Dodgers Affiliate Makes History With First Taiwan Heritage Day in California—And the Surprise Was Written on the Field
ONTARIO, California — A Los Angeles Dodgers-affiliated baseball team turned its home field into an unexpected celebration of Taiwan on Sunday, September 6, as the Ontario Tower Buzzers hosted their first-ever Taiwan Heritage Day.
The celebration brought Taiwanese culture, baseball and community together at ONT Field in Ontario, California, where a symbol of Taiwan was placed directly onto the playing surface—creating one of the most striking images of the event.
The Ontario Tower Buzzers are the Dodgers' Single-A affiliate and are playing their inaugural season in Ontario after relocating from Rancho Cucamonga. The team is part of the California League and represents the Dodgers' lowest full-season affiliate in the current player-development structure.
But the significance of Sunday's event went beyond a themed baseball night.
Taiwan's flag appears on the baseball field
One of the biggest moments came before the game, when workers painted the Republic of China (Taiwan) flag behind home plate and on the pitcher's mound.
The visual immediately became the centerpiece of the celebration.
Central News Agency reported that Ontario Tower Buzzers general manager Allan Benavides described the flag as representing the cultural connection between the team and Taiwan. He also said the organization intends to make Taiwan Day an annual event and expand its scale in future years.
That commitment gives the event a significance beyond a one-day promotion: the team is signaling that Taiwanese culture could become a recurring part of its identity and community programming.
The club itself promoted the September 6 event as Taiwanese Heritage Night, describing it as a celebration of the culture, traditions and contributions of the Taiwanese community. A limited-edition Tower Buzzers boba plush was also offered through a special ticket add-on.
A Taiwan-born connection was already inside the Dodgers system
The timing of the celebration was especially meaningful because the Tower Buzzers had a Taiwanese player on their roster.
Outfielder Ching-Hsien Ko (柯敬賢) spent the 2026 season with Ontario and entered the final regular-season game among the team's leading offensive performers.
According to Central News Agency's pregame figures, Ko had appeared in 113 games, hitting 21 home runs with 85 RBIs and a .262 batting average before Sunday's game.
His presence gave the event an obvious baseball connection for Taiwanese fans.
Ko also appeared in Sunday's game, with official MiLB video showing him scoring on a sacrifice fly and later advancing during an Ontario rally.
The story gets even more personal
The Taiwanese connection was not limited to the roster.
Ontario's field operations supervisor, Sean Cheng, was also highlighted during the celebration. Cheng was born and raised in the United States, while his parents came from Taiwan.
Central News Agency reported that Cheng wore a Taiwan baseball national-team cap and personally helped paint the Taiwan flag in the dirt behind home plate.
That detail turned what could have been a routine heritage promotion into something much more personal.
A Taiwanese-American member of the stadium staff was helping place a symbol of his family's heritage directly onto the field where the Dodgers' next generation of players compete.
Rain delayed the celebration—but didn't stop it
The event also faced an early obstacle.
Rain delayed the start of the game by approximately two hours, according to Central News Agency. Despite the weather, the crowd remained engaged and the Taiwan-themed activities went ahead.
Taiwanese rapper Da Zhi and singer Zi Zi performed before the game, while Da Zhi, Zi Zi and Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Los Angeles Director-General Ma Po-yuan participated in the ceremonial first pitch.
The combination of baseball, live entertainment and Taiwanese cultural programming gave the event a distinctly community-centered atmosphere.
Why the event matters to the Dodgers organization
The Taiwan celebration comes during a major transition for the Dodgers' minor-league system.
The Ontario Tower Buzzers began play in 2026 after the former Rancho Cucamonga Quakes moved to Ontario. The relocation brought professional baseball to a new stadium, ONT Field, located near Ontario International Airport.
The team's official MiLB materials identify Ontario as the Dodgers' Single-A affiliate, while the new stadium has been positioned as a broader sports and entertainment venue for the Inland Empire.
That makes the Taiwan Heritage Day particularly notable: it was held during the franchise's first season in its new home and during its final regular-season home game.
The club's September schedule confirms that the September 6 game against the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes was scheduled at ONT Field, with Taiwanese Heritage Night among the day's promotions.
It also connects to a growing baseball tradition
Taiwanese Heritage events are becoming increasingly visible in American professional baseball.
In 2025, the New York Yankees announced their first Taiwanese Heritage Day at Yankee Stadium, continuing a broader trend of MLB organizations recognizing Taiwanese communities and baseball's importance to Taiwan. The event was also linked to the legacy of former Yankees pitcher Wang Chien-ming, whose years in New York helped deepen the connection between Taiwan and the Yankees.
The Ontario event adds another layer to that relationship—but at the developmental level of the Dodgers organization.
And that could prove especially meaningful for Taiwanese baseball fans.
Taiwan has long produced players who have reached Major League Baseball, and the Dodgers organization has had a particularly visible connection with Taiwanese talent. Ontario manager John Shoemaker, according to Central News Agency, previously worked with Taiwanese players including Chen Chin-feng, Hu Chin-lung and Kuo Hong-chih.
Now, he is working with the next generation.
Ko's season adds another reason for Taiwanese fans to watch
Ko's 2026 campaign has given the event an additional sporting storyline.
Shoemaker told Central News Agency that he sees legitimate home-run ability in the 20-year-old Taiwanese outfielder. Ko entered the final game with 21 home runs, placing him among Ontario's top offensive contributors.
Official MiLB footage from September 6 also shows Ko involved in multiple Ontario scoring plays, underlining his importance to the team's offense.
For Taiwan, the appeal is obvious: a young Taiwanese player is developing inside the Dodgers system while representing the country in front of American baseball fans.
From one celebration to a new tradition?
The most important statement may have come from the Tower Buzzers themselves.
The club's first Taiwan Heritage Day was not presented simply as a one-off promotional event. Benavides told Central News Agency that the team intends to hold Taiwan Day every year and make the event increasingly larger.
That could transform the September celebration into a recurring bridge between Ontario's baseball community and Taiwanese fans.
For Taiwanese Americans, it offers a chance to see their culture represented inside a professional baseball environment.
For the Dodgers organization, it provides another avenue to strengthen its international and multicultural identity.
And for Ko, it places his development season inside a moment that was about much more than statistics.
The bigger picture
A Taiwan flag painted into the dirt of a California baseball field may seem like a small gesture.
But on September 6, it represented something much larger: Taiwanese heritage, American baseball, the Dodgers' player-development system and a young Taiwanese player all meeting at the same ballpark.
And if the Ontario Tower Buzzers keep their promise, Sunday's celebration may not be remembered as the end of something.
It could be the beginning of a new Taiwan-Dodgers baseball tradition in California.