Pro Baseball Taiwan

Junge Joins Bulls, Gulin Out

2010-05-09T09:24:00.000+08:00

The Sinon Bulls have added right-handed pitcher Eric Junge to its staff after releasing Lindsay Gulin.

Junge played parts of the 2002 and 2003 seasons with the Philadelphia Phillies, and has since gone on to play pro ball in Japan, Korea, and Venezuela.

Gulin had an ERA of 5.87 through 15 1/3 innings with the Bulls.

Standings 5/3

2010-05-03T22:16:00.001+08:00

4/29 Scores

2010-04-29T22:19:00.000+08:00

Bulls 4 Elephants 8 (Hsinzhuang) Huang Shi-Hao 3 for 3 (ELE)
Bears 3 Lions 2 (Tainan) Zhong Cheng-You 3/4, 3 RBIs (BEA), Marshall McDougall 4/5 (LIO)

Lions Make Quick Work of Bears

2010-04-28T22:32:00.001+08:00

Bears 1 Lions 5 (Tainan)

Lions starter Jerome Williams allowed three hits over eight innings and Marshall McDougall went 2 for 4 with a homer in the fourth to lead the big cats to victory in this fast-paced game.

Collazo Joins Lions

2010-04-28T21:51:00.000+08:00

The Uni-President 7-11 Lions have added Puerto Rican pitcher Willie Collazo to their squad. The left-handed pitcher made six appearances for the New York Mets in 2007 and has also spent time in the Braves, Angels and Marlins systems.

Collazo is expected to get the start in Thursday's game against the La New Bears.

Standings 4/26

2010-04-27T17:12:00.001+08:00

Bears Take Down Elephants

2010-04-26T20:23:00.000+08:00

Bears 9 Elephants 1 (Kaohsiung)
The Bears made short work of the Elephants Sunday in Kaohsiung. Chris Mason threw a complete game to improve to 4-1 and catcher Lin Hong-Yu had three hits and three RBIs. Four other La new players also had multiple hits.

Bulls 12 Lions 5 (Taoyuan)
The Bulls put up 8 runs in the second inning en route to an easy win over the Lions. Lin Qi-Wei had a strong outing, allowing one run over six innings to improve to 4-0 on the season. Zheng Zhao-Hang had a pair of doubles and two RBIs for Sinon.

Liu Fu-Hao knocked in all five Lions runs, including a much too-little-too-late grand slam in the ninth inning.

Cullen Picks Up Two Save in One Day

2010-04-25T11:16:00.001+08:00

Elephants 5 Bears 3 - Game 1 (Kaohsiung)
The Elephants used some clutch hitting to win this game that was rescheduled from the day before due to rain. Yu Zhao-Ren went 3 for 4, Chen Guan-Ren had a pair of doubles and starter Orlando Roman pitches 6 1/3 innings for the win.

Lin Zhi Sheng hit a two run blast for his fifth dinger of the year in the bottom of the first.

Elephants 4 Bears 3 - Game 2, 11 innings (Kaohsiung)
It took a combined twenty innings before Brother could claim their second victory of the day. Zhang Zheng-Wei had three hits in this one and Peng Zheng-Min scored the winner off of a wild pitch from Bears reliever Zeng Zhao Hao.

Three pitchers appeared in both games today. Carlos Castillo threw 2 shutout innings in each and earned the win in game two. Ryan Cullen picked up a save in each game, retiring all five batters that he face. Bears reliever Zeng Zhao-Hao threw 3 2/3 total innings and was tagged with the loss in game 2.

Bulls 0 Lions 3 (Tienmu)
Pan Wei-Lun was back to his best in this one, scattering five hits with no walks over eight innings for the win. Marshall McDougall had a pair of hits and Zhuang Jing-He added a solo shot in the seventh to lead the offense.

Bulls starter Itsuki Shoda tossed a complete game in the loss.

Lions Offense Shines Again

2010-04-24T13:23:00.002+08:00

Bulls 6 Lions 9 (Hsinchu)
The Lions bats were out in full force again Friday night as they put 17 hits on the board to get past the Bulls. Guo Dai-Qi, Marshall McDougall, Liu Fu-Hao and Wang Zi-Song all had three hits, with Wang also getting a home run and the game winning RBI.

The Bulls scored all six of their runs in the fourth inning off Lions starter Wang Jing-Ming, but were held to three hits the rest of the way by the Lions bullpen.

Bulls Win in Kaohsiung

2010-04-23T16:53:00.001+08:00

Bulls 4 Bears 2 (Kaohsiung)

The Bulls beat the Bears Thursday night. Lin Yi-Chuan went 3 for 4 and Zhang Geng-Hao picked up the win. Zhang Tai-Shan become the second (and fastest) CPBL player to reach 1500 career hits.

Lions Maul Elephants

2010-04-21T22:43:00.002+08:00

Elephants 4 Lions 12 (Tainan)
The Lions took advantage of some terrible pitching (and dodgy fielding) to put up twelve runs against the Elephants. Gao Guo-Ching, Yang Song-Xian and Marshall McDougall each had three hits while Xu Sheng-Jie chipped in with three RBIs. Jerome Williams gave up two runs in eight innings for the win.

Reliever Yeh Yong-Jie was the only one of five Brother pitchers to not allow a run, throwing three perfect innings.

Bears Give Sanchez a Tryout

2010-04-21T22:32:00.003+08:00

The La New Bears took a look at Humberto Sanchez in a minor league game vs. the Elephants today. He gave up 3 runs in 5 innings with 4 hits and 4 walks.

Sanchez signed with the Detroit Tigers in 2002 and was then involved in a trade to the New York Yankees as one of the pieces that helped Detroit land Gary Sheffield in 2006. He finally made it to the majors in 2008, when he made two appearances for the Yankees.

Standings 4/19

2010-04-20T21:21:00.002+08:00

Bears Wallop Lions

2010-04-18T21:13:00.000+08:00

Lions 3 Bears 13 (Taoyuan)
The bears scored in each of the first four innings to crush the Lions in Taoyuan on Sunday. Catcher Lin Hong-Yu was 4 for 5 with and pair of doubles four other La New players had multiple hits. Chris Mason cruised to the easy win in this rain delayed contest, allowing one run in seven innings.

Lions starter Pan Wei-Lun had a nightmare, lasting just 2 1/3 innings and conceding nine runs.

Elephants 1 Bulls 3 -stopped after 5 innings (Hsinzhuang)
Rain put a stop to this match, but not before the Bulls did enough to claim the victory. Bulls first baseman Xu Guo-Long hit a two run double in the bottom of the fourth while pitcher Lin Qi-Wei limited the Elephants scoring to Zhou Si-Qi's solo homer in the top half of the inning to earn the W.

Yesterday's Losers Get Revenge

2010-04-17T23:32:00.002+08:00

Elephants 1 Bulls 4 (Hsinzhuang)
Li Yi-Chuan starred at the plate for Sinon by hitting 4 for 4 with 3 RBIs, including a two run homer in the third off Brother starter Ye Ding-Ren. Itsuki Shoda threw seven strikeouts in six strong innings for the win, with Shingo Takatsu earning the save.

Elephants outfielder Zhang Zheng-Wei went 3 for 5 for the losing side.

Lions 6 Bears 3 (Tienmu)
Rookie starter Wang Jing-Ming scattered four hits over eight innings to improve his record to 3-0. Gao Guo-Ching and Guo Dai-Qi each contributed a pair of RBIs to the cause.

Bears outfielder Zhong Cheng-You drove in all of his teams runs, including a home run in the bottom of the sixth with a man on.

Elephants Big Inning More Than Enough

2010-04-16T22:59:00.001+08:00

Elephants 7 Bulls 0 (Taoyuan)
The Elephants scored six in the top of the fifth to power past the Bulls in Taoyuan Friday night. Brother also got an excellent performance from starter Orlando Roman. The import pitcher went the distance, allowing only two hits for the complete game shutout.

Lions 6 Bears 7 (Luodong)
The Bears ended up with the victory in this back and forth contest, with catcher Lin Hong-Yu coming through in the clutch with a two run single in the seventh to put the men in green ahead for good. Bears relievers Xu Ming-Jie and Geng Bo-Hsuan picked up the win and the save respectively.

Rain Cancels Both Games on Thursday

2010-04-15T22:27:00.001+08:00

Both games that were scheduled to be played tonight (Lions-Bulls, Bears-Elephants) have been postponed until mid-June.

Elephants Commit 5 Errors in Loss

2010-04-14T22:50:00.002+08:00

Bears 8 Elephants 3 (Douliu)
Five errors from five different Brother players gifted the La New Bears a victory Wednesday night.

Eight of the Bears starters recorded a hit while Huang Qin-Zhi improved to 2-0 on the season.

Elephants DH Chen Guan-Ren's league record streak of avoiding getting struck out came to a halt when he whiffed in the first inning.

