美國職棒大聯盟探訪
When Baseball Fever Filled My Days
那些為棒球瘋狂的歲月
There was a time when I was completely captivated by Major League Baseball（美國職棒大聯盟）.
Whenever I had a few free days, I would fly across the Pacific to America. Whenever I led a student tour to the United States or Canada, I would carefully examine our schedule, searching for an evening when we might slip away from sightseeing and enter a baseball stadium.
A journey to America did not feel complete without a ball game.
Those were the golden years of Chien-Ming Wang（王建民）, when the Taiwanese pitcher stood proudly on the mound for the New York Yankees（紐約洋基隊）. At the height of his career—his glorious prime—each of his victories seemed to belong not only to him, but to all of Taiwan. His calm expression, powerful sinker and steady presence made countless Taiwanese people stay awake through the night, watching every pitch from across the ocean.
My students were just as enthusiastic as I was. The moment I suggested attending a game, their eyes brightened. In the stadium, surrounded by thousands of cheering spectators, teachers and students became fellow fans. We shouted, applauded and waited breathlessly for that familiar figure to take the mound.
I visited the old Yankee Stadium（舊洋基體育場）, where the shadows of Babe Ruth（貝比・魯斯）, Joe DiMaggio（喬・迪馬喬） and generations of baseball legends seemed still to linger beneath the grandstands. Later, I entered the new Yankee Stadium（新洋基體育場）, brighter and more magnificent, yet still carrying the proud spirit of the Bronx.
At Fenway Park（芬威球場） in Boston, I saw the famous Green Monster（綠色怪物） rising above left field. The old brick walls, narrow seats and passionate Boston Red Sox（波士頓紅襪隊） supporters made the stadium feel less like a modern arena than a living museum of baseball.
In Toronto, I watched the Toronto Blue Jays（多倫多藍鳥隊）, while in Florida I visited the home of the Tampa Bay Rays（坦帕灣光芒隊）. I also went to Barclays Center（巴克萊中心） in Brooklyn—an indoor arena rather than a baseball park, but still part of my wider pilgrimage through the exciting world of North American professional sports.
Every stadium possessed its own voice: the crack of the bat, the thud of the ball entering a catcher’s glove, the sudden roar of the crowd, and the vendors calling from aisle to aisle. Beneath the floodlights, strangers became companions, united for a few hours by the fate of a small white ball.
Now, I no longer have the time—or perhaps the youthful restlessness—to be so crazy about baseball. Life has moved on, as all seasons must. The crowds have dispersed, the scoreboards have gone dark, and even the old Yankee Stadium has disappeared from the city.
Yet those passionate days have never completely left me.
Sometimes, when I hear the sound of a bat striking a ball, I am carried back across the years. Once again, I am sitting among my excited students, watching Wang Chien-Ming standing calmly on the mound. The stadium lights shine against the evening sky, the crowd begins to rise, and for one suspended moment, Taiwan and America seem joined by a single pitch.
The games ended long ago, but their echoes remain.
I may no longer chase baseball across oceans, yet those days of joyful madness—those unforgettable baseball years—still linger in my heart, like the final cheers drifting through an empty stadium after everyone else has gone home.
芬威球場（Fenway Park），位於美國麻薩諸塞州首府波士頓，是供棒球比賽使用的球場。目前為美國職棒大聯盟波士頓紅襪隊的主場。此球場落成於1912年，為現今大聯盟所使用中的最古老場地。Fenway Park, located in Boston, the capital of Massachusetts, is a stadium used for baseball games. Currently home to the Boston Red Sox of Major League Baseball. Completed in 1912, this course is the oldest venue in the major leagues today.
