Taichung Intercontinental Baseball Stadium

Taichung Intercontinental Baseball Stadium is located in Taichung, the third largest city in Taiwan. The first phase of the stadium's construction is nearly complete and officially opened on November 9, 2006 replacing the antiquated Taichung Baseball Field. The construction is basically finished with only some amenities yet to be completed. Located on the corner of Chongde Road and Huanzhong Road , it has considerably more parking available than the old stadium, which will be much more convenient for fans.

Construction

Construction on the stadium began in 2005 and is operating on the Build-Operate-Transfer model that is becoming increasingly common among public works projects in Taiwan. The first phase includes 15,000 infield seats, all with seatback chairs. The second phase will be financed with operating revenues and is expected to expand seating capacity to 20,000.

Major Events

The first major event hosted by the new stadium was the 2006 Intercontinental Cup, a baseball competition between eight nations from four different continents. defeated in the opener 10-0, followed by 's defeat against 3-13 on November 9.

It was announced on the final day of the 2006 Intercontinental Cup that the 2007 Baseball World Cup will be held in Taichung, with this stadium one of the two to be used for the tournament. It is also hoped that it will host some games in the 2007 Asian Baseball Championship, which is scheduled to be played in Taiwan and will also count as the 2008 Summer Olympics qualifier for the Asia region.

Sinon Bulls

Starting with the 2007 Chinese Professional Baseball League season, the new stadium is expected to be the primary home of the Sinon Bulls, who currently play many of their home games at the old Taichung Baseball Field.

Name Confusion

From the beginning of this project, the stadium has been known as the Taichung International Standard Baseball Stadium, and is still referred to as such by the municipal website. However, recent newspaper reports have referred to it as the Taichung International Baseball Stadium, A Chinese language schedule for the upcoming 2006 Intercontinental Cup has identified the stadium as the Taichung Intercontinental Stadium.

According to a recent report, the mayor of Taichung, Jason Hu, has announced that the name of the stadium has been officially designated as Intercontinental Baseball Stadium. This is in honor of the event being the first to be held at the new stadium. However, the articles are unclear as to whether Taichung will be a part of the name or not.

Miscellaneous

Stadium Firsts

*First competitive game: South Korea v. the Philippines; November 9, 2006. 2006 Intercontinental Cup.
*First win: South Korea 10 - Philippines 0; November 9, 2006. 2006 Intercontinental Cup
*First mercy rule win: South Korea 10 - Philippines 0; November 9, 2006. 2006 Intercontinental Cup
*First nine-inning shutout:
*First extra-inning game: Taiwan v. South Korea; November 12, 2006; 2006 Intercontinental Cup
*First home run: Bradley Harman ; November 10, 2006 2006 Intercontinental Cup
*First : Chen Yung-Chi ; November 12, 2006; 2006 Intercontinental Cup
*First complete game:

Stadium Records

*Longest game: 13 innings - Italy v. Australia; November 12, 2006; 2006 Intercontinental Cup
*Runs in a game : 13 - Italy v. Taiwan; November 9, 2006 ; Netherlands v. South Korea, November 15, 2006 2006 Intercontinental Cup
*Runs in a game : 16 - Italy v. Taiwan ; November 9, 2006: and Taiwan v. South Korea ; September 12, 2006 ; 2006 Intercontinental Cup
*Runs in an inning : 6 - Italy v. Taiwan, November 9, 2006; Australia v. the Philippines, November 10, 2006 ; 2006 Intercontinental Cup
*Runs in an inning : 6 - Italy v. Taiwan , November 9, 2006 ; Australia v. the Philippines , November 10, 2006 ; 2006 Intercontinental Cup
*Runs in a game : 2 - Numerous times
*RBIs in a game : 4 - Gino Lollio v. Taiwan; November 9, 2006; and Chen Yung-Chi v. South Korea; November 12 ;2006 Intercontinental Cup
* in a game : 19 - Italy v. Taiwan; November 9, 2006; 2006 Intercontinental Cup
* in a game : 29 - Italy v. Taiwan ; November 9, 2006 ; Australia v. South Korea November 14, 2006 - 2006 Intercontinental Cup
* in a game : 3 - Numerous times
*Strikeouts in a game : 12 - Cuba v. the Netherlands; November 19, 2006 ;2006 Intercontinental Cup
*Strikeouts in a game : 8 - Frank Montieh v. the Netherlands; November 19, 2006 ; 2006 Intercontinental Cup