Bulls Down Pesky Lions

2010-04-14T21:22:00.001+08:00

Lions 3 Bulls 4 -10 innings (Taichung)
Though the Bulls blew three separate leads in the game, they managed to emerge victorious on Tuesday night.

The big hero for the Bulls was lead-off hitter Zhang Jian-Ming, who went 3 for 4 and picked up the game winning RBI. Shingo Takatsu was a bit lucky to earn his first CPBL win, appearing for just 2/3 of an inning and walking two.

Lin Yueh-Ping (0-2) was in his second inning on the mound for the Lions when Zhang ended the game.

Standings 4/12

2010-04-12T18:50:00.002+08:00

Lions Out-hit Bears, Still Lose By Five

2010-04-11T20:24:00.000+08:00

Bears 8 Lions 3 (Tainan)
The Bears used a five-run fourth inning to send them to victory, despite being out-hit 12-10. Starter Chris Mason picked up his second win of the season and second baseman Yu Jin-De went two for four with a walk and two RBIs. Also having multiple-hit games were center fielder Shi Yan-Wei (3/4) and infielder Lin Zhi-Sheng (2/5).

Lions DH Yang Sen, recently back from injury, went 4 for 5 while Pan Jun-Rong pitched three shutout innings in relief of starter Chen Yi-Chen. Chen's record fell to 2-2.

Bulls 1 Elephants 4 (Taoyuan)
Elephants starter Jim Magrane scattered six hits over eight innings to become the first hurler in the CPBL with three wins. Ryan Cullen earned the save while Peng Zheng-Min went 3 for 4 with a pair of doubles to lead the offense.

Bulls lead-off hitter Zhang Jian-Ming went three for four while starter Lindsay Gulin got tagged with the loss in his second league start.

Bulls Beat Elephants in Eleven

2010-04-10T21:38:00.003+08:00

Bulls 4 Elephants 3 (Hsinzhuang)

Once again the Bulls beaten the Elephants in extra innings.

Elephants starter Yeh Ding-Ren allowed just one run in seven innings, but the Bulls scored two in the top of the ninth to take a 3-2 lead off Ryan Cullen in his second inning of work.

The Elephants then tied it in the bottom half of the inning when Chen Jiang-He's double off Shingo Takatsu scored Fang Ke-Wei from second base.

The game remained tied until the top of the eleventh, when catcher Wang Xin-Min (who went 4 for 4) scored the game-winning run on a single from Chen Zhi-Wei.

Bears 1 Lions 9 (Kaohsiung)

The Lions scored nine runs on just seven hits to defeat the Bears on Saturday.

Xu Sheng-Jie and Zhuang Jin-He each put threes RBIs on the board and starter Wang Jing-Ming looked impressive in his seven innings of work.

Bears import Luis Villarreal failed to impress in his debut, looking erratic in walking four and giving up a couple of hits in 3 2/3 innings. Lin Zhi-Sheng hit his fourth home run of the season in the sixth inning for the Bears lone score.

Bulls Beat Elephants in Ten

2010-04-09T22:36:00.000+08:00

Bulls 3 Elephants 2 -10 innings (Hsinchu)
Wu Zong-Jun's solo shot in the extra inning was enough for the Bulls to win in Hsinchu Friday night. Reliever Shen Yu-Jie picked up the win while Shingo Takatsu retired all 3 batters that he faced in the bottom of the tenth for the save.

Zhou Si-Qi was 3 for 4 with an RBI for the Elephants.

Bears 7 Lions 0 (Tainan)
The Lions offense was anemic for the second straight night as they succumbed to the Bears in Tainan.

Bears starter Aaron Rakers looked strong, allowing just a hit and a walk seven innings. Shortstop Chen Yan-Wei went 3 for 3 with a couple of RBI's while fellow infielders Lin Zhi-Sheng and Yu Jin-De chipped in with two hits and an RBI each.

Jerome Williams had a pretty decent outing for the Lions, conceding one run in the seven innings that he pitched. The wheels fell off in the eighth inning though, as Shen Bai-Cang came on in relief and promptly stunk up the joint, allowing five runs on six hits in two-thirds of an inning.

Bulls Use Long Ball to Get Past Lions

2010-04-08T21:47:00.002+08:00

Bulls 6 Lions 1 (Tainan)
Three home runs and a stellar pitching performance were more than enough to propel the Bulls to victory Thursday night.

Catcher Zheng Da-Hong puts the Bulls on the board in the fourth with a two run shot off Lions starter Pan Wei-Lun. Wu Zong-Jun and Lin Yi-Chuan added solo homers in the seventh and eighth to add further damage. Starter Yang Chien-Fu was in fine form as he silenced the Lions bats by throwing seven shutout innings for the win.

Marshall McDougall scored the Lions only run in the bottom of the ninth from a Gao Guo-Ching double.

Elephants-Bears (Taichung) - postponed until June 15th and moved to Kaohsiung (rain)

Elephants Win Gaffe Filled Contest

2010-04-08T07:10:00.001+08:00

4/7 - Elephants 4 Bears 3 (Hsinchu)
Despite committing three errors in the first inning the Elephants managed a come-back victory over the Bears Wednesday night. This was in large part due to the shaky defending of their opponents, especially Bears catcher Huang Hao-Ran. The Elephants scored both of their second inning runs after two pitches evaded the catcher and ended up at the back fence.

Huang Jia-Ming won his first game of the season while Ken Ray dropped to 0-1. New Brother reliever Carlos Castillo struck out three over two shutout innings in his debut for the team.

Lions Rout Bulls

2010-04-07T05:18:00.000+08:00

Bulls 1 Lions 7 (Tainan)
Rookie starter Chen Yi-Chen threw seven shutout innings and catcher Gao Zhi-Gang went three for three with three RBI's as the Lions downed the first-place Bulls. Lions players out-hit the Bulls 14-5, including five doubles.

Last month's MVP Lin Ying-Chieh allowed 5 runs in just 2 2/3 innings for the Bulls.

Elephants Release Thorpe

2010-04-05T19:53:00.001+08:00

Tracy Thorpe has been released from the Brother Elephants. Thorpe compiled an 0-2 record in seven appearances with a WHIP of 2.33.

The player likely to replace him name is Carlos Castillo. Castillo is currently on the Elephants minor league roster and he is familiar to the Taipei-based team, having pitched a few innings for them in spring training.

Figueroa Cut From Mets

2010-04-05T16:03:00.003+08:00

Former Lion Nelson Figueroa has not been named to the Mets 25-man roster and is now a free agent. The 35-year old right-hander was one of the few players to play in the majors after spending time in Taiwan.

Figueroa was named Taiwan Series MVP in 2007, winning all three games that he started.

Other players who have gone on to the bigs from over here include Melvin Mora (Mercury Tigers-New York Mets), Ben Weber (Sampo Suns-Anaheim Angels), Joe Strong (China Times Eagles-Florida Marlins), and current player Ni Fu-Te (China Trust Whales-Detroit Tigers) .

If you're aware of any others, please let me know.

Standings 4/5

2010-04-05T15:24:00.002+08:00

Mihashi Tries Out For Bears

2010-04-04T19:44:00.001+08:00

Japanese pitcher Naoki Mihashi gave up four runs in five innings for the Bears in a minor league game vs. the Lions today. He'll have to do better than that if he hopes to stick around.

Mihashi played for the Yokohama Bay Stars from 2006-2008.

Elephants Send Lions to Bottom of the Standings

2010-04-04T19:28:00.000+08:00

4/4 - Elephants 8 Lions 6 (Douliu)
The Elephants find themselves in second place heading into Monday's off day due to strong hitting from the meat of the order. Chen Guan-Ren, Peng Cheng-Min and Zhou Si-Qi went a combined 8 for 14 with four RBI's to lead the offense. Reliever Tseng Yong-Da got his first win of the season after a shaky start from Lin En-Yu, and Ryan Cullen came on for a four-out save.

Lions first baseman Kao Kuo-Ching tied Zhou for the league lead with his 10th and 11th RBI's of the season.

Bulls 2 Bears 1 (Kaohsiung)
New import Lindsay Gulin won in his debut and lead-off hitter Huang Jian-Ming went 3 for 4 to lead the Bulls to victory. Shingo Takatsu earned his second save.

After allowing both Sinon runs in the first inning Bears starter Huang Qin-Zhi shut-out the Bulls over the next six in the hard-luck loss.

Bears Replace Parker With Villareal

2010-04-04T16:54:00.001+08:00

Zachary Parker received his walking papers today after two very poor starts.

In comes American left-hander Luis Villarreal. Originally drafted by the Red Sox in 2002, Villarreal spent last season between the Independent League Kansas City T-Bones and the Mariners AA affiliate in West Tennessee. He made it as high up the ladder as AAA in 2007 while in the Brewers system.

