Wang named World Games spokesman
NEW YORK -- What does Chien-Ming Wang do two days after he throws 7 1/3 innings of perfect baseball? He speaks at an international news conference -- but not about his stellar pitching performance on Saturday.
Wang was introduced as the spokesperson for the 2009 World Games on Monday at the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in New York City.
The games will be hosted by the southern port city of Kaohsiung, Taiwan. Wang is a baseball hero in Taiwan -- where he was born -- and his role for the games will be promotion and advertising, said executive vice president of marketing Nova Lanktree.
Wang, who did most of the speaking at the conference and later said it went "very well," has already shot a commercial in which he performs a tango dance, one of the events featured in the games. The commercial was shown at the conference.
When asked what the commercial was all about, Wang smiled and laughed. "I don't know," he said.
Tug-of-war and Sumo wresting are other events featured in the games.
"These games have competitions that the Olympics don't," Lanktree said.
Lanktree declined to comment on the other duties Wang will perform in his role with the games, preferring to talk about what happened at Monday's conference.
Chen Yi-Heng, chief executive officer of the Kaohsiung Organizing Committee, along with Ron Froehlich, chairman of the International World Games Association, promoted the international sporting event alongside Wang. About 150 people attended the conference, Lanktree said.
One goal for the three of them is to draw the attention of more Americans to the games so that they might come to Kaohsiung. At least 120 American athletes plan on attending the games and the Kaohsiung city government will launch various sightseeing tours, according to Lanktree.
"It's wonderful timing," Lanktree said. "Taiwan is proud to be the host of these games. [The conference] was very beautiful -- [a] warm, exciting, good showing."
Wang started the 2007 season with the Yankees on the disabled list because of a hamstring injury. The right-handed pitcher, however, has gotten back on track after two outings in which he didn't show the good command that accompanied his sinker last year, when he won 19 games.
Saturday marked the day he put it all together. He pitched 7 1/3 perfect innings against the Mariners before giving up two hits. In 20 1/3 innings pitched this season, Wang has posted a 1-2 record and 3.98 ERA, striking out eight and walking three.
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