Daniel Yu-Kuei Sun 孫又揆

🚨New article alert We know baseball in Taiwan is never just a game. From the 1970s Little League Baseball dynasty, Chien-Ming Wang craze in the 2000s, to the 2024 Premier12 champion, it grips the nation. But how does it impact Taiwanese people's national identification? 🧵1/

台湾代表メンバーもチームに合流🇹🇼 ライル・リン選手を歓迎です 😆🙌 #ドミれ #lovefighters

As my friend @SlangsOnSports shared, I found the Taiwanese band! They're from Taiwan, have regular day jobs, & came to Tokyo for the World Baseball Classic to cheer for Chinese Taipei. Their band is seated in the stands down the third base line. Don't forget the drum! Incredible.

@Skramerwrites US dollar for sure😂

@DrDanielSun That’s Taiwan dollars right

Demand for WBC Group C tickets are absolutely crazy. Japan/Taiwan game ticket can cost $15,288. Korea/Taiwan game ticket costs $300+. Many who are travelling to Tokyo from Taiwan, including myself, are still unable to secure tickets at the last minute. #WorldBaseballClassic

I certainly did not anticipate tickets to games without Team Japan at the 40,000-seat Tokyo Dome can be sold out. This is just crazy.

@mlbelites_ @TickPick Group C games involving Japan and/or Taiwan are actually much higher. Cheapest seats can cost $500 or more for Korea vs Japan and Japan vs Taiwan. Demand is crazy high. They're not on TickPick though.

Top 5 Most Expensive 2026 WBC Games 🤯 (by average purchase price) 1) Dominican Republic vs Venezuela $337 2) Puerto Rico vs Cuba $296 3) Mexico vs USA $245 4) Puerto Rico vs Colombia $202 5) Puerto Rico vs Canada $197 Prices via @TickPick

Well, this is what happens when you let AI takes over your official social media account. Lyle Lin is 林家正. Nobody in the Chinese-speaking world would call him 萊爾. Also, what the heck is the background? CKS Memorial Hall? What does it have to do with baseball? 🤦‍♀️

@TalkinBaseball_ No way Tzu-wei Lin plays LF. He should be a bench utility guy and primarily covers infield. Anko Lin (OF/DH) and HY Lee (2B/3B) are both power hitters who should be in the lineup.

Taiwan's 2026 World Baseball Classic roster

@WBCBaseball We prefer to be called Team Taiwan.

Team Chinese Taipei’s #WorldBaseballClassic roster has just been announced 💪 FULL ROSTER: atmlb.com/3O68Uh5

Read the full study, "Batting for the Nation(s): Baseball and the Conditional Rise of Competing Identities in Taiwan" here: onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/na… (feel free to DM me for a copy of full article) End/

As the next WBC is just around the corner, how that may impact the nationalistic sentiments or shift identity among Taiwanese people will be an interesting question to explore. 9/

To conclude, our results reaffirm that baseball occupy a special place in Taiwanese society. National identity in Taiwan is fluid, and it may fluctuate temporarily thanks to high-profile international baseball events. 8/

Some KMT supporters shifted to exclusive Taiwanese identity, while others moved to exclusively Chinese identity. As for neutral voters and TPP supporters, exclusive Taiwanese identity increased. In general, we observed the trend of identity polarization. 7/

Also, party orientation matters. DPP supporters, with already high level of Taiwanese identification, did not change much. Bur for KMT supporters, the "dual identity" (Both Taiwanese and Chinese) identification dropped. 6/

🚨New article alert We know baseball in Taiwan is never just a game. From the 1970s Little League Baseball dynasty, Chien-Ming Wang craze in the 2000s, to the 2024 Premier12 champion, it grips the nation. But how does it impact Taiwanese people's national identification? 🧵1/

The Surprise: The final game, when Taiwan defeated Japan and won it all, didn't shift identity much. Why? Taiwan views Japan with post-colonial respect—a "mentor" rather than a hostile foe. It was a "gentle" victory that didn't move the identity needle. 5/

Specifically, beating Korea at the opening game had the strongest impact on boosting exclusive Taiwanese identity. The deep-seated rivalry between TW and Korea makes it a significant catalyst. Similarly, two other key games (vs. Australia and USA) also boosted TW identity. 4/

We found that national identity fluctuated after certain games, a phenomenon coined "ecstatic nationalism"—emotional moments that reshaped belonging. Victories against key rivals caused a rise in exclusive Taiwanese identity and a drop in dual identity. 3/

In my latest academic article published in Nations and Nationalism, co-authored with Jou-fei Huang and Thung-Hong Lin, we used daily survey data during the 2024 Premier12 to track how game outcomes shifted identities: Taiwanese, Chinese, or Both. 2/

A hero remembered: Yu Chia-Chang was fatally stabbed on Dec 19 while stopping a bombing attempt at Taipei Main Station near Exit M8. He confronted the attacker, preventing the bombs from being set up. Flowers and notes now mark the spot of this incident. He is a true hero. 🙏