Taiwan Is Hosting Earth's Best (And Only) Baseball Games

As we've discussed on the Cracked podcast, Major League Baseball, like most sports, is currently having some trouble in the form of "If you play, people might die" going on right now. However, Taiwan did a pretty solid job of getting their coronavirus situation under control early, which means they've been rewarded with a baseball season. In fact, Taiwan's Chinese Professional Baseball League is the only baseball league playing right now.

Realizing that this was an opportunity to capitalize on a worldwide live entertainment shortage, it's been all hands on (batting) deck situation over there. They've made a push to get more English-language commentary to draw a larger audience, and it seems to be working so far as they're pulling in millions of viewers for games. This is even more impressive considering that there are only five teams in the entire league.

The big-name you gotta know is the Rakuten Monkeys. Yes, that Rakuten, the app that finds coupons for your online shopping. It looks like they got a coupon for a great bulk deal on mannequins, and have put them to good use:

Oh yeah -- since Taiwan is still remaining super diligent about social distancing, there are no fans. So, basically, it's like a regular Marlins game. Monkeys pitcher Ryan Carpenter even has a four-headed cutout of his fiance up in the stands.

Though with a mustache that powerful, four girlfriends usually comes with the territory.

Finally, the CPBL might have an opportunity to inject a little extra crazy into their league. 47-year-old Manny Ramirez, who already did a stint in Taiwan after a Major League career that spawned the phrase, "Manny being Manny," is eyeing a return to baseball over there.

The only problem with all this? Live games start at about 6 am Eastern Time. Sorry, America. Nobody wants a fairweather fan.

Top Image: Chinese Professional Baseball League