Bulls Shell Parker, Bears

2010-04-03T23:39:00.004+08:00

4/3 - Bulls 8 Bears 2 (Kaohsiung)
The Bulls scored four runs in the first inning en route to an 8-2 win over the Bulls on Saturday. Lin Qi-Wei struck out seven in six innings for the win and catcher Wang Xin-Min drove in three runs. 18 year-old pitcher Chang Geng-Hao pitched a scoreless ninth inning in his pro debut.

Bears starter Zachary Parker (0-2) has given up eight runs and walked nine in the 2 1/3 innings he's thrown in his two starts this season.

Elephants 6 Lions 5 (Tainan) (10)
Peng Cheng-Min went 3 for 5 with four RBIs including the game-winning home run in the top of the tenth inning. Reliever Ryan Cullen pitched the final two innings in picking up the win.

Lions outfielder Kuo Dai-Qi hit a solo homer in the fourth inning and finished up with three hits on the night.

Lions Win Tainan Home Opener

2010-04-02T23:07:00.001+08:00

4/2 - Elephants 3 Lions 4

Catcher Kao Cheng-Hua went two for three with three RBI's as the Lions took advantage of errant pitching to beat the Elephants. While only allowing four hits, Elephants pitchers Yeh Ding-Ren (8) and Tracy Thorpe (4) walked twelve through the first seven innings in the loss.

Pan Wei-Lun pitched eight innings for his first win of the season and Lin Yueh-Ping picked up his fourth save.

Bulls 4 Bears 5 (Kaohsiung)
Pan Zhong-Wei and Chen Chin-Feng powered the Bears over the Bulls with their first home runs of the season. Starter Aaron Rakers improved to 1-1 while Geng Bo-Hsuan earned the save.

Outfielders Chang Jian-Ming and Wu-Zong-Jun each had three hits for the losing side.

Lins Are March MVPs

2010-04-01T22:09:00.004+08:00

The Lins (yes, the same two guys I mentioned two posts ago) have scooped up the monthly MVP awards.

Sinon Bull Lin Yi-Chuan picked up all nine votes to unanimously take home the position player MVP award, while teammate Lin Ying-Chieh beat out Elephants hurler Jim Magrane 6-3 to win the pitching award.

I have no idea where these nine votes come from and would appreciate it if anyone who does could send me an email or add a comment below.

Roles Reversed As Elephants Down Bulls

2010-04-01T21:58:00.001+08:00

Elephants 3 Bulls 1 (Taichung)

For the second time in two nights a fine starting performance was undone by shoddy relieving late in the game, but this time it was the Elephants who emerged victorious.

Bulls starter Yang Chien-Fu gave up three hits and no runs over eight innings leaving Shingo Takatsu to close out the game. The Japanese reliever struggled in the ninth however, allowing three runs on three hits and two walks. Brother outfielder Zhou Si-Qi drove in the tying and winning runs with a triple, making amends for a terrible throw to the plate in the bottom of the eighth that let the Bulls easily score their only run.

Elephants starter Orlando Roman also had an excellent game, giving up two hits while striking out ten in 7 2/3 innings of work.

Lions 1 Bears 5 (Kaohsiung)

Bears slugger Lin Zhi-Sheng became the CPBL's fastest player to hit 100 career home runs when he launched a solo shot in the bottom of the first to tie the game at one. The Bears went on to add four more runs in the third, chasing Lions starter Chen Yi-Chen in the process.

Bears starter Chris Mason picked up his first win of the season, scattering six hits across 6 1/3 innings.

Lins Lead Bulls Over Elephants

2010-03-31T21:26:00.002+08:00

3/31 - Elephants 1 Bulls 3 (Hsinchu)

Lin Ying-Chieh threw eight innings of one-run ball while Lin Yi-Chuan hit the game winning RBI as the Bulls added to their league lead.

Elephants first baseman Peng Cheng-Min drove in the first run of the game in the third inning with Chen Guan-Ren scoring. Astute base-running by Lin (Y.C.) put the Bulls on the board in the fourth when he scrambled home following a bobbled ball by cut-off man Chen Jiang-He after the second out.

The score remained knotted at one until the bottom of the eighth, when the Brother bullpen let down starter Huang Jia-Ming. The Bulls rallied for three runs thanks to Lin's double and a two run single from Chang Tai-Shan.

Reliever Shingo Takatsu came on in the ninth to finish the game.

Bulls Add Gulin, Release Rleal

2010-03-31T20:29:00.003+08:00

The Bulls added lefty Lindsay Gulin to it's pitching staff yesterday, releasing Sendy Rleal.

Originally drafted by the Mets in 1995, Gulin has bounced around five different organizations in his career. He's spent the last three seasons in the Brewers system primarily at the AAA level. He also has some experience in Asia, playing in seventeen games for the Fukuoka Daiei Hawks of the NPB in 2004.

Rleal gave up four runs in 2 1/3 innings during his only CPBL start.

Bears Come Back to Beat Lions in 12

2010-03-30T23:31:00.001+08:00

3/30 - Lions 3 Bears 4 (12)

Huang Lung-Yi hit a walk-off double in the 12th inning to complete a come from behind victory against the Lions in Kaohsiung.

The Lions were a pitch away from winning the game in nine innings when Zhan Zhi-Hao tied the game with an RBI single off reliever Shen Bai-Cang.

Lin Zhi-Sheng hit a two run homer in the third off starter Wang Jing-Ming for the Bears other runs. Ken Ray had a solid start and the bullpen held the opposition to one run over 6 2/3 innings.

Marshall McDougall went 2-4 with a home run and two RBIs while Lin Zheng-Feng threw three shutout innings in relief for the Lions.

Lions Not So Clean?

2010-03-30T22:42:00.000+08:00

Lin Zeng-Xiang was released from his duties as General Manager of the 7-11 Uni-President Lions amid rumors that his name has been mentioned in the ongoing match-fixing investigation. This makes a clean sweep as now all four CPBL teams have different GM's than the ones who finished last season (though not all are suspected criminals).

While some media outlets suggest that Lin was involved with foreign players on the take, he insists that he is innocent and might look into a wrongful dismissal claim.

Minor League Schedule

2010-03-30T21:21:00.000+08:00

I finally got a hold of a copy of this season's minor league schedule, and it's even in English. The file I have is an Excel document and too awkward for me to post on here. If you'd like your own copy just email me at:

manintainan@gmail.com

The Road Warriors

2010-03-29T21:04:00.007+08:00

The Lions will be playing their eighth game of the season tomorrow night. They will also be playing in their eighth different stadium of the season. And they will have yet to play in their home city of Tainan. This is one of the quirks of having twelve diamonds for a four-team league.

The 7-11ers opened the season with a two game "home" stand up north. After that they were the road team in another two game series with the Elephants. They were also the visitors in their last three game series, this time against the Bulls. Tomorrow's match opens a two game road series versus the Bears before the Lions finally play their real home opener on Friday.

Here's how the Lions have started the season:

3/20 vs. Elephants - Tienmu

3/21 vs.Elephants - Taoyuan

3/24 at Elephants - Chiayi

3/25 at Elephants - Douliu

3/26 at Bulls - Taichung

3/27 at Bulls - Hsinchu
3/28 at Bulls - Hsinzhuang
3/30 at Bears - Kaohsiung

Side note: I'm attempting to see a game in all twelve stadiums this year. I'll post a ticket stub from each field above that game's report. I've already got one out of the way.

Standings 3/29

2010-03-28T20:37:00.002+08:00

3/28 Results

2010-03-28T20:29:00.004+08:00

Lions 6 Bulls 7 (10 innings): A costly throwing error by Wang Zi-Song led to the game winning run for the Bulls in Hsinchu.

The Lions had built up leads of 4-0 and 6-3 but Sinon would not go away, scoring 3 in the bottom of the seventh and then winning it in the tenth.

Bears 10 Elephants 3: La New won their first game of the season, beating the Elephants in Hsinzhuang. Chen Yan-Feng went 3-5 with a home run while starter Huang Qin-Zhi picked up the win.

This ends the Bears longest wait to post their first win of the season (6 games).

3/27 Results

2010-03-28T13:40:00.001+08:00

Lions 3 Bulls 1: Liu Fu-Hao came through in the clutch with a two run double in the eighth inning to pull the Lions even with the Bulls at the top of the standings. Lin Cheng-Feng got the win in relief after Jerome Williams gave up a single run over 6 1/3 innings. Closer Lin Yueh-Ping picked up his third save of the season.

Bulls starter Itsuki Shoda struck out ten in six innings while Lin Yi-Chuan went 3 for 4 in the loss.

Bears 3 Elephants 3 (12 innings): Rookie catcher Lin Hong-Yu shocked the crowd at Hsinchu by hitting a solo home run in the top of the ninth off Ryan Cullen to send the game into extra innings.

Elephants starter Lin En-Yu made his long awaited debut with the club, striking out seven over five innings. Cullen only gave up one other hit in his 4 and 2/3 innings of work, striking out nine.

