Chien-Ming Wang
By Betty Bao Lord
Chien-Ming was named the 57th most influentail person by time magazine.
At 8, barely off the boat from Shanghai, I found my way to the American Dream, courtesy of my love for Jackie Robinson, the first African American to play major league baseball.
Now there's Chien-Ming Wang. He's a member of my tribe. He too wrestles (sturggles) with English. But he has more in common with Jackie than with me. The Yankees ace (great player) won 19 games last year, and as runner-up (second place) for the Cy Young Award, he is a rising star. In his island home, he is already a supernova (very famous). Whenever he pitches, whether it's a live telecast or a rerun, Taiwan ditches (puts aside) its political woes and personal cares to huddle in the most unlikely places—from bars to beauty parlors to boardrooms—to cheer Chien-Ming. No matter that the fan shouting alongside is mandarin or mendicant (a person who lives by begging ), from the mainland or local born, a great-great-grandma with bound feet or a bare-bottomed tot, the voices are one (everybody cheers for him from the oldest to the youngest people).
Once Jackie's excellence and elegance broke the color barrier (african american and white European American). Nowadays the Ichiros, Dice-Ks and Chien-Mings (people from all over the world) of baseball are chipping away at the culture barrier. At a time when clashes of civilizations warm up in the on-deck circle, this 8-year-old heart dreams of a world as hopeful and intimate as bygone Ebbets Field.
By Betty Bao Lord
Chien-Ming was named the 57th most influentail person by time magazine.
At 8, barely off the boat from Shanghai, I found my way to the American Dream, courtesy of my love for Jackie Robinson, the first African American to play major league baseball.
Now there's Chien-Ming Wang. He's a member of my tribe. He too wrestles (sturggles) with English. But he has more in common with Jackie than with me. The Yankees ace (great player) won 19 games last year, and as runner-up (second place) for the Cy Young Award, he is a rising star. In his island home, he is already a supernova (very famous). Whenever he pitches, whether it's a live telecast or a rerun, Taiwan ditches (puts aside) its political woes and personal cares to huddle in the most unlikely places—from bars to beauty parlors to boardrooms—to cheer Chien-Ming. No matter that the fan shouting alongside is mandarin or mendicant (a person who lives by begging ), from the mainland or local born, a great-great-grandma with bound feet or a bare-bottomed tot, the voices are one (everybody cheers for him from the oldest to the youngest people).
Once Jackie's excellence and elegance broke the color barrier (african american and white European American). Nowadays the Ichiros, Dice-Ks and Chien-Mings (people from all over the world) of baseball are chipping away at the culture barrier. At a time when clashes of civilizations warm up in the on-deck circle, this 8-year-old heart dreams of a world as hopeful and intimate as bygone Ebbets Field.
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