MLB star Fielder promotes baseball in China
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Major League Baseball (MLB) has brought Milwaukee Brewers star Prince Fielder to teach young Beijing students how to play baseball.
The 2009 All Star Team member on Monday visited Beijing Wanquan Elementary School, China's top baseball school for children, teaching the young boys how to bat hard and far.
"Set a goal and stay positive, and you will become a very good baseball player," Fielder told the Wanquan school team, the winners of MLB Play Ball! Diamond Cup in 2010.
Fielder, who plays first base for the Brewers, is the son of former Detroit Tigers first baseman Cecil Fielder. Prince and Cecil are the only father-son combination in MLB history to each reach the exclusive 50 home run plateau in a single season.
Fielder also holds the Brewers' team record for home runs in a season, as well as the MLB record for youngest player to reach the 50 home run mark. He is also the first Brewer to win the Home Run Derby, defeating Nelson Cruz 6-5 in the final round of the 2009 derby in St. Louis.
Fielder's visit was part of MLB's ambitious campaign to make baseball a popular sport in the world's most populous country.
MLB launched its grassroots youth baseball program, Play Ball!, in five cities across China in 2007. The program has been incorporated into the physical education curriculum for students aged eight-to-12 in 120 elementary schools in Beijing, Guangzhou, Shanghai, Chengdu and Wuxi.
The participating students have been introduced to the rules of the game and instructed on developing their baseball skills as part of their in-school physical education programs.
MLB is also thinking about cultivating a baseball equivalent of NBA star Yao Ming. That's why MLB has decided to work with the nation's education and sports departments to promote the sport in public schools and communities, hoping to reach millions of Chinese youngsters and find and nurture future talent.
The MLB Baseball Development Center (MLBDC), a baseball academy established in Wuxi, Jiangsu province, in September, is the cream of the crop of such cooperation.
The academy hosts 16 select school-aged baseball hopefuls and provides them with regular classes, baseball training and English lessons.
