[children chattering]
[girl] What’s a Yankee?
[boy] Yankees is a baseball team, Yankees.
[girl] Oh.
Cool.
[Chien-Ming Wang] Cool.
-Hi. -[Chien-Ming] Hello.
I was going to tell you, he’s Justin’s dad.
-[Chien-Ming] Yeah? -Yeah.
See?
-Oh, my God. -[laughter]
My mom told me... Uh, us that you’re famous.
My mom told me that.
Before, not now.
-Oh. -[laughing]
Cool.
[children laughing]
[male commentator 1] Think about the Yankees,
you think about all that money in that big payroll,
and who gets the ball in Game One?
Chien-Ming Wang,
who has been, without a doubt,
the best starter down the stretch for the New York Yankees.
[male commentator 2] That sinker goes down,
a lot of hitters talk about hitting it, and it feels like a bowling ball.
What a description
of a tough sinker from Wang.
[male commentator 3] One of the best sinkers during his era.
[male commentator 1] One, two, pitch.
-Ordonez strikes out. -[crowd cheering]
[male commentator 2] He was fun to watch
for a couple of years, and it was exciting.
-He's struck him out. -[crowd cheering]
[male commentator 1] He’s a great pitcher.
A lot of the guys who come here, they can’t stand on that mound.
And they’re great any place else, but they come in and stand there,
he had that.
[male commentator 2] He won 19 games two years in a row,
and he was like the next great pitcher for the Yankees.
[male commentator 1] Wang rounds third, he scores.
It is a two run base hit and Wang got hurt running the bases.
Wang is bent over at home plate,
and the Yankees will have to go to the bullpen.
He can barely walk.
[man] Too early.
He hurt himself and never came back from it.
He seemed like he had it...
and it wasn’t there.
It was sad.
[thud]
[male commentator 1] He’s not pitched in the Major Leagues since 2013,
when he made six appearances with the Blue Jays,
and has not been the same guy since.
[male commentator 1] Right after Spring Training,
he was the first ever Yankee starting pitcher
at the new Yankee Stadium.
Now, it was an exhibition game, it wasn’t a regular season game.
That was the first game the Yankees played in their new home,
and he was the starting pitcher on the mound.
[male commentator 2] That’s something nobody can take away from him.
[male commentator 1] That’s right.
[male commentator 2] That’s a pretty cool experience.
[Chien-Ming in Mandarin] This is my sixth team in the past two years.
The last time I was in the Majors was two years ago.
My sinker does not have the late life
like it used to,
the velocity is slower now at 86 or 87 mph.
[male commentator 1] Here’s the one off pitch,
and there’s a drive to the gap in right center field.
That’s got some steam.
[Chien-Ming] I just want to continue to pitch
and see if I could get my groove back.
[male commentator] One run, two hits,
and nobody left on base.
[man] It’s tough to see good guys struggle,
especially from what he was to what he is now.
He was throwing low to mid-90 sinkers,
and probably throwing it 90% of the time, it was nuts.
[male commentator] Drive to right field, it’s in, it’s a hit,
this is going to score two runs.
Navarro scores,
all the way around third into score is Parmelee
in a double and it’s three to one.
Chien-Ming Wang now has given up four hits.
Throws home...
swings and bloops one to left,
that’s going to drop in and will score another run.
[man] I... I wish he never got hurt. He would've been...
He would’ve been
still here with the Yankees, tell you the truth.
Yeah, definitely.
[door creaking]
[Alan Chang] The day he got released by the Triple-A Braves,
I hear he’s very calm, and...
Um, but yet, you know, that day
I could sense in the voice in his phone call
that he could have tears in his eyes,
and he’s never been released in mid-season.
So I just tell him, uh,
"Hey, don’t worry, do you want to continue to pitch?"
You know, you’ve had a great career,
if you don’t want to pitch anymore,
you can go home, and you’ve already done so much.
And he just tell me that, hey, you know,
keep looking for teams for him, um,
he wants to continue to pitch.
And at that time, all the other 29 Major League teams,
their Triple-A rotations are full, too.
There were two teams, San Diego Padres and New York Mets,
but they decided to pass on Chien-Ming.
And I explained to him that
if he wants to go home to Florida and rest,
and, you know, wait for a Major League team
to come up with a spot in the Triple-A roster, he could do that.
But the risk is, if he goes home,
he would have to restart up the throwing program again
once a spot opens.
[Chien-Ming] I struggle with the thoughts of calling it a career.
If I ended this...
at least I could return to Taiwan,
and spend some time with my parents.
I’m getting older, too, sometimes I do think about this.
They are in Taiwan, and it’s just the two of them there.
We talked to Chien-Ming about, you know, what he wants to do
and totally respect him.
I know... You know, he’s had a storied career,
and I told him that, "Hey, you know, after all you’ve been through,
if you want to hang it up...
You’ve had such a, you know, unbelievable career already,
you know, and it’s such a good example to little kids like my son...
You know...
We love you and...
You know, you can..."
[crying]
Sorry...
[Chien-Ming] Even if there’s no opportunities
in the affiliated organizations,
you still need to stay in shape.
Alan found an Independent League team.
The level is in between Double-A and Triple-A
with a lot of good players playing there.
I told him whatever the team is, I’ll go.
I’m running out of options.
This has got to be the lowest point,
there’s not even a Minor League spot.
So, I have to go to the Independent League.
What I worry about is,
whether I’ll ever make it back into the MLB system.
[in Mandarin] He is well aware of how much time he has left.
After all, he is a pitcher of a certain age.
You want to support him,
sure, give it all you’ve got and keep going.
But on the other hand, you feel sorry for him
because...
he’s no longer the same pitcher.
The only thing that remains is his spirit.
[indistinct conversations on TV]
[Wellington Wang grunts]
[Charlene Wu] Okay, Kolby, let's see where your brother is.
[children chattering]
Justin.
[car door opens]
I totally understand
the heart and soul of ballplayers is on the fields.
Watching him struggle these past few years,
I am really torn, too.
I want him to keep playing, but I don’t want him
to miss out on our family this much.
[indistinct commentary over PA]
[indistinct chatter]
[Patrick Day] They all got their backs up against the wall.
Is the way they view it. Um...
And it’s true, their... Their worlds get crushed a little bit.
