[Statement from the Chinese Professional Baseball Players Association (CPBPA)]
Regarding the safety concerns raised by the interior facilities of Hsinchu Baseball Stadium after its reconstruction and reopening, in order to ensure the safety of the players’ working environment, the Players Union sincerely calls upon the League to consider temporarily suspending the arrangement of games at this venue. Before holding games at Hsinchu Baseball Stadium again, the League should actively communicate with the local government and clubs to start improvements. If further suggestions are needed, in addition to the opinions already collected and provided, this Association can further provide relevant suggestions for improvement.
Reviewing the issues of the Hsinchu Baseball Stadium renovation and field safety, this Association visited the city government in 2016, hoping to actively let the competent authorities understand the voices of the stadium users. Later, with the efforts and assistance of all sectors, the reconstruction of Hsinchu Baseball Stadium was initiated. During the process, although this Association was unable to practically participate in the execution of the reconstruction project, we have always maintained attention to this project and have recently expressed concern several times to the relevant units regarding the progress and status of the areas used by players.
After the practical testing match between the Wei Chuan Dragons and the Taichung Baseball Team on July 15 of this year (111th year of the ROC), regarding the parts of field safety and usage experience, we actively launched work to care for the players’ feedback. After consolidation, this was fed back to the League and clubs for reference and application, including items such as red clay, turf, and lighting. However, perhaps due to the tight schedule and limited effectiveness of adjustments, after Hsinchu Baseball Stadium was put into practical use, the relevant field conditions clearly did not improve, resulting in multiple players suffering injuries due to field factors.
In this regard, the Association’s office team has deeply reflected and has explained to the members several times before and after games in the past two days, taking the initiative to apologize for the insufficient monitoring force, which resulted in members having to bear occupational safety risks. At the same time, we promise our members that we will continue to implement the Association’s responsibility to “assist members in claiming workplace safety” and formally submit the demand for “temporary suspension of games, safety first” to the League and clubs, reiterating the Association’s emphasis on ensuring the safety of players in games.
In recent years, the professional baseball industry has gradually taken shape. Although the configuration and capabilities of the field operation professionals of the League and clubs have significantly improved, the experience of the Hsinchu Baseball Stadium reconstruction project also reminds us once again that the schedule planning for testing, adjustment, and then formal opening of stadium construction and renovation must be more rigorous, and feedback from user experience must be given more importance. We hope that field factors causing player injuries or faced risks will not happen again, and we also look forward to Hsinchu Baseball Stadium becoming a stage of glory where professional baseball players can step on with peace of mind.
July 24, 111th Year of the Republic of China (2022) 迫