Taipei, Oct. 1 (CNA) A 24-man roster for the 2007 Baseball World Cup and a preliminary 60-man roster for the 2007 Asian Baseball Championship were announced Monday as Taiwan eyed on the lone Asian seed in the hopes of representing the nation in the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
Taiwan will enjoy home park advantage throughout as both tournaments will be held in Taiwan. However, priority will be given to the Asian Championship, which is the 2008 Beijing Olympics qualifier, said Tsai Huang-lan, Deputy Director of the Sports Affairs Council (SAC).
The home team will have to beat Japan, South Korea and the Level-B winner for the title in the Asian Championship, which will be held in Taichung Nov. 27 - Dec. 3, to take the tournament championship and seize the only Asian seed in the 12-team field of the Beijing Olympic baseball event.
Kuo Tai-yuan, head coach of Taiwan's national baseball team, announced the 60-man roster, which included U.S. Major League pitchers Wang Chien-ming, Kuo Hong-chih, Tsao Chin-huei and infielder Hu Chin-lung, which will be trimmed down before the tournament.
Former Major Leaguer Chen Chin-feng, generally seen as Taiwan's top hitter, and others who currently play in the U.S. Minor League and Japanese professional league were also included.
The 2007 Baseball World Cup, which will be held from Nov. 6-18 in Taichung, Xinjhuang and Tianmu, is still important, but it will be regarded as a "warm up" series for the Asian Championship, said Kuo.
"By saying that, we're not giving up on the World Cup though. It's a special event for Taiwan, " Kuo said. It was after winning the bronze medal in the 2001 Baseball World Cup, which was also held in Taiwan, that Taiwan's professional baseball blossomed again and emerged from the shadow of the game-fixing scandals of the late 1990s, Tsai said.
Taiwan finished in fourth place in the 2004 Athens Olympics and 11th in the 2005 Baseball World Cup.