You know, they’re inside of an organization,
feeling really good about themselves,
then all of a sudden...
they get released.
There’s 1,400 free agents out there
all the time, and there’s only 200 spots in this league.
[Stan Cliburn] A lot of them had been to the Major Leagues.
I think 80 of the 200 players last year in the league
all had Major League experience.
So this is a league where guys who’ve been to the Major Leagues,
they’re back here for whatever reason, whether it was injury,
their age might have caught up with them,
weeded them out of the Major League system they were in
because of the youth movement coming in with the younger players.
But their backs are against the wall,
and the... and the thing is, to put up the numbers,
to get out of here, and to be seen by Major League scouts
and to get back, they have to perform.
[man] Come, get it. Ready.
[crowd cheering]
And Chien-Ming was one of the guys
that felt like his quickest way back in Major League Baseball
was through the Atlantic League and through Southern Maryland.
[train horn blaring]
-[Chien-Ming] Chien-Ming. -[man on phone] How are you?
[Chien-Ming] Good, how are you?
[man speaking indistinctly on phone]
No, I get released. [chuckles]
-You got released? -Yeah.
[man speaking indistinctly on phone]
Oh, I don’t know, no team, now...
Yeah.
Can I go see you?
-And I take you to dinner. -[man speaking indistinctly on phone]
Okay, I see you in a little bit.
All right.
[dog barking]
[indistinct conversations]
[dogs panting]
[indistinct conversations]
Chien, how are you?
-Good, how are you? -Nice to see you.
Did you hear... What is this?
-Uh... -Tea?
No, the...
Merry Christmas.
Oh, okay.
Look at you, the picture on the wall.
-[donkey snorts] -You hear the donkeys?
[Chien-Ming] Yeah.
He brought some apples.
[snorts]
[in Mandarin] Look at his room.
Isn’t this incredible?
I don’t think that there is a collection of Major League stuff quite like this,
anywhere.
-Uh, Billy? -Yeah.
[man] Does... Does your arm feel strong, Chien-Ming?
[Chien-Ming in English] Yeah, I feel strong, but this year, different.
And every time I throw one game,
like 100 pitch, next day I don’t feel nothing.
No soreness, nothing.
That’s good.
-It’s good? -Yeah.
-He’s done it in the past... -Mmm-hmm.
Been a great pitcher,
and he’s young enough that he can still do it.
There’s some signs that--
You never give up on a guy who’s already done it.
If somebody hasn’t done it, then you don’t worry about it.
There’s a lot of scouts probably, you know...
mentioned that he’s...
They... They think he's done.
He’ll never recover.
Well, that’s bullshit.
[Billy Connors] Well, he’s, number one...
When I first... I saw him pitch his first game...
in Staten Island.
He's, uh... Not only he's a tremendous pitcher,
but he’s a tremendous person.
He’s a hard worker,
great kid...
and I fell in love with him. I just...
I knew we would make it to the big leagues.
He had 19 wins, 19 wins,
and the year he got hurt, he would’ve won 20.
Right, Chien?
I try.
He’s a special person,
and I love him to death.
[Chien-Ming in Mandarin] I’ve never thought of how good
I could become.
Didn’t think much of it when I was young.
Just thought by playing baseball, I could go out and have fun.
I never thought I would play in the States
or Japan or anything.
Never thought of it.
[male commentator] In the pitcher, from Taiwan,
is Chien-Ming Wang,
who’s making his 12th start of the season.
Six-three, 185 pounds and flawless mechanics,
and here is his pitching coach Neil Allen to talk about him.
Pitching for us today would be the young man from Taiwan
Chien-Ming Wang.
He’ll be throwing a fastball, curve ball, slider,
change, and split-finger.
Uh, he’s got a lot of confidence in all of his pitches right now,
and he throws them all at any time in the count,
and he’s having a lot of success for us
so we hope that he will continue.
[crowd cheering]
First and foremost, I was like his United States dad, I guess.
‘Cause I knew he was a long ways from his dad,
and I wanted to be there for him
-if he wanted to talk. -That’s okay.
We don’t want to give them anything
to hit a big home run right there, okay?
I was always there for him,
trying to put a smile on his face every day,
and he started trusting me.
We developed a relationship and that’s how it all started.
[male commentator] Signed by the Yankees
for a $1.9 million bonus two years ago,
and then blew out his shoulder after 14 pro starts
here on Staten Island.
[Neil] We always knew he had a big arm,
and he could throw it by people, but it was straight.
So we knew in time,
that we had to do something to create some movement for him.
He got to Triple-A,
you got more experienced hitters.
And there was a point in time
where he would be giving up some hits and things like that.
And I said, "Okay, it’s time.
We need to start teaching you a sinker."
And he kind of looked at me like, "Sinker?"
You know, and I go, "Yes, we’re gotta get the ball to do this."
He grabbed it, and he ran with it.
[male commentator] He’s got the sort of stuff
that projects him out to be a three or two starter in the rotation,
and this is the first day of the rest of his career.
Chien-Ming Wang...
will start his Major League career with this pitch.
It’s a strike.
I cried.
Um...
‘Cause he was such a great kid.
And, um...
I can’t even imagine what it was like to go that far from home
and work so hard for so long through injuries,
and accomplish what he had accomplished.
That... When he came and warmed up for that first game...
And I remember, in New York, there was a Taiwanese section,
they were holding signs, and they were going crazy for him
and everything like that.
And in my own mind,
I just reminisce and thought about the past...
the hard road that kid traveled to get to where he got to that night.
[male commentator] Chien-Ming Wang winds, kicks, and he’s ready to deal.
Let’s do it at the new Yankee Stadium.
[Brian Cashman] On the mound, he was a beast for us,
he was a ferocious competitor,
he had some of the nastiest stuff that we’ve acquired since I’ve been here.
And it was great to see that our belief in him paid off,
you know, because eventually he won 19 games two straight years for us.
It was exciting and very proud for us.
[male commentator 1] Listen to the ovation.
[crowd cheering]
[male commentator 2] Oh, If you’re thinking about Taiwan,
it’s a country that is, uh,
slightly smaller than, uh, Maryland and Delaware combined,
but 22 million, almost 23 million people live there.
On the other side of the world, you know,
you hear the stories about he might be the most popular
or the highest celebrity profile in the country of Taiwan.
