Good Luck Beijing 2007
International Baseball Invitational

The 2008 Beijing Olympics test matches, named "Good Luck Beijing" were successfully completed at the Wukesong Baseball field from August 18th to August 23rd.
In addition to the Chinese team, invitations were sent to the Japanese, French, and Czech baseball teams. The tournament provided a few days of exciting baseball for Chinese baseball fans. With some professional and some college players, the Japanese team emerged as the tournament champions, despite playing extra innings in their first two games against the Czech and French teams. Through the strong efforts of its team members, the Chinese hosts took home second place.

【Preliminary round：China ｖｓ French】
2007-08-18 10:00   Wukesong Baseball Field 2

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
FRANCE	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	1	4	0
CHINA	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	3	X	5	7	1

Chinese star pitcher Lv Jiangang (Tianjin Lions) pitched the first game and fulfilled his coaches expectations. After 6 innings and 23 batters, he only gave up 3 hits, 1 sacrifice hit and 1 earned run, giving him an 1.50 ERA and 5K's on the day. The bullpen was also stable, as Zhang Yunfeng pitched the next 2 innings, giving up only a hit and an error on a Sun Wei throwing error. With the game already in their hands, the Chinese team sent out Zhang Li (Shanghai Eagles) in the ninth, who delivered a perfect three strikeout performance to preserve the win. On the offense, Jia Yubin (Seattle Mariners) hit a timely double in the seventh, and Liu Guangbiao (Guangdong Leopards) hit a sacrifice to successfully give the Chinese the lead. Then again in the 8th, Zhang Hongbo (Guangdong Leopards) and Zhang Yufeng (Shanghai Eagles) helped extend their lead with hits, and the victory was at hand for the Chinese team.

【Preliminary round ：Czech ｖｓ China】
2007-08-19 18:00   Wukesong Baseball Field 1

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
CHINA	0	1	0	1	0	1	2	3	1	9	12	0
CZE	0	1	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	2	3	3

In the next game versus the Czech Republic, the Chinese sent to the mound Japanese professional standout pitcher Zhu Dawei (Seibu Lions), who in 7 years time has developed into a fine player.

This being his first chance to wear his country's colors, Zhu opened the contest with a blazing 140km/h fastball, announcing his arrival. In 4 innings, he pitched to 18 batters and gave up only a double and two runs, with 4K's. However, despite his seemingly effortless 140km/h fastball, Zhu's control of his breaking pitches still needs work, as he gave up 4 walks and plunked two others; in his next outing, he will attempt to save more energy and effort and go more innings. In reality, Zhu Dawei is still young, and still has time to grow into the role. On the offensive side of the game, Jia Yubing (Seattle Mariners) hit a homerun and led the charge. In the 6th, Wang Chao (Tianjin Lions), despite getting hit by a pitch, stole second, and was hit in by a Feng Fei (Sichuan Dragons) single, allowing team China to walk away with an easy second victory.

【Preliminary round ：China ｖｓ Japan】
2007-08-20 19:00   Wukesong Baseball Field 2

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
FRANCE	0	0	0	0	2	1	0	1	3	7	11	0
CHINA	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	6	1

After beating France and the Czech Republic, China finally met their match in game 3.

In the bottom of the fourth, team China number 6 hitter Jia Yubin (Seattle Mariners) started the offensive effort with a homerun. However, the homerun seemed to wake up the Japanese team, as the head coach changed pitchers every inning after the 5th, giving the Chinese little time to adjust to their different styles, and they were unable to mount a further offense. After the fifth inning, the Chinese only sent 17 batters to the plate, managing only a single, fielder's choice, and a hit by pitch. The 5th, 7th and 8th innings were three-up, three-down. In addition, the Chinese team also rotated their pitchers in and out. In the 6th, Liu Kai (New York Yankees) and Chen Kun (Sichuan Dragons) rotated in, and every inning the Chinese changed pitchers, with the intended effect of "Changing hands is like changing knives." With Chinese pitchers throwing around 130km/h, the Japanese had ample time to adjust, and collected 11 hits, with 7 of those coming in the later innings, and 5 walks, with 4 of those coming in the later innings. The game ended with Japan ahead 7-1, with the crowd applauding both team's efforts, and China earned their first loss of the tourney.

