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Local baseball seeks marriage of convenience

Local baseball is on the verge of unification after a split in the late 1990s that threatened to destroy the game in this country.

Merger talks between the Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL) and Taiwan Major League (TML) are progressing and a deal could be brokered before the new year, a source close to the negotiations said.

It is expected that two of four teams in the TML will move into the CPBL fold and create a new six-team league that could be ready to play ball by next March.

A consultant for the TML, Dean Yuan said a single league was the natural choice but warned that the right system to govern the game was essential.

"I feel that it is the right direction for the two leagues as long as there is an improvement in play.

"There is a long way to go and there needs to be a system in place. We do not want to go back to the old system and regulations. We must move on," Yuan said.

Unifying baseball has been on the cards since October when the two leagues concluded their seasons on winning notes for the CPBL's Brother Elephants and the TML's Taichung Agan.

But the real victor, it now seems, is the CPBL, which proved itself to be the stronger league in terms of the quality of play and fan support.

Taiwan had long been a player at international amateur baseball tournaments, when the CPBL started the nation's first Professional League in 1989.

"Baseball fever" caught on and crowds increased year-on-year, as TV companies outbid each for lucrative rights.

In 1996, however, it all went wrong as betting scandals surfaced and Chiu Fu-sheng (邱復生) of ERA TV (年代) was outbid for the TV rights for the new season and decided to go it alone.

Tales of baseball players having guns pointed at their heads and being told to throw games were rife and deep disaffection set in among fans.

Chiu decided to go it alone and backed the formation of a new league, the TML. Players were poached from the rival organization and a four-team league format was adopted, comprising Taipei Gida, Taichung Agan, Chiayi Luka, and Kaohsiung and Pingtung Fala.

There was little love lost between the two leagues, despite public support for a series between the two or amalgamation.

This was strenuously resisted until recently, when the TML realized it would likely be playing second fiddle to the CPBL for the foreseeable future.

A memorandum signed in early October paved the way for the formation of an entireley new league, but it quickly became clear the CPBL would play hardball and is now insistent it will not be dissolved, but will accept two teams from the TML.

A CPBL General Meeting to discuss the issue will go ahead on Monday.
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