That was... You know, it’s kind of cool to hear that type of stuff.
-[man screaming] -Let’s go, Chien-Ming Wang.
[in unison] Let’s Go, Yankees.
[whistling in rhythm]
[Jessica Kung in Mandarin] The rise of Chien-Ming Wang
brought along a projection of national pride.
A Taiwanese kid, born and raised
with a personality that encompassed all that is Taiwanese,
hard working and humble,
just an encapsulation of Taiwanese workingman culture,
all projected through Wang’s personality.
He is our national pride.
[male commentator] The main newspaper in his city
would sell 300,000 more copies
the day after he pitched. Wow.
[Jessica] When he became the ace of the Yankees, the whole world saw it,
it was as if the whole world also saw Taiwan.
All of this national pride exploded and projected onto him.
[crowd cheering]
[in Mandarin] I think it’s because he really reached a level
that nobody could have ever reached.
I believe there will never be another player from Taiwan
who will reach his level of accomplishment.
He gave people in his generation
a lot of hope and confidence.
Including us ballplayers, so that we know,
you can actually make it that far.
[Chien-Ming] It was a wonderful process.
Of course, I do miss it sometimes.
But the road of life
doesn’t go forward all the time.
[male commentator] Wang rounds third, he scores.
It is a two run base hit
and Wang got hurt running the bases.
He can barely walk, the Yankees take a five to nothing lead,
but they lose their starting pitcher as a result.
[Brian] Well, it was "Oh, no," certainly worried,
but never expecting it to have the... the long term effect
on his career that it wound up having.
It was a career defining moment.
We lost our ace.
You know, that injury cost us a great deal,
it certainly cost him a great deal, too.
[crowd chattering]
[male commentator 1] Problem for Chien-Ming Wang here with nobody out.
And that ball is hit in the air to center field and hard.
It looks like that sinker is just not sinking.
[male commentator 2] High fly ball deep right backing up is Cabrera.
[male commentator 3] One of the worst pitches Chien-Ming Wang
has thrown today, to the wrong hitter.
I believe that all pitchers are one pitch away from
never pitching again.
And, um...
You know, Chien-Ming, I mean, he had the foot injury,
never was really able to get back on track,
and I think that’s what hurt him.
[male commentator] Now, there’s something wrong with Chien-Ming Wang.
What could that be?
[Chien-Ming] I felt pain pushing off the rubber,
and I was really anxious,
so I threw even harder
and my delivery went out of form,
I was throwing only with my arm.
[indistinct chatter]
[groans softly]
[grunts]
[man] All the way up, breathe.
Good, bring it down. Keep your wrists straight, okay?
[in Mandarin] When you stitch up after a shoulder surgery,
there will be at least four suture anchors.
As a whole,
we’d call that a major surgery.
But in his case,
there were 13 anchors.
It’s not just a line or a surface, it’s the entire shoulder being opened up,
reconstructed and cleaned up.
[Hong-Chih] I’d always heard about his injury,
but I was never fully aware of it,
except hearing about it being really serious.
But when he took off his shirt and you saw the scars,
you knew...
it was really serious.
I’ve been in rehab a lot myself,
and I’ve seen many players with shoulder surgeries,
when he took off his shirt,
I was moved.
I wanted to cry.
But I had to tease him, I was, like,
all these scars and marks,
you wouldn’t think he is a pitcher.
You wonder how he can still throw
with that shoulder.
He must have withstood a lot of stress,
and had lots of motivation, to keep doing what he’s doing.
[crowd applauding]
[Ping-Huang Wang] He really persevered.
You’re in the Minor League, or the Independent League,
and not in the Majors,
I told him this is the business of sports.
It’s going to be a tough road,
but if you want to keep playing,
you have to endure it.
[in Mandarin] When he was young, he would complain his arm hurt.
He would have a hard time climbing up the stairs after workouts.
[Ping-Huang] He would come home exhausted,
but he continued to play on.
Sometimes he would say his arm was sore or something,
but it was just him talking,
he just kept on playing.
I think there’s a stubborn side of him
that carried him through this day.
[crowd applauding and cheering]
When I started my rehab, everything I did hurt.
I had trouble stretching,
raising my arm, it all had to be really slow, really slow.
[John Hsu] I remember he would tell me, even when driving,
he’d feel pain pulling the wheel, turning the wheel.
The injury he had was a first in all of baseball,
nobody knew if he could make it back with an injury like this.
He exhibited his stubbornness throughout his rehab.
I think rarely you see
a person capable of persistently doing something
as repetitive as he did in his rehab.
I think getting to know him made it a little easier for me
because I knew what buttons to push.
Chien-Ming definitely sets goals,
he just wanted to pitch again.
I think he wanted to do it to prove the Yankees wrong.
[John Hsu] He had started throwing Live BP,
which means he started facing live batters.
He pitched a little bit and said...
"It didn’t feel right."
He couldn’t continue to pitch.
From what I know of him...
it’s impossible for him
to stop halfway through.
He just, "Very bad pain, very bad."
And I was, like, "Okay, yeah, you know,
get your glove, I’ll go throw with you."
"No, you know, listen, very bad pain."
And I’m, like, "All right, get your glove."
"I’m not throwing today."
I said, "Okay, well, then, you should quit.
You know, why don’t you retire?"
He said something very serious to me,
he said
"If you’re hurting, then go home.
Just give up."
[Steve Cober] He’s a big guy, you know?
So he gets up, you know, "I’m not, I no quit."
And I was like, uh-oh, you know,
what if this guy come over and punches me.
I kind of touched a nerve.
He walked out,
and I don’t think he played catch that day.
I... I’m sure I probably insulted him,
I really am.
Of course I didn’t want to give up.
I was not going to concede.
I wanted to be back on the mound.
And the next day or so, one of the conversations,
he wanted to make sure that I knew...
that he was all in.
From then on,
I really started following the program
he designed for me
and threw hard.
And slowly but surely, I started to feel better.
I know a lot of guys that I’ve been around,
they probably would’ve quit.
[Chien-Ming] And at the end,
I was really able to pitch again.
It’s a miracle
that I can still pitch today.
[male commentator] And he’s back in the Major Leagues now
for the first time since July 4th of 2009.
It was kind of a big day for me.
