Outline of new league for local baseball on the table

PHOTO: JULES QUARTLY, TAIPEI TIMES

Baseball are working on the blueprint for a new league and could announce its formation this Friday, Taiwan Major League (TML) Professional Baseball General Secretary Sung Shou-chih (宋守智) said yesterday.

"This will not be a merger," he said, "this will be the formation of a new league."

Presently, professional baseball in Taiwan is run by the competing Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL) and the TML, both of which recently finished their seasons.

The Brother Elephants beat Chinatrust Whales in the CPBL series and Taichung Agan defeated Kaohsiung Fala in the TML.

As in the previous three seasons, however, as soon as the final games end talks on forming a single professional baseball league begin.

Those in favor of a single league say that it's the obvious choice and has worked elsewhere. They say it will reduce administration costs and increase income.

President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) and the government have put forward various initiatives over the years to achieve this, saying a single league would be better for Taiwan baseball in terms of international competition and be popular with fans.

"This will not be a merger, this will be the formation of a new league?"

Sung Shou-chi, TML general secretary

The intransigence of the two competing leagues has made this impossible so far.

The better established CPBL does not want to give up control since it was behind the formation of the first professional league and has the wider fan base.

The TML is controlled by the deep pockets of media magnate Chiu Fu-sheng (邱復生), who has shown that he will do what it takes to retain his influence over the game in this country.

In an attempt to find a way out of the impasse, National Council of Physical Fitness and Sports Chairman Lin Teh-fu (林德福) has been involved in discussions which aim to cut the number of CPBL teams from four to three-and-a-half, with the Sinon Bulls folding and linking with the TML's Kaohsiung Fala.

The TML will also lose Chiayi Luka, which is said to have been disbanded already. Both leagues would then voluntarily disband and allow the formation of a new six-team league -- which has been given the working name Taiwan Professional Baseball League.

Where initiative founders is in the Sports Council's insistence the CPBL should pay the TML NT$80 million in compensation for losing its teams.

This is unacceptable to CPBL bosses, who do not see why they should pay the price for success.

"Why should we pay to dissolve ourselves, pay other people and then lose our league? It's crazy," a CPBL spokesman said.

He said the sports council Web site had been deluged with complaints over the weekend, causing it to crash.

"A decision is not going to be made before Friday because three out of the five people needed for a decision are out of the country," the CPBL spokesman said.

There have also been concerns that staffers in the two leagues will lose their jobs as a result of the formation of the new league.

But TML general secretary Sung countered by saying this was not a major stumbling block.

"Professional baseball in Taiwan is not just the TML's or the CPBL's, it's for everyone," he said.

"The new league will improve business and make more jobs for everyone."