It Looks Like a Lot of People Got Their Hopes Up

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.