I mean, it was... I felt almost like a proud parent, you know.
Standing up in the box, first inning didn’t go so well,
I remember, you know, he gave up a couple of runs, wasn’t throwing strikes,
gave a couple of hits, and just...
I think a lot of that was more his nerves than anything else.
But at the same point, I could remember being up in the box,
like pacing back and forth, and...
You know, I was nervous,
it was like I was waiting to have my first child.
In the waiting room pacing around...
and being nervous.
I was kind of like,
"Hey he’s finally here, he’s going to make it."
[male commentator] Pitch is over, strike three called.
Outside corner
with a sinker from Wang
who picks up the strike out, that’s his first of the night.
[Alan] When that opening came up,
we continued to push the Mariners to consider Chien-Ming
and after several days,
it’s decided to, uh, move forward
and buy him out of his contract with Southern Maryland.
[Chien-Ming] After Alan told me, he gave me two or three days
to pack.
I had to pack up everything I had over there.
A whole year worth of stuff.
All shoved into my car,
and shipped the car over from Maryland.
This is the third team of this year,
it’s tiring,
but if not for the Independent League, I might not have made it over here.
[crowd cheering]
I’ve been in the States for so many years now,
and stayed in many places.
From Staten Island at the beginning,
to Trenton...
and Columbus.
In recent years, from Toronto to Buffalo...
Louisville,
Charlotte...
suburbs of Atlanta,
to the Independent Leagues,
and then Tacoma.
I’d been moving places every year...
to the point where I didn’t know
where I was.
It’s like, when I’d wake up, I would forget where I was.
[man singing in foreign language]
[laughter]
[tape running]
[Su-Chen Yang] This is all Taiwanese cooking,
Taiwanese tastes.
-[in Mandarin] Mrs. Wu. -[in Mandarin] Ming, here you are.
-Haven’t seen you for so long. -It’s been a while.
We missed you.
Are you feeling better?
Wasn’t too good for a while, but much better now.
I heard you fell from the stairs.
Yeah, I did. [laughing]
But I’m good now, my son fixed me.
Really?
I fell and couldn’t get up.
You had makeup on today.
I did that to welcome you, just a little lipstick, something light.
When will you come again? I’ll take you to some king crabs.
You have to come on Tuesdays.
Tuesday?
King crabs are on Tuesday, Wednesday is lobster day,
remember that.
Wow.
These are all for you.
It’s not good if it gets cold, come.
It’s okay, I can wait for them.
We’ll eat together.
Okay.
That’s your baby, take care of it.
It’s all on that arm.
All on this arm.
[speaking unintelligible]
[baby cooing]
Why are you crying?
[door bell dings]
[indistinct conversations]
[in Mandarin] Come, sit there.
[Michael Wu] When he made it to the Major Leagues,
everybody was reporting on it,
I was like, this guy looks like my classmate.
At the beginning, he told me his name I vaguely remembered,
and slowly I drew the connection to him.
I think the one thing I did right was refer him to Dr. Wu
so he could treat him.
At first Michael gave Chien-Ming my number
and he called me up.
We went through some checkups,
he would drive up from Tacoma for treatments.
It was a Saturday after a treatment
when he flew out for a game.
We were all wondering whether he would struggle
or perform?
[kids screaming]
We watched as he kept on pitching
into the 9th inning about to finish the game. [chuckles]
[male commentator] Swing and a grounder right side,
O’Malley to his left up with it, throws over to first base
in time, that will end the game,
as Chien-Ming Wang pitches a complete game, three hit shutout,
as Tacoma snaps the Dodgers' five game winning streak.
He finished and won, we sent a message and said,
"What a game you pitched."
Yeah, and he just said...
He’d felt very energized.
[in heavy accent] He’s been outstanding his last, you know, two three starts.
He’s being consistent, he have a lot of good stuff to show,
he have the stuff now.
[Chien-Ming] Everything felt right
in that game.
You go out there and pitch,
everything felt smooth.
The late life on my pitches, the angles,
they were all where I wanted them to be.
Wonderful, that was beautiful to watch.
[indistinct conversations]
[chuckles]
[Albert Wu] Then he came back, came here for dinner,
and from the car he said he had shoes for me.
He gave me a look,
he said, "These are the game shoes from that game."
I was like, "Oh."
It made my day. [chuckles softly]
[indistinct commentary]
[Jaime Navarro] He have everything going for him right now,
and that’s a good thing, now he just got to stay on it,
and then, that’s going to take him to the big league
faster than you think it will.
[man yelling]
[Pat Listach] If a guy still feels like he can still contribute
at the Major League Level, he’s going to give it all he’s got.
And that’s what he’s doing.
And with the way he’s pitched lately,
I really don’t think he’s that far away from a Major League job again.
[Albert] Towards the end of the season,
he hardly mentioned any discomfort.
It’s great there were no pains or anything,
so he could really give it a final push.
[interviewer in Mandarin] You sure do hope he makes
the Mariners Major League team.
Very much so, very much so.
We watch all his games,
and hope that he throws complete games every time.
[Chien-Ming] I went to Taipei for high school,
and college, after that, I came to the States.
Almost...
half of the time I’ve been away from home.
I never got to spend...
enough time with my parents during this time.
They’ve always supported me,
keep going out there and explore when you are young.
I don’t know how much longer
I will stay in the States,
and one day if I return to Taiwan, they will be old.
[Ping-Huang] Your home is in Taiwan.
Just take good care of yourself when you are there...
your mother and I, we’ll take care of ourselves, don’t worry.
As long as he’s happy and healthy, and takes good care of his family,
I always tell him,
take care of your family, and we will be okay.
We live a simple life here in Taiwan.
We will take care of ourselves.
As long as you stay mentally tough and want to
make another run at the Major Leagues...
If it happens, great.
If not, we’ll just walk away.
[crowd cheering]
[Ping-Huang] You’ll have to walk away sooner or later,
you don’t need to keep trying to climb the ladder.
I told him, you look at flowers, after full bloom, they wither and fall.
You’d still need to come back down once you’ve climb the tallest tower.
Age is always an issue.
You get old...
you can’t fight it.
That’s what I always tell him.
[audience cheering]
Chien-Ming, he totally understands his role through the years
as the Pride of Taiwan.