3/26 Results

2010-03-27T13:37:00.007+08:00

Lions 3 Bulls 11: The Bulls beat up on the Lions yesterday in Taichung. Lin Yi-Chuan went 3 for 5 with 5 RBI as the Bulls put up their 24th run in two games. The Lions had their chances but wasted two bases-loaded situations early on (including one with none out). Bulls starter Yang Chien-Fu picked up the win.

Bears 7 Elephants 12: The Bears pitching staff got lit up again as it gave up twelve runs on eight hits and ten walks to the Elephants in Hsinchu. Brother rookie Chang Chih-Hao hit a grand slam in the second inning while outfielder Zhou Si-Qi added a pair of doubles. Starter Jim Magrane got his second win of the season.

The Bulls Have a Ton of Ads on Their Shirts

2010-03-26T19:25:00.005+08:00

If you've watched any of the Sinon Bulls games this year then you've probably noticed that they've added a few sponsors logos to their uniforms.

And if you were really observant then you might have tried to figure out the exact number of ads.

But you probably haven't, so here's the answer:

17!

There are seventeen ads combined on the Bulls shirts, pants, and hats.

That seems a bit excessive.

3/25 Results

2010-03-25T22:27:00.001+08:00

Bears 3 Bulls 13: Pitcher Lin Qi-Wei picked up the win with six innings of shutout ball as Sinon trounced the Bears in Taichung. Lin Zong-Nan (3 for 4, 3 RBI) was one of five Bulls with multiple hits.

Bears starter Chris Mason gave up eight runs over five innings in a less than impressive debut. Reliever Tseng Bao-Luo fared even worse, getting tagged for five runs in a single inning of work.

Lions 7 Elephants 4: Rookie Chen Yi-Chen got the win in his first career game, giving up two runs in seven innings at a very wet Douliu stadium. Zhuang Jin-He went 3 for 3 with a double and an RBI to help out offensively.

Minor League News

2010-03-25T22:11:00.002+08:00

The 2010 CPBL minor league (CPBL-2) season started up yesterday in Douliu as the Bulls youngsters beat their counterparts from the Bears 2-0.

Each team in the CPBL-2 plays a 60 game season from March to September. The league consists of four teams, one for each CBPL organization. All games are scheduled to be played at 2pm.

In the past I've had a difficult time digging up information about this league. As of right now, I can tell you where the games will be played, but not the date. When I do find out the full schedule, I'll post it here (or add a link).

The locations for this year's CPBL season are as follows: Douliu (43 games), Taichung (35 games), Kaohsiung (16), Tainan (14), Longtan (8), and Hsinchu (4).

A couple of last season's league 2 players who made the leap to the parent clubs this year are Lions pitcher Wang Jing-Ming and Bulls outfielder Wu Zong-Jun.

3/24 Result

2010-03-24T23:09:00.010+08:00

The Lions beat the Elephants 3-1 in Chiayi due to some strong pitching and clutch hitting. Wang Jing-Ming threw six innings of one run ball to get the win in his CPBL debut. Marshall McDougall hit his second home run of the season while Wang Song-Xian went 3 for 3 with an RBI.

Hurler Orlando Roman picked up the loss in his first CPBL start since 2007, when he was a member of the China Trust Whales.

On a side note, it looks like the Elephants released Ryan Murphy (unconfirmed) to free up a roster spot for Roman. Murphy gave up four runs over 3 1/3 innings in Sunday's loss to the Lions. This was his only CPBL appearance.

3/23 Result

2010-03-23T23:08:00.002+08:00

Bears 1 Bulls 1: The Bears and Bulls played in the first tie game of the season tonight in Taichung.

Bulls starter Lin Ying-Chieh struck out eight over seven innings while getting tagged for Lin Zhi-Sheng's 98th career homer in the fourth. Shen Yu-Jie led all relievers with 3 1/3 shutout innings.

Import Ken Ray made his league debut with the Bears and looked a little shaky in his five innings of work. Ray got out of a bases loaded, no-out jam in the first and managed to leave the game with only one run allowed despite walking four and giving up six hits. Four Bears pitchers combined for seven shutout innings in relief.

Since this was Taichung Stadium's first match of the season the dignitaries were out in full force as the mayor and a Taichung Prosecutors Office rep helped open the game by hitting balls (rather poorly) off a tee.

Locking the Barn Door After the Horses Have Left

2010-03-22T20:52:00.003+08:00

More anti-corruption billboards have been popping up on the outfield fences in CPBL stadiums. Unlike the first banner, which was put up by one the teams, the latest editions have been brought out by the government.

During the league opener in Tienmu fans were treated to a picture on the outfield fence of a man in a suit appearing to watch the field through a pair of binoculars. This, along with their actual physical presence, was how the Shilin District Prosecutors Office chose to let everyone know that they're on top of things regarding this match-fixing mess. The message cost them NT$20,000.

The next day the Tainan Prosecutors Office sponsored a similar billboard at the game in Taoyuan. Not to be outdone, the Taoyuan Prosecutors Office brought eight prosecutors and seventy police officers (including five placed high in the rafters) to watch the game.

This year's CPBL: Everybody's Watching!

Standings 3/22

2010-03-22T01:35:00.000+08:00

3/21 Results

2010-03-21T20:57:00.010+08:00

Bulls 7 - Bears 1: The Bears and Bulls opened their seasons in Kaohsiung with the Bulls running out easy winners. Itsuki Shoda 6 hits in 5 1/3 innings for the win while catcher Cheng Da-Hung had a great day, going 4 for 5 with an RBI and stolen base.

Attendance for Cheng Ching Lake Stadium was down quite a bit from last year's opener. One of the TV news programs I watched speculated that this was due to the young woman who threw the ceremonial first pitch. Apparently (forgive my bluntness) the girl they used last year had much bigger tits, thus bringing in more male fans. Classy.

Elephants 5 - Lions 8: The Lions got revenge for their opening day defeat thanks to a three run homer from Kao Kuo-Ching and a clutch triple from Kao Chi-Kang which also drove in three runs. All eight Lions runs were scored off imported pitchers, with Ryan Murphy and Tracy Thorpe giving up four each. A near capacity crowd of 12000 attended the first ever game at Taoyuan stadium.

It Has Begun

2010-03-20T23:02:00.005+08:00

The 21st season of the CPBL got under way this evening with the Brother Elephants defeating the 7-11 Uni-President Lions 1-0. The Elephants were led by seven innings of shutout pitching from starter Jim Magrane and a strong performance in the field. Tracy Thorpe and Ryan Cullen came on for an inning each, while lead-off hitter Wang Sheng-Wei went 2 for 4 with a stolen base and the game's only RBI. The Lions wasted a good showing from their starter Pan Wei-Lun, and could have done better on the base-paths, especially in the bottom of the eighth inning, when overly aggressive running led to an easy third out at home.

The game was held at the Tienmu stadium in Taipei and the ceremonial first pitch was thrown by Taiwan's president, Ma Ying-Jeou. These two teams go at it again on Sunday, opening the new stadium in Taoyuan. Ryan Murphy and Jerome Williams are the scheduled starters. The Bears and Bulls also play tomorrow in Kaohsiung (Aaron Rakers vs. Shoda Itsuki).

photo:CNA

Very Brief Season Preview: Elephants

2010-03-19T19:53:00.005+08:00

Last season: Taiwan Series Finalists.

Number of players banned during off-season: 17 (9 pitchers, 2 catchers, 2 infielders, 4 outfielders)

The Good: The infield. With the rest of the team collapsing around them, the Elephants infield core of Peng Cheng-Min, Chen Jiang-He, Wang Chin-Yong, and Wang Sheng-Wei kept their noses clean and will assume leadership roles with the club. Two other important returnees are OF Zhou Si-Qi and closer Ryan Cullen.

The Bad: Pitching. Only four of the ten pitchers on this season's staff pitched in the CPBL in 2009, throwing a combined total of 100 1/3 innings (in contrast, Bears workhorse Aaron Rakers pitched 159 1/3 innings last year). The Elephants will be forced to rely heavily on their starting pitching, which will be made up of imports and the injury prone Lin En-Yu, to protect their suspect bullpen.

The Unknown: The Elephants have added 17 new faces to the roster in the off-season. That makes for a whole lot of 'unknown'.

End of Season Prediction: A distant fourth.

Bonus: The Elephants have finally announced which imports will start the season. They are Jim Magrane (Opening Day starter), Tracy Thorpe, Ryan Murphy and Ryan Cullen. Orlando Ramon will remain with the team and step in should anything happen to the first four. Read more about these players here.

Very Brief Season Preview: Bears

2010-03-18T22:11:00.002+08:00

Last season: Did not make playoffs

Number of players banned during off-season: 10 (6 pitchers, 4 infielders) 2 undetermined

The Good: In DH Chen Chin-Feng (27 HRs, .320 Avg.) and IF Lin Zhi-Sheng (31HRs-led the league, .332 Avg.) the Bears have the two most potent power hitters in the CPBL. SP Aaron Rakers is returning and will hope to build on the 13 wins he chalked up in the last campaign. The bullpen looks pretty solid, with Geng Bo-Xuan, Xu Min-Jie, Huang Chin-Zhi, and (especially) Tseng Zhao-Hao all having strong seasons in 2009.

