editions, not one American
newspaper
or sports blog in Washington DC or Manhattan -- where Wang also
pitched for the Yankees -- has reported the sad family saga.
As readers know, Wang started playing baseball as a kid in the
fourth grade in Taiwan, and it was through baseball that he learned an
important part of his personal story, according to a 2006 story in the
New York Times.
"We were going out to a competition and needed our personal
documents," Wang told the New York Times, explaining that meant
the names, relationships and birthdates of family members. "When I got
my documents, I learned who my biological parents were. My parents
didn't tell me."
Wang found out then that his biological father was the man he knew as
his uncle, Ping-Yin Wang. Wang's parents had no children of their own
and offered to raise him.
Fast forward now to August 2011 and this news item: "The biological
grandfather of Chien-Ming Wang
found hanging in Taiwan park; police