You know, that’s a title that’s given him a lot of pressure,
and he does understand the social responsibility
that he’s carrying on his shoulder what he meant to Taiwan.
[Chien-Ming] This title is what the media created.
Personally, I think everyone has his or her specialty
they just haven’t been discovered.
So, this name is, it’s superficial.
Eventually, it wears on you.
Because everyone...
is watching you with eyes wide open.
[crowd cheering]
With those expectations, it forces you to try so hard
to perform for everyone.
PRIDE OF TAIWAN - A HERO, A PRISONER
NOT QUITTING, WANG WILL CONTINUE TO PLAY IN USA NEXT YEAR
"KEEP FIGHTING IN THE US" WANG RETURNS TO THE STATES
10 YEARS IN MLB CHIEN WILL ENJOY $180K ANNUAL PENSION
WANG IS STILL TWO YEARS AWAY FROM FULL MLB RETIREMENT PENSION
JUST A LITTLE LONGER. CHIEN ENJOYS $15K MONTHLY PENSION PAY
What’s so great about Chien-Ming Wang?
I’m just a ballplayer.
How is that different from everyone else?
I’d rather not have this "Pride of Taiwan" title.
[Jessica] As his career has continued, it has forced him to begin
accepting things that he wouldn’t have before,
play for teams he would have no interest in playing for.
Reality sets in,
forcing him to make adjustments.
As he bounced around the Minors, there was less attention
and pressure to be the "Pride of Taiwan."
No more reporters, no more spotlights.
He got to slowly rediscover himself.
[Chien-Ming] It’s a change,
my thought process changed.
I don’t have so much pressure anymore, it’s more like...
I’m just pitching for myself
and it made my life simpler.
From the beginning, that’s all I ever hoped for.
To live like everyone else...
to just be the best that I can be.
Stay true to myself...
stay true to my profession, and that’s all there is to it.
What I need to work on now is how to make my arm recover faster
between each game.
From game to game this season, I was not consistent.
Lots of ups and downs.
The good stuff that he flashed in the last three,
four weeks of the season,
in those games,
you know, it kind of gave him some hope.
That... His late life stuff flashed back,
now how do you extend it.
[Chien-Ming] Alan said,
"You’ve been training on your own in the off-season
for the last few years, and there’s no consistent results,
only significant ups and downs."
[Alan] We heard a lot about Ron Wolforth
and the Texas Baseball Ranch program had done
for several high profile pitchers making comebacks,
he knows what he is doing with pitchers.
[Chien-Ming] So Alan told me, "You’ve got nothing to lose.
You should go try this out,
maybe you can learn something new and one day be able to teach others."
The first time I walked in, I wondered...
is this a baseball school?
It was just tucked in a small plaza.
[Alan] You know, Chien-Ming looked around
and I said, "Hey, you know,
a lot of magic happened in this room, I bet." [chuckles]
Randy gave us a very informative presentation, and...
About the ways that the Ranch’s program
will help Chien-Ming get his consistency back
and help with his recovery
and maintaining a late life on his sinking fastballs.
Go, quick, quick, quick.
[Ron Wolforth] He has a couple mechanical inefficiencies.
You get in the mid-30s, you start to lose some mobility.
And when your body doesn’t quite move as athletic as it did
when it’s 21 or 22,
you can develop movement pattern, flaws or inefficiencies
that the body starts to unravel sooner.
And when you get to Chien-Ming’s level...
a five percent drop in performance can get you just whacked.
The first time he talked about this...
"forearm fly out"...
But I’ve never heard of this phrase in baseball.
He said he’s never heard about it.
And... Really? I was like, really?
How about any of your Major League organization coaches,
have, you know, they mentioned about this forearm fly out issue?
You know, and he said, nothing. He’s never heard of it.
...changed to just enough...
Forearm fly out means when you throw while your foot lands,
your arm is open and extended,
not at the normal 90 degrees angle.
When you throw like that, it’s all throwing with the shoulder.
It puts pressures on it, and it’s easier to get hurt.
Everyone has a balloon,
trying to find that 90% angle and to stabilize it.
Now, with one on one off,
so he doesn’t even have to think about forearm fly out,
he’s working on... on one off one on one off...
[Ron] It was forearm fly out,
it’s a little bit of out of sequence in his glove,
and not using his lower half as much as he needed to.
The core of our body from mid-thigh to lower back,
very important in pitching.
And the arm just goes along for the ride until it’s there.
And Chien-Ming was not using this very much.
[Randy Sullivan] We were having him doing a drill
to try to get a little bit more lower half initiation.
A little bit more glut activation.
And he wasn’t crazy about the drill,
he told us that,
"It feels like I’m pushing the ball when I did this drill."
[Alan in English] If you don’t think this suits you, you should tell him,
he needs to understand you and how your body responds.
[Randy] There is always skepticism and doubt, and we welcome it.
We don’t need to be right, if you believe what you believe,
I’m not going to try to change you.
I’m just going to give you here’s what I know,
and then let you...
put you in an environment where you can begin to experiment
and see what works.
-Good? -No.
-No? Okay. -[laughter]
[Randy] All right, let’s come up with a different alternative,
that’s... that's what we do.
We are not going to take
a Major Leaguer who’s throwing at the high level that he has
and make wholesale changes.
I don’t know if he’ll be better than
when he was winning back to back 19 games.
He could be.
But I don’t think that’s the point, my point is to get him back,
he doesn’t have to be better than that.
Just get him back to near that,
and I think there is no question that he could do that.
[whistle blowing]
-So we’re good, no tear, but strain. -Mmm-hmm.
[Chien-Ming] There’s a bit of disappointment and doubt.
The body is still learning to adjust
to the layers upon layers of pressure stacking up.
And every day you are learning...
to communicate with the new soreness of your body.
Trying to make it as cogwheels with each cog fitting perfectly.
So right now, the body is experimenting with these new mechanics.
It feels as if there’s a void, a disconnect.
Unlike before,
when it was like a perfectly fitting cogwheel.
-Hey, thank you. -Thank you.
I can’t wait for you to get back,
you’re going to be like Iron Man when you come back.
Maybe I get softer when I come back.
No. [laughing]
Oh, man.
[man] We have an awesome staff here,
guys with a ton of experience who are here to help you.