The Bad: After losing six pitchers (three starters) in the off-season, the Bears have had to use all of their import allocations to reinforce it's presence on the mound. While this move should solve it's starting pitching problems, the Bears offense would have benefited by bringing in at least one extra bat to the lineup.

The Unknown: Rookie Lin Hong-Yu will get a ton of work behind the plate, especially if last year's starter Chen Feng-Min is found guilty of the charges he's facing. Import pitchers Chris Mason, Zachary Parker and Kenny Ray are all new to the league.

End of Season Prediction: Outside of the playoffs

New Regulations: Please Stop Hurting the Fans

2010-03-18T11:14:00.003+08:00

The CPBL announced a few new tweaks to some of their rules the other day. Here's a synopsis:

The league will no longer give out an MVP award for each game. Members of the media are outraged that members of the media no longer get to choose the player of the game.

Small changes on qualifying for the end of season golden glove award have been made.

Relief pitchers now only have to complete a third of an inning as opposed to two thirds to get credit for a "relay".

Players will be fined NT$10,000 and possibly suspended for up to three games if they throw the ball into the grandstand with too much force. Apparently several fans were injured last season from balls thrown at them.

Very Brief Season Preview: Bulls

2010-03-17T21:38:00.002+08:00

Last season: Did not make playoffs

Number of players banned during off-season: 2

The Good: Hitting. Led by last year's league MVP Lin Yi Quan(2B), the Bulls should have little trouble against the weakened pitching staffs they will face in most games this season.Third baseman Wilton Veras is coming off another great CPBL season. Zhang Jian-Ming (OF), Zheng Da Hong (C), and veteran Zhang Tai-Shan (DH) will all get their fair share of hits. The starting pitchers (Yang Chien-Fu, three guys named Lin, Itsuki Shoda) should be able to do enough to give the team a chance to win most games.

The Bad: Not too much. The bullpen might be a cause for concern, especially if new 41 year-old closer Shingo Takatsu fails to live up to fan's expectations (he looked pretty great in the pre-season though).

The Unknown: Rookie Wu Zong-Jun has been penciled in to replace banned Hsieh Chia-Shian in the outfield. Import pitcher Sendy Rleal is also new to the league.

End of Season Prediction: Playoffs

Very Brief Season Preview: Lions

2010-03-16T19:12:00.012+08:00

Last season: Taiwan Series Champions

Players banned during off-season: 0

The Good: The pitching staff will be led by ace Pan Wei-Lun, two time playoff MVP Luther Hackman and closer Lin Yueh-Ping. The offense features three players who hit over .333 last season (OF Pan Wu-Hsiung .367, 1B Kao Kuo-Ching .354, C Kao Chih-Kang .337) while DH Chen Lian-Hong and OF Liu Fu Hao will add some power to the lineup.

The Bad: The Lions were the only team that did not have any players banned for throwing games (it might not be a coincidence that they ended up as champs). This season they may find themselves having to work harder in certain games as none of the players that they face will be purposefully trying to lose to them (I hope).

The Unknown: Very little. Highly rated rookie pitchers Wang Jing-Ming and Chen Yi-Chen have been added to the squad, while imports Jerome Williams (P) and Marshall McDougall (3B) will also be making their CPBL debuts.

End of Season Prediction: Playoffs

The Wall of Shame

2010-03-15T20:15:00.006+08:00

The La New Bears were one of the hardest-hit teams during this off-seasons match-fixing investigations, and they are not about to let anybody forget who got them into this mess. The team has unveiled a banner at it's home field that is dedicated to naming and shaming those who have admitted to throwing games.

Located on the left field wall at the Cheng Ching Lake stadium in Kaohsiung, the sign currently shows a picture of a player whose face and number are blurred out (purportedly Hsu Wen-Hsiung) next to the Chinese character for the word "shame". This blurred banner is meant to serve as some kind of warning to the players involved, as well as to those still on the team. The Bears are mulling over plans to change the player image occasionally in order to get all 13 of it's banned former players on the wall at some point this season.

Payback's a Bitch

2010-03-15T19:58:00.001+08:00

Manny Ramirez went 3 for 4 as the Dodgers spanked the CPBL all-stars 11-1 Sunday night in Kaohsiung. Despite the outcome, the fans were in good spirits throughout and got to enjoy a great performance from Hu Chin-Lung, who also put three hits on the board for the team from L.A. The only real downer was that scheduled starter Kuo Hong-Chih had to withdraw because of a sore elbow. Due to Saturday's rainout in Taipei the series finished up honors even as each team won a game apiece.

Bears Case Closed

2010-03-14T11:27:00.002+08:00

In a previous post I mentioned that more players from the La New Bears had come under scrutiny from the authorities over match-fixing allegations. This investigation has now come to a close with two players being banned from the league and four others set free. Wu Si-Yo and Chen Feng-Min (who were both scheduled to face the Dodgers this weekend) admitted to fixing games while the other four players involved (Lin Zhi-Sheng, Pan Zhong-Wei, Huang Lung-Yi, Huang Qin-Zhi) have all been cleared and are free to continue playing with the team.

Game 1 Went Pretty Damn Well

2010-03-13T12:25:00.000+08:00

Backed by excellent pitching and their opponents jet lag, the CPBL all-stars beat the Dodgers 5-2 in game 1 of their exhibition series last night. Starter Lin Ying-Chieh threw four shutout innings while Lin Yueh-Ping picked up the save as the Dodgers were held to just three hits. The offence was led by Pan Wu-Hsiung and Wang Sheng-Wei, with each batting in two runs. Tainan product Hu Chin-Lung finally got the Dodgers on the scoreboard in the eighth inning with a two run single.

With the CPBL winning the game and the local boy coming through for the MLB club, it turned out to be an ideal series start for fans of Taiwan baseball. I just have one question: why the hell were the Dodgers wearing their home whites?

This Ain't the First Time

2010-03-12T20:52:00.001+08:00

This isn't the first time that the Dodgers have come to Taiwan. Their last visit was in 1993, when they played three games (all in Taipei) against the then six teams of the CPBL. The Dodgers won the first game 4-2 over a combined team featuring players from the Weichuan Dragons and Jungo Bears. Game two went to the CPBL, who were represented by the President Lions and China Times Eagles. The locals won 1-0, scoring the lone run of the game in the bottom of the 10th inning. The CPBL then went on to take the series, winning game three by a score of 6-5. The Mercury Tigers and Brother Elephants were Taiwan's reps for this one.

The players that the Dodgers brought over here in '93 included many recognizable names. That squad, managed by Tommy Lasorda, featured players such as Orel Hershiser, Tom Candiotti, Mike Piazza, Darryl Strawberry, and a young Pedro Martinez. The team also included two players, Steve Wilson and Jonathan Hurst, who would later come to Taiwan as import players (in the TML and CPBL) and have a significant impact on Taiwanese baseball.

Some of the local players who impressed during this series were Lin Chong-Chiu of the Tigers, Huang Ping-Yang of the Dragons, and the Lions Hsieh Chang-Heng.

Here's a recent news report that shows some clips from these games (fast forward to the 1:30 mark).

Source: CPBL magazine, Issue 335
pic: Tommy Lasorda

Import Report: Lions

2010-03-11T18:40:00.001+08:00

Unless something changes, the Lions will be starting the season with only three of their four import allocations filled.

Here are the players they've signed:

Luther Hackman: Here's a brief bio on Hackman, from a previous post.

Jerome Williams: Starting pitcher Williams began his MLB career in 2003 with the San Francisco Giants. After having two strong years in the bay area he was acquired by the Chicago Cubs, where he spent the 2005 and 2006 seasons. In 2007 he made six starts for the Washington Nationals but had difficulty matching the success he enjoyed earlier in his career. Since then he has spent time in the Independent League and on the AAA teams of the LA Dodgers and Oakland Athletics.

Marshall McDougall: McDougall has spent most of his career in the minor league systems of five different MLB clubs. In 2005, his lone big league season, the infielder appeared in 18 games for the Texas Rangers. Expect to see McDougall playing at third base for the Lions this year.

Note: I posted earlier about the Lions acquiring pitcher Matt White. I first read about the signing back on Jan 3rd in a Mandarin news article and it certainly seemed like it was credible enough to mention. Unfortunately I haven't heard or seen anything about the player during spring training. His wikipedia entry (yes, I know this doesn't mean much) claims he is currently a Lions player. To be honest, I have no idea what's going on with this guy.

Import Report: Bulls

2010-03-10T21:29:00.002+08:00

Here are the imports who will take to the field for the Sinon Bulls this season:

Wilton Veras: Veras has the most CPBL experience of any import this season. His first stint in the league came in 2005 with the Macoto Cobras. The third basemen spent the next two seasons in the Independent League before returning to Taiwan and playing for the China Trust Whales in 2008. After the Whales went belly-up, the Bulls became Veras' third CPBL team. He played in every game last season, hitting for a .360 average.

