How a Young Female Reporter Traveled Abroad to Cover MLB — Taiwan to New York
My first paying job after college was a sports reporter. The company I worked for was a small-scale sports media company based in Taiwan. At the year of 2018, our company just got started on digital transformation, steadily increasing the number of digital news on our platform.
As a 22-year-old rookie reporter from a small company, I thought I knew perfectly what kind of challenges were waiting ahead: inconsistent work schedules plus wearing many hats. It turned out I was completely wrong.
I got way more than I had ever imagined.
I got to do on-site coverage of Major League Baseball!
Never in my wildest dream did I think I’d conduct interviews with MLB players. To be honest, I didn’t watch more than five full MLB games before I became a full-time sports reporter.
For rookie like me who was unfamiliar with MLB, even with baseball, having the opportunity of a 10-day business trip covering Major League Baseball was such a blessing.
Before I went on to talk about this journey, I’d like to let you know how I got myself the once-in-a-lifetime experience.
It all started out with a simple reply: “I am available”
When I got the LINE message on the evening of May 16, 2018 from my boss, saying she needed one person to cover then-Marlins pitcher Wei Yin Chen’s start between 5/19~5/28, I was casually lying on the couch, scrolling through the news feed.
Without thinking, I offhandedly wrote “I am available” and sent the message to the group chat. Not out of ambition, but obligation, because as the most inexperienced one in the group, I had no choice but say YES to everything.
That YES was the defining moment of my life. Ten minutes or so later, my trip to the U.S. was confirmed.
At that moment, I was no longer glued to the couch, but frantically searching for accommodations, booking flights and applying for ESTA. 65 hours later, I was at the Taoyuan International Airport with the tool of my survival for the following days: a camcorder, a tripod and several mics.
May 21, 2018 (EST), I set foot on the field of New York Mets.
I missed Chen’s start at Atlanta, but it opened the door to my first visit to New York City. At 2:30 p.m., 4.5 hours prior to the first pitch, I arrived at Citi Field, home of the New York Mets.
Under the bright afternoon sun, the iconic Home Run Apple outside the stadium was glittered brilliantly with the sun shining on it. The historic charm of the ballpark brought me a sense of familiarity, like I’d been here before.
With the media credential, I entered the stadium through Hodges gate (of course, I had undergone security check). Passing through the clubhouse area was the tunnel leading out to the field, to the dreamland of any baseball lover.
Red dirt, green grass, white foul line, the crack of a bat, and the sound of baseball hitting the leather of a mitt. Everything on the field was nothing different from any other baseball game I’ve attended, but somehow they seemed so novel.
Maybe what made the above so distinctive and exciting was because of a shared sense of energy and liveliness in the air; Or the airplanes that frequently flied in the cloudless blue sky with loud rumbling noises over the Citi Field; It could also be the raucous fans who were watching batting practice on the field and yearning to get an autograph from players.
Perhaps, it was simply because I got to see players who I just wrote articles about few days ago in person. Those players were walking around, doing pregame stretches, and chatting with teammates a few steps away from me.
I remembered seeing Noah Syndergaard, who just got a win the day before, causally stepped onto the field, walked pass through me, just to catch up with some team staffs. He looked much stronger that I expected, just like a bear. (I had the exact thought at that time!)
It is true that this was my first visit to a MLB ballpark, but I felt I was about to explode with excitement as if this was my first time to set foot on a baseball field.
Dugout Interview with Wei Yin Chen, Marlins lefty from Taiwan
I was not the only reporter that day who wanted to interview Wei Yin Chen, then a five-year veteran of Major League Baseball. Along with other two foreign correspondents from Taiwan (both of them were covering all types of news related to Taiwan) who had stationed in the eastern U.S., we made an interview request with Chen.
Even though I was the only sports reporter aside from the other two, I was the only one who had never met Chen before. And that’s why I brought traditional desserts from Taiwan to greet Chen and his interpreter.