And the way that you guys are going to get the most
out of the next four days,
is if you take advantage of those guys who are here
and ask as many questions as you can.
[Chien-Ming] Pitching starts from the bottom to the top, to your arm,
your legs are stronger than your arms.
You are still learning about your body,
you are not using your lower half correctly yet,
to gather yourself and drive the force forward.
When you step out aim at your target,
step, stabilize yourself.
Turn back a little bit, your toes, yes.
Use your hip,
slide out...
lift up
and slide out.
It’s very important to pass these on.
The hope is to take what I’ve learned overseas
and share them with these youngsters,
make Taiwanese baseball better.
Looking at these young players working so hard,
I’m quite moved.
I thought of when I was little,
working on utilizing the lower half
and arm angles...
what I’ve learned at the Baseball Ranch,
it’s like revisiting these fundamentals from the past.
[both speaking in Mandarin]
[Alan] Including the time he go back to Taiwan,
he’s gone all in.
And execute the plan, so there wasn’t a break,
there was a continuance in building up his foundation
to push through this program.
[Chien-Ming] By training with Chi-Hung Cheng in Tainan during this time,
he shared his experiences with me and I shared mine,
slowly I started to feel progress.
All those feelings of disconnect earlier
slowly faded.
[Ron] Your body, kind of learning it, kind of learning it,
it’s just like you’re building a house with little sticks, right?
And it takes a while.
[Chien-Ming] And Ron told me
that I can start throwing bullpen sessions.
Is that four or two?
That really sunk.
Balls are constantly going where they’re supposed to go.
-[Randy] Yeah. -For him...
-[Randy] Mmm-hmm. -That sink is just... it’s it.
[Randy] Yeah, that’s his niche. [Ron] So be really good at that. Right?
And I’ll let you know when we’re going to Spring Training,
-if you want to fly out-- -[Randy] That’ll be great, I’d love to.
[Ron] So my critique of you in the video
was that you don’t use a lot of your lower half,
and, uh, now it’s much better.
I... I videoed you in your bullpen.
That means two things:
Potentially, I think you can get it back up to 95mph with that,
and the second thing is, and probably more importantly,
in the long run, is there’s less stress to the shoulder.
Start revving it up, Chien. Start revving it up, baby.
Let’s go, let’s go.
[Randy] Today, is Velo-Push Day.
This means he’s just going to push the envelope and throw hard.
It’s time to ramp it up, get him ready for the season.
So that when the lights come on
-and Spring Training starts... -[woman] 85.7 mph.
[Randy] ...he kicks the door down at about 93, 95,
so that they have no choice but to put him on the team,
no choice.
He can’t go there and ease his way in,
he’s got to go there on fire.
He’s got to go there and be so good that they have no choice.
And so, he’s been ramping up for about two months now
to get ready for this.
What we learned about Chien is that
-without competition... -86.7mph
[Randy] ...he’s not as good.
-87.0 mph. -[Randy] Yes!
He’s coming on!
So we, uh...
We arranged our 12th rounder from the Red Sox,
Kevin, to come in and throw against him.
-[grunts] -Ninety-seven.
[Randy] If Kevin beats Chien by four miles an hour,
then Chien’s out, 100 bucks.
88.1 mph. [screaming]
[Randy] His first few throws, it was quiet,
and there’s nobody competing with him, he’s on his own,
and he was like 81 mph, then he got to 84 mph.
And when he started competing, he went from 84 to 87 mph,
to 90 mph.
94 mph.
[all cheering]
90.2 mph.
[cheering]
[Chien-Ming] Most of the players leave home
when the season starts.
You’d miss out on...
seeing your kids grow and everything they do.
[in Mandarin] Daddy can you put these on for me?
[children chattering]
My dad has these eyes...
they can turn into this...
Daddy, can you do those eyes for me?
Like when you do this.
[in English] Do it.
[Charlene] He would tell his schoolmates,
"My dad is a ballplayer, he’s always playing."
Kids who play baseball would ask him,
"Does your dad hit home runs?"
And Justin would say,
"No, because he’s a pitcher."
Dad play baseball for real...
not for fun, for real.
[Charlene] He’d leave in January and come back around October.
When we say Daddy is going to work,
it means it’s for a long time,
more than 200 days or so.
[panting, yelling]
[interviewer in Mandarin] When Daddy goes to work...
[interviewer in English] What do you... What do you tell him on the phone?
Uh, when are you going to come back?
And...
that’s all.
[interviewer] What does he tell you?
Uh... He doesn’t know yet.
[in Mandarin] Sometimes parents would go to school
to see kids play violin or something,
and I couldn’t be there.
He would feel sad...
he would call and say,
"You didn’t come to see my performance."
He would tell you, and he’d be in tears...
It makes you sad, too.
[Charlene] At the beginning,
he would ask for Daddy, "When will he be back?
When will he be back?"
Then slowly...
he doesn’t ask as much...
and then he stops asking.
That’s when you feel, he’s grown up a little.
[in Mandarin] I like Daddy...
being home.
[Charlene] Chien-Ming drew this...
and Justin drew that.
When he misses Daddy, he would look at the photos,
and he would draw.
I would tell him to think when Daddy finally gets off work,
what you would like to do with him and draw that.
All he wanted is
to spend more time together.
He and Justin are Ninja Turtles.
We receive packages from Daddy all the time...
It’s probably an act of compensation.
Because Justin sometimes would tell him on the phone,
what he wanted, what he had seen recently,
what other kids are playing with.
So in his mind...
[sobbing] because he couldn’t be by his side,
when he sees stuff for kids, he would buy them
and send them our way.
He’d write Justin Wang on the package,
and when he received them, he would be overjoyed.
Wow. This came from Daddy, he would bring them to school,
telling his friends that his dad sent him something.
[both speaking in Mandarin]
When Chien-Ming is about to leave for work,
there will be a haircut session for our sons.
But when he does this,
Justin knows...
what it means.
An hour before I leave, he would start crying.
He would stand by the door and wave,
and say
"Daddy, you can come visit me when you are free."
[Chien-Ming] Because I’m committed to keep playing,
I had to sacrifice the time I would’ve spent with them.
I gave myself a two-year goal,
but that was two years ago and now going into the third.
I just want to prove that I can pitch in the Major League again.
Just for one day. [chuckles]
-[interviewer in Mandarin] Just one day? -Huh?