【Semifinal：China ｖｓ Czech 】
2007-08-22 18:00   Wukesong Baseball Field 2

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
CZECH	0	1	0	0	0	0	0			1	4	2
CHINA	1	2	0	4	2	0	4			13	12	2

In the quarterfinal match of "Good Luck Beijing 2007" on the 22nd, China rocked the Czechs 13-1. The win gave the Chinese another shot at the Japanese in the championship game.

This time, it was Li Lei (Beijing Tigers) who in the 7th knocked in three runs on a homerun, but the victory should belong to the whole team, who worked to string hits together to manufacture runs and beat the Czechs. Catcher Zhang Zhenwang (New York Yankees) not only had two hits, he had 4 RBIs, and on defense threw out a baserunner at second base.

【Final：Japan ｖｓ China】
2007-08-23 18:00   Wu keson g Ba seba ll Field 2

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
CHINA	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	4	0
JAPAN	0	4	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	5	9	0

International Baseball Invitational" finale began. As expected, the Chinese faced off against the Japanese in a rematch. Substituting the hero from the Czech rout, Li Lei (Beijing Tigers), into the starting lineup for Zhang Hongbo (Guangdong Leopards) and keeping the rest of the lineup the same, the Chinese sent out pitcher Lv Jiangang to the mound on four days rest. The Chinese hit first and utilized the strategy of quickly attacking.
Number one hitter Hou Fenglian (Tianjin Lions) walked to start it off, and number two Wang Chao (Tianjin Lions) knocked him in with a triple, giving the Chinese an early lead, and exciting the crowd. With the crowd up, number 3 hitter Jia Yubin (Seattle Mariners) hit a single to knock in another run. Number 4 hitter Sun Wei (Beijing Tigers), who has been slumping, then followed by grounding into a double play. Number 6 hitter, Lin Xiaofan (Guangdong Leopards) then struck out to end the Chinese rally. In the bottom of the 2nd inning, the Japanese bats came alive, and hit five singles to drive home 4 runs, and turning the game into an easy victory. At the end of the game, both sides played hard defense, and the Japanese lead was preserved until the end, with the Japanese coming out on top 5-2.

【Expository writing】

They had few defensive errors and even picked off several runners at first base. Their main shortcoming in the final game was their lack of offense, as they had three-up and three-down in 6 of the 9 innings of the game, and in the last inning had all three batters get struck out. The Chinese changed pitchers in and out in the last few innings of the game, which had a strong effect. With pitchers who don't throw fast but have good off-speed pitches, the Chinese had enough firepower to take on the Japanese, and in the final three innings, the Japanese only managed two hits and a walk, with three strikeouts.

The Chinese offense has been a challenge to the coaching staff, and has been the main limiting factor in China's record and improvement. After this test event, the Chinese team will head to Japan on the 26th, and with the Olympics less than a year away, the Chinese still have plenty of time to improve their skills against strong competitors. Hopefully, the Chinese will continually improve their offense and defense, and will fair well against the worlds best competition in the 2008 Olympic games!

(Pictures provided by "Good Luck Beijing" tournament organiz

I Preliminary round

Date	Teams	Time	Venue
18-Aug	CHN 5-1 FRA	10:30	Wukesong Baseball Field 2
19-Aug	CZE 2-9 CHN	18:00	Wukesong Baseball Field 1
20-Aug	CHN 1-7JPN	19:00	Wukesong Baseball Field 2

II Semifinal

Date	Teams	Time	Venue
22-Aug	CHINA 13-1 CZECH	18:00	Wukesong Baseball Field 2

I Final

Date	Teams	Time	Venue
23-Aug	JAPAN 5-2 CHINA	18:00	Wukesong Baseball Field 2