• Taiwan,  Travel

    Watching A Fubon Guardians Game In Taipei Is Both Memorable Experience

    The Fubon Guardians

    Baseball is an incredibly popular sport in Taiwan. The Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL) is the six-team professional baseball league in Taiwan. Established in 1989, the league kicked off its inaugural season in 1990.

    Through the years the league has both expanded and contracted , with four defunct teams and one team – the Wei Chuan Dragons that folded and was brought back (in 2020). The stadiums are tiny in comparison to those in the US and Japan but that makes the experience even more intimate and the fan experience even more fun. You can really get a feel for the passion that fans have for Taiwan baseball.

    Throughout my time in Taiwan I was able to see games in three of the six ballparks with the Tainan City Unilions playing in every game I saw (coincidentally). So, in a way, and by sheer coincidence, I became a Unilion fan.

    Fubon Guardians History

    The Fubon Guardians play their home games in the Xinzhuang District in Taipei. The team has gone through several name changes as ownership has changed four times since the team’s initial inception in 1993. The team has from the Jungo Bears to Sinon, Bulls to EDA Rhinos, to the current Fubon Guardians.

    Playing in Taipei, the Guardians are one of two teams in Taiwan’s capital. Taipei is the only city that currently has two teams. The Guardians play their home games at Xinzhuang Baseball Stadium which can seat up to 12,500 people. The stadium is in the middle of a large sports park.

    The front of Xinzhuang Baseball Stadium home to the Fubon Guardians

    The Game Experience

    Tickets are easy to come by and you can easily walk right up to a ticket booth the day of the game and purchase a Fubon Guardians ticket. They have a variety of seating options to choose from and seats are very affordable. I got a seat along the first base line at field level for only 500 NTD ($15.58 USD).

    You can bring in outside food and drinks and I just walked right in with a backpack with no one checking it or anything. I could certainly tell I wasn’t going to a baseball game in the US.

    Of course, being in Taiwan the concessions were are a little different than what you might find in the US. There’s Taiwanese fried chicken, boba tea, sushi, a Family Mart (a popular convenience store chain in Asia), and many other stalls selling Taiwanese centric food and snacks.

    There’s also familiar fast food places like McDonald’s and Dominos here too. I grabbed some fried chicken, a bag of seaweed flavored chips and a tea and soaked it all in.

    Even though the stadium was small and not overly packed, it was very lively. The fans and enthusiasm was awesome. There’s essentially what amounts to a “hype man” that leads the crowds with singing, chants, and various arm movements, the ENTIRE game. This doesn’t fall onto deaf ears with the crowd very much engaged and following the “hype man’s” lead. Everyone is chanting, singing, and mimicking the “hype man” so it does get pretty loud. The crowd also goes wild with every ball in play. A hard hit ball, a double play, a fly out, there’s a lot of oohs and ahhs and genuine excitement for routine baseball plays.

    There’s also Guardian cheerleaders, yes, cheerleaders at a baseball game, that are on top of the dugouts dancing. It just adds to the entertainment value and atmosphere of the game and really fits right into everything that’s going on.

    I’ve been to a baseball game in Japan and this was a very similar atmosphere albeit in a smaller size. It’s so much different than watching a game in the US. The fans are there having a great time, are really engaged in every pitch, and are super passionate for their teams which they aren’t afraid to show! It’s a really fun time and is great way to wind down after a long day of doing touristy things.