Veras also spent parts of the 1999 and 2000 seasons in the majors, playing for the Boston Red Sox.

Itsuki Shoda : Shoda spent five seasons in his native Japan before joining the Bulls last season. The former Nippon Ham fighter went 14-6 in 2009, posting an ERA of 4.44.

Shingo Takatsu: Takatsu has accomplished quite a bit in his long career as a closer. Known as Mr. Zero in Japan (for not allowing any runs in 11 Japan Series appearances) he has pitched in 15 NPB seasons (Yakult Swallows), 2 seasons in MLB (White Sox and Mets) and one season in Korea's KBO (Woori Heroes). The Bulls clearly feel the 41 year old still has something left in the tank as they've made him one of the league highest paid players.

Sendy Rleal: The high point of Rleal's career came in 2006 when he made 42 appearances out of the bullpen for the Baltimore Orioles. Since then he's spent most of his time in the Independent League, most recently with the Newark Bears.

CPBL-Dodgers Series Rosters

2010-03-09T19:51:00.029+08:00

Here are the rosters for the upcoming series between the CPBL and Los Angeles Dodgers, to be played on March 12th, 13th (in Tienmu), and 14th (in Kaohsiung).

CPBL

Pitchers- Pan Wei-Lun (Lions), Lin Yue-Ping (Lions), Chen Yi-Chen (Lions), Hsu Ming-Jie (Bears), Keng Po-Hsuan (Bears), Lin En-Yu (Elephants), Ye Yong-Jie (Elephants), Yang Chien-Fu (Bulls), Shen Yu-Jie (Bulls), Lin Ying-Jie (Bulls)

Catchers- Kao Chih-Kang (Lions), Lin Hung-Yu (Bears) (Chen Feng-Min (Bears) was named to the team, but is now suspected of match-fixing)

Infielders- Kao Kuo-Ching (Lions), Lin Chih-Ping (Bears), Lin Chih-Sheng (Bears), Cheng Chao-Hsing (Bulls), Lin Yi-Chuan (Bulls),Wang Sheng-Wei (Elephants) Chen Jiang-He (Elephants) (Peng Cheng-Min (Elephants) has pulled out of the squad due to injury)

Outfielders- Liu Fu-Hao (Lions), Pan Wu-Hsiung (Lions), Chen Chin-Feng (Bears), Chang Chien-Ming (Bulls), Zhou Si-Qi (Elephants), Chen Kuan-Jen (Elephants)

Dodgers
Pitchers- Kuo Hong-Chih, Mario Alvarez, Alberto Bastardo, Robert Boothe, Jesus Castillo, Hyang-Nam Choi, John Ely, Francisco Felix, Charlie Haeger, Kenley Jansen, Josh Lindblom, Jon Link, Juan Perez, Eric Stults, Josh Towers

Catchers- J.D. Closser, Gabriel Gutierrez, Lucas May, Jesse Mier

Infielders- Hu Chin-Lung, Ronnie Belliard, Angel Berroa, Jamey Carroll, John Lindsey, James Loney, Russ Mitchell, Ramon Nivar

Outfielders- Manny Ramirez, Brian Barton, Xavier Paul, Prentice Redman, Michael Restovich, Trayvon Robinson

Everybody Dance!

2010-03-08T18:22:00.004+08:00

The league took a break from its pre-season schedule so it could head down to Kaohsiung for its annual oath-taking ceremony. This ceremony has extra resonance this year due to the off-season investigations, and the league is trying extremely hard to put on an optimistic face. Held at the Dream Mall on a busy Sunday afternoon, the spectacle involved solemn (awkward) speeches from representatives of each team, players interacting with their fans, and dancing, lots of dancing.

While seeing players strut their stuff on the dance floor may seem a little weird to the outsider, this sort of thing is not that unusual over here. During the Lions open house last month, there were a few players singing along with KTV machines, and team ace Pan Wei-Lun put on a magic show. These players are far from the aloof, spoiled millionaires you might see in the big leagues, and they clearly have to perform duties the average pro might feel beneath them.

There is little doubt that the CPBL is going to suffer at the gate this season, and some of the people who will suffer the most will be these players. Seeing what they must endure just to play the game they love, it seems a little unfair that the public will be staying away from this season's games because of the actions of last season's (now expelled) players.

Yes, Taiwanese professional baseball has had immense problems with match-fixing in the past and it is probably naive to think that this season will be any different. But if you're a baseball fan here in Taiwan, then this is the league you're stuck with, and maybe (just maybe) they'll get things sorted out.

Or else the CPBL will disappear.

I really hope that doesn't happen.

It Looks Like a Lot of People Got Their Hopes Up

2010-03-07T19:11:00.001+08:00

It appears that I was wrong about Manny Ramirez. It looks like he's coming over here after all. But when you look at the rest of the Dodgers lineup for their upcoming games against the CPBL you'll be hard-pressed to recognize too many other names. Many local fans have been none too pleased about the minor leaguers that the Dodgers are sending and are starting to voice their displeasure. There have been calls for ticket refunds and Facebook protest groups. People are calling the team watered-down, and a massive disappointment. It will be interesting to see what kind of reception the boys in blue get when they finally take to the field.

On a side note, I've been thinking about purchasing a Lions season ticket. NT$5400 gets me a seat for the 36 home games they will be playing in Tainan this year. That's only NT$400 more expensive than one top-end ticket to see the handful of starters, the two local heroes, and the gaggle of career minor leaguers that is this edition of the Los Angeles Dodgers (to be fair, the cheap seats to these games are only NT$500, but still.... ).

The Road to Hell is Paved with Good Intentions

2010-03-06T23:02:00.000+08:00

Taipei Fubon Bank is not making enough money from its sports lottery division. Due to the contract it signed with the federal government a couple of years ago, the bank must pay NT$20.83 billion over the next six years (averaging to NT$3.47 billion each year) to operate the lottery. The total sales from the last two years have been NT$19.1 billion. So despite the fact that it has almost recouped enough money in two years to pay off it's six year contract in total, the bank feels that it is impossible to turn a profit. Last month it asked the government to allow them to cut their payment in half. How is it possible to not turn a profit from a lottery?

What is of most interest to this blog is the bank's main excuse for the predicament it's in. Under the current system, bettors are unable to place single-game bets on the CPBL (to deter match-fixing). This apparently has led to much lower revenues than expected, even though (from what I understand) this set-up has been implemented from the beginning of the lottery.

When it began, the promotion of the new lottery quickly caught the public's eye and interest in gambling increased. However, instead of placing legal bets through Fubon's restricted scheme, punters simply turned to underground bookies for their single game bets. This in turn increased the amount the bookies were taking in, giving them more capital to spend on player bribes. So much for deterring match-fixing.

Basically, an idea that was designed to keep money away from certain criminal elements proved extremely profitable for those same criminal elements.

And totally disastrous to the CPBL.

Bears Sign Import Ken Ray

2010-03-05T22:12:00.001+08:00

It should come as no surprise to those that have been reading this blog that the Bears have signed another American pitcher. Ken Ray has joined the Kaohsiung-based club and he brings with him an extensive resume.

Ray began his pro career in the Royals system in 1993, finally making it to the show in '99. He went 1-0 in 13 games that season before arm troubles significantly affected his career. After spending the next few seasons in the lower levels of pro ball he staged an impressive comeback 2005, when he made it back up to triple A in the Braves system. The Georgia native completed his resurgence the next season as he was called up to the parent club, racking up 67 2/3 innings in 69 appearances for Atlanta.

That was to be Ray's last stint in the big leagues. He has spent most of his time since then back in AAA for various organizations.

Hey Elephants, Sort Your S**t Out

2010-03-04T23:16:00.003+08:00

This season the Elephants have decided to fill in some of the holes of their depleted pitching staff by bringing in foreigners to do the job. This is not unusual in the CPBL, but rarely do teams go to the lengths that Brother has, bringing in six players to battle for four spots.

As the season approaches it is becoming clearer as to which players will make it to the opening day roster (more on that later). But if the 'phants had any plans on using the remaining pre-season games to test out their new players, they better think again. Apparently the team hasn't gotten work permits for their imports. This screw-up has already cost Ryan Murphy a chance at starting against the Lions (in the game that was played this evening), and it looks like there's a chance this problem won't be solved until after the pre-season finishes.

CPBL Players Get No Respect

2010-03-03T22:53:00.004+08:00

The upcoming series between the Dodgers and a team of CPBL stars was originally scheduled for two games, to be held in Taipei and Kaohsiung. But due to popular demand a third game was proposed, and negotiations were put in motion to make that happen. There were several hurdles that the independent company promoting the event needed to overcome, the biggest of which was getting consent of the organizations involved. Appearance fees needed to be agreed on, player unions needed to be consulted, and other extraneous matters needed to be sorted out.