I don’t know, one day,
I’m back.
I’m not doing this for the retirement pension.
Because no matter how long you’re in the Majors,
you will get a pension.
It’s just a difference in the amount,
so no one is doing this for the pension.
I’m in this for an opportunity to prove myself,
prove to the people in the industry, the general managers.
They said I’m a damaged goods, that I won’t come back.
I just want to prove
that I can still stand on that Major League mound.
I’m not sure how much longer I can go on,
but I will do my best.
Maybe until I can no longer throw, then I’ll stop.
For the Royals, he was essentially like a 35-year-old lottery ticket.
He’s a guy they saw in the off-season was available.
I just think that they thought he’d been in the big leagues before,
he’d had success, you know, why not give him a shot.
Well, obviously, he’s coming off a season
you know, that he struggled quite a bit result-wise,
so this is a more difficult off-season
to land on a spot for Spring Training.
[Chien-Ming] The Major League regulars are all set,
so there’s only one or two spots
for everyone else to fight for.
So when the team asked Alan if I could pitch in relief,
Alan and I discussed it and thought
whichever gives me more of opportunity for a spot,
I wouldn’t mind trying.
[man] Come on, Wang. Get over there, nice and easy.
He was one of the first starter candidates we signed for Triple-A.
And it was a guy that, if you could use the phrase "catch lightning in a bottle,"
it would fit perfectly.
[Jeffrey Flanagan] There won’t be many spots available in the bullpen,
because two of the guys that will lose out to the rotation
will likely shift right into the bullpen.
They’ve already got four guys set, you know, in the back end of the bullpen.
So, if you carry seven pitchers going into the season,
you can do the math,
you’re looking at one spot that’s available.
He’s in the mix,
uh, it’s gonna be an uphill climb for him, though, [chuckles]
because there’s so many bodies in camp.
[Dave Eiland] Chien-Ming is going to pitch,
he’s here because we feel like he has something left.
I really don’t look at a guy’s age.
You can either pitch and get guys out or you can’t.
But the tell-tale sign is when he gets in a game,
he starts to face hitters.
I’m going to do all I can for him, I’m going to pull hard for him.
But ultimately, it’s up to him, and how he goes out and pitches
and how he goes out and performs.
[male commentator 1] Chien-Ming Wang,
former Yankee on the comeback trail,
signed a Minor League deal with Kansas City is pitching.
[male commentator 2] That very first pitch was 93 mph.
I didn’t expect that.
Was really expecting 88 to 91 max in his first game,
with all that training building up to it.
[male commentator 1] Good to see him back on the mound.
[male commentator 2] Here’s the next pitch grounded sharply down to third.
Reymond Fuentes is the new centerfielder
and Jorge Bonifacio is the right fielder.
So Wang is getting that sinker to work, he’s retired three in a row on the ground.
[Jeffrey] They talked about him as a starter,
they talked about him as a reliever,
but with his increased velocity in this camp, uh,
he’s raising some eyebrows for sure.
-[man] Whoo! -[crowd cheering]
The cuts they made
are mostly just Minor League guys who are gonna go there anyway.
They still got the veteran guys in here,
we’ll just have to see how it plays out in the next 15 days.
Chien-Ming has been a very pleasant surprise for us,
I mean, he’s throwing the ball, it’s coming out of his hand really well.
[male commentator 1] I had to triple check this,
is this the same guy?
But it is. It’s Chien-Ming Wang,
who ten years ago was a 19 game winner for the Yankees.
[male commentator 2] He has forced himself in the discussion,
not only with the way he’s pitched, but the way his velocity has come back.
Look at the movement on that pitch, wow.
[man] I’m not saying he’s on the team yet,
but I’m, you know, I'm pulling for him,
he’s kind of fun.
[male commentator] Chien-Ming Wang,
his sinker ball is going to play well with this defense.
[Dayton Moore] You know we don’t have a pitcher really with his type of skillset
in our rotation or in our bullpen.
He’s still competing, but we like what we’ve seen thus far.
[Rustin Dodd] He doesn’t have an opt-out until May 1st,
so he’s almost going to have to perform even better during camp
to force his way onto the roster,
because they could’ve easily sent him down to Triple-A
and... and kind of looked at him for a couple of more weeks.
Watching him since November when we first saw him,
just make continual steady progress.
The... The world out there is a little mystified
about how he could do it,
but we saw it happen every day and it was no surprise to us.
Yes, I’m nervous.
It’s like watching one of your own kids,
you know, when they get up, you know how hard they worked,
you know how much they want it, you just want that satisfaction for them.
They released Brian Duensing, Peter Moylan,
I don’t think they had as good a camp as Wang did.
So, definitely, with those guys leaving,
it, sort of, opens up a spot at the end of the Royals bullpen.
The number of the pitchers in camp is dwindling
and he’s still here, so that’s a good sign for him.
[male commentator] With that 93 to 95 mph sinker he’s got,
man I’ll tell you, he’s a groundball machine,
and that bodes well when you got gold all over that infield for the Royals.
Look at that sinking action, he’s found his arm slot.
[Jeffrey] I really think the best team they can put on the field on Opening Night
would have Wang as the 12th guy...
it could happen. [chuckles]
Chien-Ming Wang took the last spot on the pitching staff
and he did it the right way, he earned it.
[Charlene] The last day of Spring Training, he got a notice.
I knew what it meant:
he made it.
He’s on the Opening Day roster.
He was ecstatic, because it’s been such a long time
since he last saw this.
I’ll be traveling with the team this morning
on the first flight to Kansas City.
Last time I was on the Opening Day roster was seven years ago,
when I was with the Yankees.
After all this time, I’ve made it again.
It is a surreal feeling because it’s been so long,
all the work I’ve put in, it’s well worth it.
[Neil] He’s still like a son to me today.
I’m so happy he’s here with the Royals,
I’m so happy he’s back in the big leagues,
I’m very, very happy for him.
[Brian] He’s given everything he's had to a job he truly loves.
And the ability to fight back,
and overcome all that, it’s something to be very proud of.
He’s a gentle giant, but a fierce competitor,
and that type of drive
had him overcome a lot to get back to the big leagues.
[Chien-Ming] This Spring Training could very well be my last,
so I’ve given it all, and left nothing behind,
no matter what, I gave all I had on the mound.
