《TAIPEI TIMES》 Taipei unveils plaques at stadium commemoration
At Taipei Arena yesterday, from right, retired baseball stars Lu Ming-shih and Chou Szu-chi, Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an, and retired baseball star Huang Ping-yang pose for a photograph at a ceremony to unveil plaques commemorating the Taipei Municipal Baseball Stadium. Photo: CNA
By Kan Meng-lin and Jake Chung / Staff reporter, with staff writer
The Taipei City Government yesterday unveiled a plaque at the Taipei Arena commemorating the Taipei Municipal Baseball Stadium, which once stood on the site.
Upon his retirement in 2024, CTBC Brothers player Chou Szu-chi （周思齊） proposed that the Taipei Municipal Baseball Stadium be memorialized. The former stadium was decommissioned at the end of 2000 and the site has since been redeveloped into the Taipei Arena.
After his final CPBL game at the Taipei Dome in September 2024, Chou said he hoped a memorial could be installed at the site where his professional career began.
The memorial would help fans and future generations of players remember the venue’s historic significance as one of Taiwan’s key baseball landmarks, he said at the time.
Taipei Metro Recreation Co, which hosted yesterday’s unveiling, said that it signified Taipei Arena’s status as a cultural landmark.
Two plaques were installed: One on the ground in the shape of a home plate, symbolizing the start and end of each game, and the other a relief on a wall, evoking the former stadium’s main entrance, it said.
The relief depicts people climbing the building, referencing the heyday of professional baseball in Taiwan, when fans, unable to get tickets, would scale utility poles to watch the match, it said.
The ball on the relief symbolizes how the location has witnessed Taipei’s baseball development since 1959, and represents the sport’s past, present and future, Taipei Metro Recreation said.
Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an （蔣萬安） said that the event was more than just an unveiling.
It is a call to future generations, urging them not to forget their past and to remember how the whole nation was enamored with the sport, Chiang said.
The plaque honors past players and baseball itself, which is not just a sport, but a legacy of an entire generation, he said.
Erecting the memorial was not easy, Chou said, adding that it was not simply about placing a stone, but about expressing how baseball in Taiwan represents the inheritance of countless shared memories.
Some people say that the former stadium was an unattractive venue, “but isn’t this our home?” he said.
新聞來源：TAIPEI TIMES