On the MLB side, the Dodgers agreed when their appearance fee of $1 million U.S. per game was met. The MLBPA signed off on the deal when the team agreed to pay the players for their performances, and Manny Ramirez seems to have managed to finagle a personal appearance fee.

On the CPBL side, the four teams agreed to send their players once their appearance fee was raised to NT$ 7 million for the series. The teams then decided to keep this money for themselves, declining to offer their players appearance fees for their performances.

Once the local players got wind of this plan, they justifiably weren't too pleased. Yesterday, players from all four teams issued a joint statement denouncing the blatantly unfair practice of the league using them as free labor. It appears that now the league has gotten rid of the players in its ranks that can be bought off, it is intent on pissing off the remaining players by refusing to pay them for their work.

Personally I fail to see how players are supposed to say no when asked to accept money for losing, when their own team won't even pay them for playing.

Import Report: Bears

2010-03-02T17:51:00.001+08:00

The La New Bears currently have three imported players in camp and they're all American pitchers. Here's a brief summary of their careers.

Aaron Rakers: Rakers joined the Bears last season. He went 13-4 while posting an ERA of 3.54 in 26 starts. He also notched 110 strikeouts in 159 1/3 innings. Rakers spent parts of three seasons (between 2004-07) in the majors with the Orioles and (very briefly) the Padres. Here's a nice article about him, though it is five years old.

Chris Mason: Mason has spent the better part of the last five seasons in the Rays and Mets systems, making it as far as AAA with each. He was most recently in Venezuela pitching for Tiburones de La Guaira.

Zachary Parker: Parker spent most of his career in the Rockies system at the AA level (with one season in AAA). Last season he was a member of the Lancaster Barnstormers of the Independent League.

It Could Be A Long Season For The Elephants

2010-03-01T21:13:00.004+08:00

The 2010 season has yet to begin but it already looks like it could be a difficult season for the Brother Elephants. Along with the Bears, the Elephants lost several key players due to the match-fixing scandal, including a large chunk of their pitching staff. This, coupled with the expulsion of two of the team's most popular players (Tsao Chin-Hui and Chen Chih-Yuan) has already caused a notable drop in interest from their fan base. On the field matters have hardly helped things as the team has gone 0-4 so far in spring training (against opposition who are not full- time professionals).

But, it is (very) early in the season and there may be a few bright spots ahead. The acquisition of Lin En-Yu from the NPB in Japan has been seen as a much needed boost to the team. The Elephants will also be using all four of their import allocations to further bolster the pitching staff. Out of necessity, there will also be several new domestic faces on the club this year.The rookies will have to adapt quickly to the pro game in order to avoid 2010 being a lost season for the men in black and yellow.

Despite My Warning, People Are Getting Their Hopes Up

2010-02-27T15:22:00.004+08:00

According to a couple of articles I've read today (here and here) Manny Ramirez will be on the roster when the Dodgers come to Taiwan for their three game series later this month. Looking for confirmation I came across this article in the LA Times. It reads:

So take this news for what it's worth: Manny Ramirez is on the list of 33 players who will travel to Taiwan for three exhibition games March 12 to 14 against a Taiwanese all-star team.

He volunteered for the trip, which most of the players on the 25-man roster are skipping, but several club officials said they're not sure Ramirez will go.

He has wavered, according to these officials, saying on one day that he'll go, on another that he won't. That has kept the Dodgers from making a formal announcement. One of the officials shrugged and laughed.

Ramirez, asked Friday if he'll make the trip, said, "I don't know, papi. I don't know."

Attaboy, Manny.

I was thinking that staking a bet on Ramirez's appearance might be a fun thing to do. What harm can come from baseball-related gambling?

2010 Schedule Released

2010-02-26T19:56:00.004+08:00

The league has announced its schedule for the upcoming season. Here it is, by the numbers:

Games: 240 (120 for each team)
Games per stadium:
Taichung 38 (Bulls home stadium)
Tainan 36 (Lions home stadium)
Kaohsiung 36 (Bears home stadium)
Hsinchu 31 (primarily Elephants)
Hsin Zhuang 27 (primarily Elephants)
Tienmu 23 (primarily Elephants)
Douliu 16 (up from only five last season)
Taoyuan 12 (new stadium)
Luodong 8 ("famed for its large, beautifully landscaped sports park" - wikipedia)
Pingtung 6 (back on the schedule)
Chiayi 4 (hasn't been the same since the Whales left)
Taichung Intl. 3 (new stadium)

Notes:
For the first time since 2003 there will not be any games held in either Taitung or Hualien. Apparently players were "too exhausted" after having to travel all the way to the east coast for games. Pathetic.

Spring training games (the Durian league?) take place from March 4-10 with each team playing 6 games.

There will be a break in June between the first and second halves of the season.

Print out you own schedule here. It's in Mandarin (these things don't come in English).

Hackman Back With Lions

2010-02-25T18:11:00.004+08:00

Luther Hackman has returned for a third stint with the Lions. First signed in 2008, he has gone 8-2 with an ERA of around three in the last two regular seasons. It has been in the post season however, where the American has really excelled. His record of 5-1 coupled with an ERA of 2.30 (in 43 1/3 innings) was enough to earn MVP honors in both the 2008 and 2009 Taiwan Series.

Before coming to the CPBL Hackman spent parts of five seasons as a relief pitcher in MLB, playing in Colorado, St. Louis, and San Diego. His best stretch in the bigs was between 2001 and 2003 where he chalked up 193 and a third innings over 143 contests.

Scandal! Round 2

2010-02-24T21:13:00.001+08:00

At least six more players are under investigation by the Panchiao District Prosecutor's Office for their role in the continuing match-fixing saga. All of these new suspects play for the Bears and have had their pay suspended. Curiously they have been allowed to continue training with the team. This probably has something to do with the fact that the team is pretty short-handed at the moment, having already lost a dozen or so players from the first round of investigations.

Pitcher Wu Szu-yu was the first player interviewed by the authorities in this go-round. Wu began his career with the Bears in 2004, putting in three strong seasons with the team. He numbers earned the left-hander a contract in Japan with the Chiba Lotte Mariners in 2007. After playing two seasons with the Pacific League club, he returned to the Bears last year.

Opening Day 2010

2010-02-23T22:19:00.006+08:00

(Lions Jia Yo repost 2 of 2)
The first game of the new season has been announced and, as per tradition, the two teams that ended the previous season will start the new one. That means it'll be the champion Lions squaring off against the Taiwan Series finalist Brother Elephants.The game takes place on March 20 at 5pm.

Tickets are already on sale and the Liberty Times feel confident enough to report who the starting pitchers will be. Lions ace Pan Wei-Lun will take to the mound against Lin En-Yu of the Elephants.

This will be Lin's first start in the CPBL since he left for Japan three years ago. The former Macoto Cobras hurler joined the Rakuten Golden Eagles of the Central League in 2007, spending most of his time in their minor league system or on the disabled list.

This pitching match-up is being billed as the "Chicken Toot Wars" (according to google translator) due to the player nicknames of Dudu (translated as Toot for Pan) and Little Chick (sometimes translated as Chicken Little, for Lin)

The league also announced that the Lions and Elephants will open the brand new Taoyuan International Baseball Field on March 21. Still no word on the rest of the schedule however.

Lions Add Incredibly Wealthy Pitcher

2010-02-23T22:13:00.004+08:00

(Lions Jia Yo repost 1 of 2)
Matt White is the newest foreign addition to the Lions pitching staff. Between 2003 and 2005 Matt pitched in 7 games in the majors: 3 with the Red Sox, 3 with the Mariners, and 1 with the Nationals. In 2007, after failing to make the Dodgers out of training camp, he joined the Yokohama Bay Stars of the Japanese Central League for the next two seasons. I have no idea where he played in 2009, as I can't find any information on the subject.

Matt also gained some attention for a stroke of good fortune regarding a property deal. To help out his great aunt, he bought 50 acres of mountain land from her for $50,000. He later found out that it was full of Goshen Stone, which apparently is some kind of extremely valuable rock. The estimated monetary amount of this rare mineral on White's property is 2.5 billion dollars.

Without having seen this guy pitch, I already wholeheartedly endorse this signing for the Lions. In the gangster friendly, corruption ridden environment that is the CPBL, foreign players have always been easy targets. The guys who come here from abroad are usually at the tail end of their careers, just looking to wring a few more paychecks from their arm, glove, or bat. For most of them Taiwan is a place they will only ever spend a few months of their entire lives in. When offered a sizable amount of money to throw a game in a league you've barely heard of, in a country you'll never visit again, it must be pretty easy to say ok.

Unless you're a guy worth billions of dollars.

Good luck trying to bribe him.

Amalgamation

2010-02-23T22:10:00.000+08:00

When I started this blogging project it seemed to me to be a good idea to have one blog that focussed on my local team (the Lions), and another that focussed on the rest of the league.

