Chien-Ming Wang

An uncharacteristically rough day on the Yankee Stadium mound this afternoon, but Tyler Kepner had a nice profile of the Taiwanese national hero this morning, including this odd fact.

Wang started playing baseball in fourth grade, as a pitcher, first baseman and outfielder. He attended high school in Taipei, on the north side of the island of Taiwan. His home, Tainan, is in the south. It was through baseball that he learned an important part of his personal story.

“We were going out to a competition and needed our personal documents,” Wang said, explaining that meant the names, relationships and birthdates of family members. “When I got my documents, I learned who my biological parents were. My parents didn’t tell me.”

Wang found out then that his biological father was the man he knew as his uncle, Ping-Yin Wang. Wang’s parents had no children of their own and offered to raise him. They later had a daughter, Hsiu-Wen Wang, who is two years younger.

It must have been a startling revelation, but Wang betrayed no emotion when talking about it.

“I didn’t feel anything in particular,” he said. “I felt it was all right, like I had two fathers.”

If anything, Wang said, he became even more serious about succeeding as a pitcher.

“I felt I had to work even harder in order to help two sets of parents,” he said, adding later, “Most of my money I send home to let my parents manage. The rest I use for living expenses in America.”

I believe it. The guy is unflappable. Whether he's dealing with a rare rough first inning, including a home run from Figgins (a player who, if I was managing him, I would fine everytime he hits a fly ball), or learning that his father is his uncle (or is that vice-versa?), the guy conveys nothing.