Taiwanese fans go out of their way to thank Fairchild for epic Classic … literally

Stuart Fairchild is quick to admit his return to Spring Training after representing Team Chinese Taipei in the 2026 World Baseball Classic was a bit of a culture shock.

Sure, transitioning from the high-stakes at-bats of an international tournament to the “spring stats don’t matter” mentality at Guardians camp would be jarring for anyone. And after clubbing a pair of homers -- including a game-breaking grand slam -- in front of a raucous Tokyo Dome crowd, his spring blasts suddenly came with quieter fanfare.

But for Fairchild, a five-year MLB vet who represented his mother’s home territory for the first time and quickly became his team’s most productive player, the most significant post-WBC surprise came not from anything he did on the field, but who was in the stands to watch it.

“Every single game I've played back in the US -- Spring Training or in Triple-A -- so far this year, there's been at least one Taiwanese fan who's shown up to the ballpark,” Fairchild told MLB.com. “Some of the fans in Arizona told me they drove eight hours from San Diego to come watch me.

“That's the impact and the care that the people of Taiwan have for baseball, and that's not something I knew before the WBC.”

Fairchild meets as many of these traveling fans as possible, thanking them for their support as a way to express appreciation for everything representing Chinese Taipei has given him. The 30-year-old arrived at the Classic understandably anxious about being the only non-Taiwanese player on the roster. He left it with lifelong friendships among teammates he’d only just met and a newfound desire to immerse himself in his mother’s native culture, along with the appreciation of millions who’ve shown boisterous support in every step he’s taken since.

“There’s never been an experience in my life,” Fairchild said, “that feels like it's meant so much to me and a [territory], too.”

His first chance to play for Team Chinese Taipei came ahead of the 2023 Classic, but with making the Reds’ Opening Day roster his sole focus, Fairchild declined the opportunity. Still, he knew his career wouldn’t be complete without taking part in baseball’s biggest international tournament. When the team’s reps reached out again before the ‘26 Classic, there was little hesitation to jump on board.

Motivation to do so came from the chance it created to learn more about where his mother, Mimi, grew up. After moving from Taiwan to Indiana when she was 12 years old, her heritage gradually faded from view as she acclimated to America. Taiwanese culture didn’t have a large role in Fairchild’s upbringing as a result, which meant playing in the WBC not only gave him his first true exposure to his mother’s roots, it also allowed her to reconnect with them.

Yet, as excited as he was to learn about his family history, the trip to join the club in Taiwan featured plenty of apprehension. The bulk of Team Chinese Taipei’s roster had been training for the WBC together for several weeks, and every member of it was born in Taiwan. That, plus the fact Fairchild didn’t speak a word of Mandarin, left him nervous about just how he’d be received in the clubhouse.

What nerves he carried with him dissipated within seconds of walking through the door.

“They brought me in, made me feel like part of the family immediately,” Fairchild said of his new teammates. “They made an effort to all try to get to know me, no matter how much English they spoke. … They fully embraced me. I can't thank them enough for that.”

Soaking in an atmosphere that reminded him of his college days at Wake Forest, Fairchild was wowed by how eagerly everyone on the roster pulled for each other. Gone was the mentality of big league games, where one’s individual stats often take the top priority. Replacing it was a clubhouse full of players with one thing in mind -- winning for Taiwan.

The instant camaraderie was quite a surprise for Fairchild. So, too, was how quickly he realized the intensity of Taiwanese fans’ passion for baseball.

After Team Chinese Taipei made its way to Japan to prepare for the WBC, the club played a few exhibition games against a Nippon Professional Baseball Minor League team in Miyazaki. Despite the contests being held at what was essentially a Spring Training backfield, the stands were loaded with boisterous Taiwanese fans. That fanfare was amplified once group play began at the Tokyo Dome, where Fairchild says the deafening atmosphere provided by Taiwanese supporters made it feel like his club had a home-field advantage, even when it played host team Japan.

But it wasn’t just the adoration those fans provided that stunned Fairchild. It was the fact it never wavered regardless of the result. Though Team Chinese Taipei opened the Classic with back-to-back shutout losses to Australia and Japan, Fairchild never heard one jeer.

“Every single pitch, it felt like they were there with you hoping for the best,” Fairchild said. “No matter the result, they were going to support.”

He found a way to reward that devotion over Chinese Taipei’s final two games.

Just one frame after his club plated its first two runs of the tournament against Czechia, Fairchild broke the game open by drilling a first-pitch changeup over the left-center-field fence for a grand slam that fueled a dominant victory. One day later, with a man on second and his team down 3-2 to Korea, just four outs from elimination, Fairchild scorched a slider toward the wall in right.

“I'm watching [the ball] as I'm running to first and I'm hoping, I'm praying. I'm like, ‘Get over the fence,’” he said. “It felt like the stadium was almost dead-silent when I hit the ball … and then it was just an absolute eruption when it left the ballpark. I've really never heard anything like that.”

Fairchild’s two-run blast gave his team the spark it needed for a dramatic extra-innings win, helping Chinese Taipei top Korea for the first time in Classic history. He had more homers (two) and RBIs (six) in two WBC games than he put up in 31 games split between Atlanta and Triple-A Gwinnett in 2025.

His performance, triumphant as it may have been, was ultimately unable to prevent a tiebreaker from ending Chinese Taipei’s WBC run in group play. But the premature Classic exit did little to dull the love Taiwanese fans had for Fairchild. What he did to bring the team within inches of the next round didn’t go unnoticed, and it continued being celebrated well after the tournament ended.

Supporters continue making multihour jaunts to see him play with Triple-A Columbus. His Instagram account, which had fewer than 50,000 followers before the WBC, boasted well over 330,000 within days of his return to America. In Taiwan, EasyCard Corp. -- which produces smartcards utilized in public transit and retail locations throughout the territory -- designed cards emblazoned with pictures of Fairchild from the Classic. Demand for them was high enough to prompt a one-week pre-order process.

Fairchild is hoping to get his first glimpse of them when he makes his return trip to Taiwan in November, something already in the works. His goal is to make sure his mother can join him, setting up her first trip back home since she moved to America. So enamored was he with his time playing for Team Chinese Taipei that he’s already planning to learn how to speak Mandarin this offseason.

Meanwhile, momentum from his WBC performance has followed him to Triple-A, where he’s kicked off an attempt to reactivate his big league career with a 1.020 OPS over 17 games with Columbus. It’s not the first time that he’s found himself in this position, eagerly awaiting a return call to the Majors.

It is, however, the first time he’s making this push with the support of an entire territory.

Just a few months ago, the love Taiwanese fans have for baseball was a mystery to Fairchild. Now, after giving them a WBC performance they’ll never forget, their steadfast adulation is what’s fueling him in his journey back to the bigs.

“It just propels me,” Fairchild said. “It reminds me that I’ve got tons of fans in Taiwan who are going to have my back this season no matter what.”