Fortunately, the interview went well, mainly thanks to one of the senior reporter, Ms. Kung, who had been based in the U.S. for over 20 years. Kung had covered former Yankees pitcher Chien Ming Wang’s sparkling performance back in 2006~2007, and had formed bond with Chen at the beginning of his big league career.
With deep connection with Chen, Kung was able to encourage him to talk about some unique topics, such as his view on the disparate mentality among Asian-born and the U.S. native baseball player.
I vividly remembered after the interview, Kung turned to me, jokingly but seriously said, “You must be grateful having me here today!”
Which was 100% true, as I not only got my job done, but also gained a priceless interview experience. Simply seeing how Kung got Chen opened up and went in-depth about his value and work ethic inspired me to grow as a reporter.
Witnessed the wild day for Jose Bautista
Being a reporter, one day rarely is like the next. Same thing goes for MLB players. The next day I was heading to Citi Field, Jose Bautista and Mets’ one-year deal made the headline news.
The atmosphere in the press box was much bustling compared to yesterday, with more seats occupied and many reporters being on the go. Long before the game was over, a gaggle of reporters had been waiting outside the clubhouse, eager to take a good spot to interview Bautista.
Apparently, I was not aggressive enough to get a “front roll” in Bautista’s postgame interview. All I did was film the interview without mic, and had screenshot of Bautista from the video afterwards.
Bautista started the day at his home in Tampa, Florida, ended the day in Mets lineup while collecting one hit in the first game with his new team. According to Mets manager Mickey Callaway, Bautista arrived at the stadium less than an hour before the first pitch. The two didn’t get to talk until Bautista came off the field finished stretching.
“I said, ‘You are at left-field.’ He replied, ‘I got it.’ ” Callaway revealed his quick conversation with Bautista in the press conference.
How nice it was to witness a midseason deal played out, just in my second visit to a MLB game?!
One-minute talk with Mickey Callaway, who had played pro baseball in Taiwan
While Bautista’s news was definitely the hot topic in the states, for Taiwanese fans however, the more relatable person was the manager of Mets Mickey Callaway, who used to pitch in CPBL (Chinese Professional Baseball League).
In 2009, Callaway recorded 7W-3L with the Uni-Lions, leaving a lasting impression for his knuckleball on Taiwan baseball fans. Knowing Callaway’s impact on the fans, I decided to ask him about his memory of the country.
Nevertheless, having an exclusive interview with the manager was not easy at all, as it is usually for team publicists to handle the daily press operations. I couldn’t simply stop the manager of a team at the tunnel and abruptly shot an interview request unless I knew him well enough (Or… unless I was bold enough!?). To make this interview happen, I needed to obtain permission from team publicists.
Luckily, when I left Citi Field after finishing the last day of work in New York, I had this in hand ➤ Mickey Callaway greeted Taiwan baseball fans
This one minute small talk with Callaway was done thanks to the help from Ray and Wayne. The former, who was pursuing postgrad degree in NY and worked as an intern for our company, introduced the latter, who worked for NYM asian development and group services as an analyst, to me. Through internal contact by Wayne, the interview request was accepted.
As soon as Callaway walked out of the door after the pregame press conference, I rushed out the door to tail him down the tunnel. Fortunately, staffs around Callaway caught a glimpse of me and asked him to stop for a while.
The interview took only one minute, but I got all I need. After a decade of wait, Taiwan baseball fans got to hear from Callaway once again!
It was a small triumph, but a triumph nonetheless.
Next Stop: Marlins Park
After a 6-day road trip, the Marlins would head back to Miami to host the Washington Nationals for another 3-game series. Chen was scheduled to start on May 26 against Nationals’ mid-rotation starter Tanner Roark.
Finally, the most challenging task of this trip was coming up.
No more familiar faces from my hometown in Miami. At the next big league ballpark, I would be working all alone to cover Chen’s game day performance.
To Be Continued…
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Connect with me on Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/da-yun-rocio-hsing-b3091111b/