-Hello. -[Randy] Welcome.
Welcome to your new training facility.
[Chien-Ming in English] Wow.
-You do that? -Yeah.
I’m going to show your entire workout just like we did at the Ranch.
-Uh-huh. -You’re gonna do it right in here.
Go fast.
[Chien-Ming in Mandarin] I was touched, all by himself,
he moved the bed aside, lifted up the mattresses,
and even set a strike zone.
Never thought you could do that.
And then step up...
[grunts]
-What’s your next goal? -Jian Kang.
Jin Kong? What is that?
-Jian Kang. -What is Jin Kong?
-[in English] Healthy. -Huh?
-Stay healthy. -Stay healthy, okay.
If I text you King Kong...
-Then healthy guy? -Stay healthy.
-Okay, King Kong. -King Kong.
Gorilla.
What an inspiration you’ve been to so many people.
Every kid who ever gets hurt...
will be inspired.
‘Cause if it can be done...
[Chien-Ming] Mmm-hmm.
I can do it.
If someone else can do it, so can I.
-[man] Uh, media? -No, player.
-[man] I’m sorry? -Player.
-[man] Player. -Yeah.
-[man] Player. What team? -Royals.
-[man] Royals? What’s your name? -Wang. Wang.
[man] Let’s win it, bro. Straight ahead.
Lot M, that’ll put you straight down.
Okay, thank you.
[indistinct chatter on security radio]
Welcome to Kansas City.
[elevator dings]
-Congratulations. -Thank you.
[crowd cheering]
[cheers and applause]
[male commentator] Number 67, pitcher, Chien-Ming Wang.
[Alan] Just thought about, you know,
all the valley, um, that we’ve been through,
and the appreciation,
and feeling so blessed that, you know,
um, somebody out there is looking out for Chien-Ming
every step of the way.
You know, providing good people, you know, in his life.
And to help him, and as he continues this mission,
you know, one guy can’t do it alone.
Whether it’s coaches...
his fans that went to see him at those Minor League games,
they never gave up on him.
Chi-Hung and his wife...
Ron, Randy and their team.
You know, all of Chien-Ming’s friends...
they are the MVP of this journey.
It wouldn’t happen without their help.
You know, we’re all pulling together for him.
You know, it was just so unbelievable.
And his... His stubbornness, or determination...
you know, gave us the story to follow this spring.
[male announcer] Pitching for the Royals, number 67,
Chien-Ming Wang.
[crowd cheering]
[male commentator] And this is his first big league pitch since 2013.
August 24th...
of 2013 with the Blue Jays.
[male commentator 2] It’s a lot of work, I’m telling you, and he never gave up.
His shoulder gave him some issues, he had some problems,
had to find that arm slot again,
but he won the job out of camp
by really impressing Dave Eiland and Ned Yost.
He’s just going to throw one sinker in on his hands after another.
[male commentator 1] Struck him out to end the game.
[cheers and applause]
Welcome back, Chien-Ming Wang.
Welcome back, Royals.
Power with three home runs tonight.
The Royals win their first series of the season.
[crowd cheering]
[male commentator] Strike three called.
It’s in the movement there, 93 mph.
[low rumble]
[indistinct chatter]
[camera clicking]
[Su-Chen] Today, I made minced pork,
some Mandarin meatballs,
turnips, mushroom soup,
and the Three Cup Chicken.
[Wellington in Mandarin] Can you carry me over?
-[Chien-Ming] Sure. -Can you wash me?
While I carry you?
-Yes. -No.
Why not?
I’ll wash you if you stand.
I’m getting up.
Well, you see.
[Wellington] You want to see I washed my whole foot?
[Su-Chen] I can’t smell it if you don’t pick it up.
Smells good. Who washed them for you?
[indistinct conversations]
Okay, let’s eat.
Grandpa, would you dare eat this?
-Would you? -I would.
Grandma, would you dare eat this?
[Su-Chen] Of course.
Mom, would you dare eat this?
[Charlene] Yes.
[Wellington] What is it?
[Charlene] Chicken wings.
[Wellington] Chicken wings, so it’s chicken?
[Charlene] Duck.
Goose.
Goose?
[all chuckling]
Auntie.
[indistinct chatter]
Good morning.
Good morning first.
[Justin] You didn’t say good evening to me.
[Wellington] I shot it.
It shoots?
[indistinct conversations]
[Su-Chen] Because he has proved again
by making it back, he’s done it.
All his wishes, his goals, have been fulfilled.
All the effort he put in, the energy, the concentration,
have been rewarded.
So I’ve told him, you’ve made it back and proved
you still have the ability o pitch in the Majors,
so I really hope he will retire now.
I don’t want there to be any more issues
with his arm again.
[car indicator ticking]
[Chien-Ming] Every year around this time,
you get into shape again
and get ready for Spring Training.
No matter if I get a contract or not, for me, this is the time of the year
I start preparing.
So if a team comes asking,
I’ll be in game shape right away.
He just showed up in November, he just walked in, [chuckles]
we didn’t even know he was coming.
He just showed up and said "Hey, I want to try again."
And I said "Why are you here?"
And he said, um...
"I want to throw...
and I want to see if hurts."
I said, "Well, what if it hurts?"
And he said "Then I stop, I’ll retire."
I said, "Okay, throw."
He threw, it hurt.
[Chien-Ming] Your body has to take on what you want it to do.
But now...
my body is getting old.
For now...
there’s some discomfort when I throw.
You’d ask yourself, why should I...
keep throwing with this pain?
But sometimes...
it feels fine again.
So I would say, I can still throw, why stop?
One more time, really stretch it,
really stretch it.
Okay?
[Randy] He just kept showing up every day.
We’re just taking a day at a time and see how far we get.
And maybe...
Maybe he’ll make it back.
I wouldn’t be surprised,
I’d be thrilled,
wouldn’t be surprised.
Maybe he won’t.
[thud]
[Randy] Since he was a boy, since he was a little boy,
all he’s ever known was throwing a baseball.
I don’t think he wants to give that up.
And I think that it’s hard for him to imagine
what his life would be like after that if he didn’t have that.
It will be really hard for me not to throw again.
Sometimes, I just want to go outside, find a friend and throw around...
would want to reach for that baseball.