World Masters Games: 2,000 athletes participate in baseball and softball tournaments

Taipei and New Taipei City jointly hosted the 11^th edition of the World Masters Games, the first since the 2017 Games in Auckland, New Zealand, and the first World Masters Games to be held in Asia.

Baseball and softball, being one of the most popular sports in Taiwan, attracted fans from all over the world, and every corner on the island to register for the experience of “participating an international tournament without traveling abroad” with a total of 2,000 players (minimum age 31) across 117 teams participating in baseball, softball, and slow-pitched softball events. Twenty-one gold medals were awarded in seven different age groups (30+, 35+, 40+, 45+, 50+, 55+, 60+).

It was the chance of a lifetime for many with the baseball and softball tournaments played on, not only amateur baseball and softball fields, but also professional ballparks, such as the Taipei Tianmu Baseball Park (home field of the Weichuan Dragons) and the Xinzhuang Baseball Stadium (home field of the Fubon Guardians). In addition, the gold medal games of the five different age groups, including women’s baseball, were held in the 40,000-seat Taipei Dome.

Taipei City and New Taipei City Mayors, Wan-An Chiang and Yu-Il Hou, led their city government staff to play slow-pitch softball games at the riverside softball park. Taipei City won both games, in the preliminary and the final, en route to winning the gold medal of the “Recreation-Open-45+” group. New Taipei City Mayor Hou applauded the performances from both teams: “It’s more important to enjoy the games than to care for the results. It’s great to see everyone playing hard until the final out.”

Among the 56 teams registered for the baseball events, six were women's baseball teams. The gold medal game between the "SUNFLOWERS(OB)" and "Anytime Fitness Taiwan" marked the first time a women's baseball game was played in the Taipei Dome since its inauguration in December 2023. Team SUNFLOWERS(OB), mostly comprised of former players of the legendary women's baseball team Sunflowers (established in 2001), overcame the 10-run deficit given up in the first inning and turned the tables on team Anytime Fitness Taiwan with the score of 15-14, en route to winning the gold medal with an undefeated record (4-0).

The winning pitcher, Chiu-Ching Lee, who represented the Chinese Taipei Women’s Softball Team in both the Athens Olympics 2004 and the Beijing Olympics 2008, said after the game: “This is the venue for the WBSC Premier12. We are so happy that we had the opportunity to play here. I’ll be smiling in my dreams.” She also added: “If it wasn’t for the World Masters Games 2025, I would have ended up just buying the tickets to watch the games and never had the chance to step on the mound.”

The gold medal game of the Men’s Baseball (competitive-35+) was the most anticipated game for baseball fans. The team GOATBROS, led by former professional baseball players Szu-Chih Chou (Brothers) and Kuo-Hui Kao (Guardians), took on the team “NTSU OB,” which was comprised of alumni of the National Taiwan University of Sports, a college baseball powerhouse in Taiwan. Former Brothers Elephants star pitcher Yu-Ching Lin was called upon to relieve and said he pitched as if it were his farewell game. Lin managed to give up only one run in 3.1 innings and helped his team defeat “GOATBROS” en route to winning the gold medal. Taipei City Mayor Chiang Wan-An appeared at the medal ceremony and took photos with all participating players.

"It has been years since I last squared off with Chou Szu-Chi and Kao Kuo-Hui. It's like we're back to the old times when we were both playing professionally. I'd figured to go with my fastball. It was delightful." The moment that made it most touching for Lin was, in addition to playing games with his senior schoolmates, he could show his current students the reward of hard work. Lin currently teaches and coaches at NTSU, his alma mater.

The World Masters Games also attracted teams from afar. The Boston Wolfpack, a team comprised of sports enthusiasts in the Boston area, which has been running for 25 years, played in the Men’s Competitive-55+ category. But as the only team in its age group, they ended up playing games with other age groups including a friendly match at the Taipei Dome between the Boston Wolfpack and Energy, the third-place team in the competitive-35+ group. Although there was an average age gap of 20 years, the Wolfpack was able to maintain a one-run lead until the top of the fifth with a score of 2-1 before Energy's Huang En-Tzu hit an inside-the-park three-run homer in the bottom of the fifth, resulting in a seven-run swing en route to an 8-2 win.

Steven Wolf, 63, served as the coach and played centre field. “Our oldest player on the team is 67. It is a very special experience to play with the retired professional players, and I want to tell them that there are so many guys on our team who are old enough to be their fathers,” Wolf said. The 2025 Games also marked the first time that the Boston Wolfpack ever played in a domed stadium.

The World Masters Games 2025 welcomed over 25,000 athletes from 107 countries participating in 35 sports across 57 events.

Kansai, Japan, will host the 10th edition of the World Masters Games in 2027 (The 10th edition was postponed from 2021 to 2027 due to the COVID-19 pandemic). Cities throughout the Kansai region, such as Osaka, Kyoto, Hyogo, Shiga, Nara, Wakayama, Fukui, Tottori, and Tokushima, will host the baseball and softball games.