I no longer feel that this arrangement is such a good idea. This is primarily because I'm writing on a four team league. It seems kind of dumb to have 25% of my content on another site.

So I've decided to shut down my other blog (Lions Jia Yo) to focus solely on this one. I'll also be re-posting a couple of relevant articles from that site onto this one.

I hope you don't find this too irritating.

-M.I.T.

And Now For Some More Disappointing News...

2010-02-23T21:48:00.002+08:00

For the second straight year the Asia Series has been cancelled. Known as the Konami Cup until 2007, the Asia series is (was?) an end of season baseball tournament that features the champions of Taiwan, Japan, Korea, and China. The games were held at the Tokyo Dome from 2005-2008 with the Japanese champion winning all four contests. Last season there was an abridged version of the competition in Korea that featured only the Korean and Japanese champs. The NPB's Yomiuri Giants defeated the KPO's Kia Tigers 9-4.

Representatives from each of the nations (except China) had been in talks recently of a possible series revival for 2010, but an agreement couldn't be reached due to prior scheduling conflicts. There seems to be a tentative agreement to resume the competition in 2011 with Taiwan slated to be the hosts.

Personally I'd love to see the Asia Series come to Taiwan.

And I hope the CPBL is still around in 2011 to send a team.

Don't Get Your Hopes Up

2010-02-22T21:56:00.013+08:00

According to this article from MLB.com:
"a Dodgers split squad will visit Taiwan for two exhibition games against a team from the Chinese Professional Baseball League."

So the people who waited in line for hours and shelled out a fair bit of money for tickets get to see half of the Dodgers squad.

"Few regulars are expected to make the trip, with James Loney and Jamey Carroll probable exceptions."

I guess that makes it less than half the team.

Feel the excitement.

(Note: a third game has since been added to this series)

*BONUS If you've ever wondered what a painting of Jamey Carroll would look like, check this out. Strange.

Elephants Add Six Imports to Spring Training

2010-02-21T13:55:00.004+08:00

Looking to fill in some roster spaces that have been vacated due to recent events, the Brother Elephants have brought in six imports to compete for the four available foreigner allocation spots. Unsurprisingly, five of the players are pitchers, while the other appears to be some kind of globe-trotting all-rounder (to use a cricket phrase). Here's a brief rundown on each player.

Ryan Cullen: Cullen is the only returnee from last season, and as such appears to be the best bet for making the team. He spent the last decade bouncing around in the minor leagues, making it as high as AAA in the Mets organization. Cullen joined the Elephants in July of last season, earning 20 saves and posting an ERA of just 0.55 in 29 appearances. He also went 2-0 in the playoffs.

Orlando Roman: Like Cullen, Roman has spent the last decade touring around the minors, making it as high as AAA in the Mets organization. He has spent most of the last three seasons in the Mexican league as a reliever for the Pericos de Puebla. Roman has averaged over a strikeout an inning over the course of his career and would be expected to keep up that pace should he join the Elephants.

Jim Magrane: Like the last two, Magrane has the pitched ten seasons in the minors, making it as high as AAA (Tampa and Washington). He will compete for a starting pitcher berth and was the first import player looked at by the Elephants this spring training.

Carlos Castillo: At 36, Castillo is the oldest invitee and has a ton of experience. He made his MLB debut for the White Sox in 1997, spending three seasons in Chicago before changing his Sox for one last big league season with Boston in 2001.

The following season he took off to Japan to play for the Daiei Hawks. It seems that Castillo has a rough time, spending most of his only season there on the Hawks farm team. Since then, he has spent most of his time in the Independent league.

He will be trying to get a starting spot on the team.

Tracy Thorpe: Ten years in the minors, made it as far as AAA (Seattle, Toronto). Thorpe is a relief pitcher who spent last season in the Atlantic and Mexican leagues.

Ryan Murphy: This guy is 28 years old and I can't seem to find out what he was up to until 2007, when he started playing baseball in the Netherlands (they call it honkball).

He's been on a tear lately though.

Last season, Murphy was awarded the Dutch league MVP and their equivalent of the Cy Young award, posting an ERA of 0.89. He also played as a corner infielder and had a .312 batting average (just for the hell of it, I guess).

Not content with being a Dutch master, Murphy took off down under to play for South Australia in the Claxton Shield. He played mostly as a fielder until deciding to kick some ass and throw a complete game, two-hit shutout in his team's only victory of the best of three final series.

I have no idea what the Elephants plan on doing with this guy.

The Good Guys

2010-02-20T20:30:00.002+08:00

While there have been a boatload of players arrested recently, there have been a few who have managed to avoid the temptation of making a quick buck in exchange for throwing games. One article that I've read mentions two players, Peng Cheng-Min and former Dodger Chen Chin-Feng, for their tough "moral fiber" in rejecting suspicious advances.

Though it's nice to know that not everybody is a crook in the CPBL, I notice that the players mentioned happen to be two of the best, and highest paid, in the league. Not to take anything away from these players, but it must be a lot easier for these guys to turn away from any bribe offers than their teammates who make quite a bit less. That an extremely popular (and well-paid) player like Chen "The Beard" Chih-Yuan appears to have accepted cash for games simply shows an immense amount of greed on his part.

Don't get me wrong, I have a lot of respect for both Peng and Chen (C.F.) and hope they have good seasons this year. But if the league is going to avoid any similar scandals in the future, it'll have to be due to the "tough moral fiber" of every player on the roster, from best to worst.

The Calendar of Crooks

2010-02-18T14:53:00.003+08:00

While it may be the middle of February, it's never too late to get yourself a new calendar; a calendar of crooks!

Making the rounds on the interweb is a new calendar that features prominent figures from the ongoing match-fixing scandal. It's called LET'S GO WIPERS and each month it features a different suspect (whose birthday is celebrated that month).

Get you own copy here. (I couldn't find the original link)

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Liberation Day!

2010-02-17T17:27:00.008+08:00

Wang Chien-ming is no longer a Yankee!

I can't tell you how happy this makes me. I hate the Yankees more than any team in baseball. For the past 5 seasons I've had to endure daily Yankee TV broadcasts (repeated ad nauseam), Yankee shirts, hats, and other paraphernalia wherever I looked, and constant news updates about the team.

No more.

Wang signed a one year deal with Washington today.

Check this stuff out

2010-02-15T15:25:00.004+08:00

I've found a couple of CPBL-related links that you might find interesting.

The first is a nice synopsis of the latest scandal by Jonathan Adams over at globalpost.com , while the second is an in-depth look at Taiwan pro ball uniforms in the 90's from the excellent site uniwatch.com.

Enjoy.

Still Looking for a Scapegoat

2010-02-12T19:21:00.001+08:00

I've read a couple of articles lately that have wondered if the ongoing match-fixing scandal has a connection to two of the more embarrassing moments of Taiwan's baseball history, the national team losses to China during the 2008 Beijing Olympics and 2009 World Baseball Classic.

Unfortunately these same articles recognize that, despite the months of investigations (and mountains of paperwork that have resulted from them), there doesn't appear to be any evidence to support this theory.

I guess I'm a little disappointed by this.

It would be so much easier to take if China's victories were dirty, achieved through bribery or other nefarious means. It's not hard to believe that China would stop at nothing make make Taiwan look bad, especially at such an important event like the Olympics. We already know that there are a few ball players on this side of the strait who can definitely be bought off. It's an easy conspiracy to believe.

If the theory was true, then Taiwan would have a handy scapegoat. The results can be blamed on a few crooked players who are criminals and traitors to their country. Clearly China's victories would be tainted, and local baseball fans could believe that their team is still superior to that from the mainland.

Yet there is no evidence that this is the case.

Unless some kind of proof appears to the contrary, then it seems that the Chinese won because they were the better team that day in 2008. And again in 2009.

That's a bitter pill to swallow.

Bulls Fined For Shafting Yeh

2010-02-11T16:38:00.002+08:00

The Sinon Bulls were fined NT$1.5 million by the Taipei City Labor Board for their "unfriendly attitude" toward player Yeh Chun-chang.

Basically what seems to have happened is that Yeh was fired for his involvement with the players union. Not content with just releasing him, the Bulls attempted to get him blacklisted by announcing that he had "moral and disciplinary problems". This smear tactic temporarily scared off the Elephants, who had shown an interest in signing the player.

But now the matter seems to be closed. Yeh has joined the Elephants, and has just been re-elected as a director of the players union. The Bulls have lost a veteran catcher and a fair bit of cash.

Match-fixing Fallout

2010-02-11T16:11:00.001+08:00

Here's the latest on the CPBL's match-fixing scandal:

the La New Bears are suing 13 of their former players who have plead guilty to accepting bribes
pr osecutors are seeking two year jail terms for players Chang Chih-chia and Chen Chih-yuan
former MLB pitcher Tsao Chin-hui has been released by the Elephants due to his association with known gangsters, though he is not facing any criminal charges