Lions roar to top of standings in CPBL as offense explodes

Slowly, but surely, the bats of the President Lions have awoken.

While strong starting pitching allowed the President Lions to keep pace with the league-leading Sinon Bulls through the first dozen games or so, it is the Lions' bats that helped them pass the Bulls in the last five games to claim top spot in the league standings.

Before the Lions' recent offensive surge it was the solid pitching efforts of starters Joe Davenport (4-0) and rookie Pan Chung-wei (潘威倫) (4-0) that kept the Lions within striking distance.

In the past five games, four of which were against the Bulls, the red-hot Lions have overcome a 1 1/2 game deficit against the Bulls and taken a 1/2 game lead of their own -- over the team that had led in league standings since opening day.

Leading the way for the awesome Lions offense are right fielder Wang Chuan-jia (王傳家), left fielder Lin Hung-yuan (林鴻遠) and designated hitter Chen Lien-hung (陳連宏).

Backing up

Batting third in the order is Wang, who joined the Lions in 1999, after having spent three seasons with the Bulls from 1996 to 1998, and two previous seasons with the former Jung Kuo Bears (俊國熊). He is currently tied with Sinon Bulls' Chang Tai-shan (張泰山) for the lead in the league in home runs with five, and second in RBIs with 18.

A career .291 hitter prior to this season, he has always been known for his "sticky bat."

"He [Wang] has the stickiest bat of all hitters in the league," last season's MVP ChinaTrust ace hurler Soong Jou-ji (宋肇基) told reporters at the start of the season. "It's very hard to get him out because he has great eyes and he can foul off pitches that he doesn't like. Just when you run out of patience and give him something to hit, that's when he can hurt you the most."

`Wild hog'

Behind Wang is Lin, nicknamed the "Wild Hog." Lin's aggressive hitting style has labeled him one of the premier hitters in the league with a batting average of .329, three home runs and a league-leading 21 RBIs.

The seventh-year veteran attributes his recent success to hitting coach and teammate Lou Ming-chin (羅敏卿) for providing him an effective hitter's mentality.

"Lou has helped me out tremendously with his understanding of pitchers around the league. I am a much more effective hitter now because he has taught me how to assess the game situation before every at-bat," Lin was quoted as saying in a local Chinese-language paper.

Taking on the regular designated hitter's duty this year for the Lions is former Whales power hitter Chen Lien-hung (陳連宏).

Chen was acquired by the Lions from the Whales after last season in a three-man trade. With the league's-second-best batting average of .400, Chen provides Lin with some much-needed protection because opposing pitchers can no longer avoid Lin by intentionally walking him.

Chen is the older brother of Chen Chin-feng (陳金峰), who became the first Taiwan-born player to play in a major leagues game late last season with the Los Angeles Dodgers.

In addition to the swapping of league leaders, it was a sad week for the CPBL because of an automobile accident involving three Sinon Bull players and one Lions player.

Fortunately for all parties involved, three of the four players are already in playing condition, while the fourth is still hospitalized but in stable condition.

The drive for a late-night snack by Bulls pitcher Ho Chi-shian (何紀賢) with three other players on April 4 -- during the four-game series between the Lions and the Bulls in Taichung -- ended up with the car smashing into a tree.