Day 7: Germany vs Korea

Dick held a brief meeting in the morning, then we were on our own until game time. For the first time in the tournament, I was assigned an early game (12:30 PM). In addition, the game was at Intercontinental Stadium, so we didn't have to leave real early. Our crew for the game: Dale (Canada) on the plate, me at first, Fan-Chung Huang (Taiwan) at second and Chin-Hsiea Chang at third (Taiwan).

Korea won this game easily, 12-1 in seven innings (10 run mercy rule). It only took about 2:15 to play. There was only one interesting situation in the whole game (and again it involved me). Very early, the Germany pitcher committed a start and stop balk with a runner on second (started into the set, stopped, then stepped off). The manager came out of the dugout. Arguing balks is not permitted in the tournament, although the umpire can give an explanation. This was exactly what I said to the manager as he came out: "We're not going to have an argument about this one, but I'll be happy to give you an explanation." For some reason he took offense to this and started a whole rant about how that was an inappropriate way to approach him and that I was being defensive. I let him go on this until he got to asking about the play, which I explained to him. He was still real agitated, and said that he didn't see the balk and he didn't think anyone else did either (actually Dale had recognized the balk from behind the plate as well). I asked him why he was wound up so tight and he said that my initial statement had "really got him agitated." His reaction during our discussion was so unusual for a play like this that I started wondering afterward if perhaps he and I had a history that I wasn't aware of. In talking with Dana (from Austria and formerly the US) later, though, I found out that he is like that all the time. It reminded me very much of how some of our Mid-American Conference coaches behaved several years ago. Anyway, the rest of the game went smoothly and we were back at the hotel shortly after 3:30 PM.


I wrote up all the stuff from the day off in the afternoon and waited for Arnold to get back so we could go for some pizza. Also, Johnny, one of the tournament staffers from last November, was coming over to meet me in the evening. When I came to the lobby to meet Johnny, Arnold was walking through, so it worked out perfectly. We took a cab over to Fatty's and had a nice dinner. Arnold had been craving pizza for a few days, so he got that. I decided on some ravioli and red wine (yes, red wine all you smart guys back in Michigan -- yuk it up some more). I didn't quite recognize what Johnny ordered. It was great to see him, and it was good that he was there, because we needed a translator with our waitress. After dinner we decided to walk back to the hotel, and waited for people to start trickling in from the evening games.

After hearing the stories of the days events and taking some pictures with Lidia and Lili by the hotel Buddha, Dana, Johnny and I decided to hit the Frog Mexican restaurant. This had been our unofficial hangout in Taichung last November, but our favorite bartender, Queenie, no longer works there so it was the first time I had taken anyone in. I recognized one of the bartenders from before (J.J.). She knew Queenie and got her on the phone. I talked to her for a few minutes and I think she going to meet us there on Thursday night. Johnny treated Dana and I to some Taiwan sausage from a vendor outside the bar. It was served with little lumps of rice and was quite good. We'll see on Thursday if taking that risk was a smart move. Dana seemed to like the Frog (it's a little hole-in;the-wall place with a lively atmosphere -- perfect umpy bar). We came back about 1:30 AM, said good-bye to Johnny and called it a night.