Taiwan’s Hsinchu Baseball Stadium will not be hosting World Baseball Classic games in March after an inspection by MLB showed poor playing conditions at the home of the Wei Chuan Dragons.
The inspection by BrightView’s Murray Cook found the turf in extremely poor condition, something exacerbated by bad drainage and debris in the soil. From a Facebook post posted by Hsinchu Mayor Ann Kao:
“For safety reasons, the city government has decided to pull out of the bid for the premier international baseball tournament of 2023,” Kao wrote.
“Cook has concerns over the quality of the ballpark as it failed the 30-minute lawn watering test and took much longer to drain, during his onsite assessment on Dec. 14 … Even worse, he discovered a 20-centimeter long brick during his field soil sampling as part of the assessment.”
Three weeks later, Kao led a team of experts to the stadium and dug several holes to sample soil. They found more waste, including wires, bricks, and rubble, which is why it is believed the stadium failed the test.
The ballpark was shut down in July after a multiyear $40-million renovation due to poor turf.
While unusual, the same situation has happened in American ballpark. Vets can remember when the same situation happened in Sarasota, where renovations to Ed Smith Stadium saw debris like industrial steel drums uncovered when the facility was renovated for spring use by the Baltimore Orioles. No word on a replacement venue for the Classic.