The merger of the two leagues at the start of the season was the just the shot in the arm that local professional baseball needed. The merger consolidated resources and provided fans with a single venue to enjoy the game.
As far as player achievements, Sinon Bulls slugger Chang Tai-shan (
He was also the first local player to reach the "double-century" mark (100 home runs and 100 stolen bases); he had the most home runs in a single season by a local player (27); and was the first player to have a 20-20 season (20 home runs and 20 stolen bases).
President Lions first baseman Wang Chuan-jia (
Wang's awesome display of power undoubtedly changed the way fans look at the local hitters.
Osvaldo Martinez of the Bulls surpassed former Lions pitcher and current manager Hsieh Chang-hern's (
The race for most stolen bases between Chinatrust Whales speedster Chi Jung-lin (
As far as team achievements, the top honor goes to the dramatic turnaround of the entire Brother Elephants squad. After starting out the first month with a 3-10-1 record, the Elephants pulled together and completed the season with the best winning percentage in league history at .670.
Despite the Bulls' losing effort in the Taiwan Series, the first-half champs deserve mention for their overwhelming dominance early in in the season. It took the Bulls only 11 games to reach the 10-win plateau, the fastest in league history.
Changes during the course of the season played a key role in First Securities Agan's turnaround.
The most crucial coaching adjustment came with manager Hsu Sheng-ming's (
Elephants manager Lin Yi-tseng's (
Sin's amazing run in September (4-0 with 1.00 ERA) with a victory in Game 1 of the Taiwan Series proved the decision to be correct.
The most critical play of the season was during the four-game series between the Lions and Elephants in the first week of September.
Leading the second-placed Lions by a slim 1/2-game margin, the Elephants' were able to gain a three-game edge over the Lions that essentially put the Lions out of the title race. The scrappy Elephants did so by forcing a tie and winning two one-run games.
Revelations of positive doping tests for nearly two dozen Chinese swimmers that went unpunished sparked an intense flurry of accusations and legal threats between the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the head of the US drug-fighting organization, who has long been one of WADA’s fiercest critics. WADA on Saturday said it was turning to legal counsel to address a statement released by US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) CEO Travis Tygart, who said WADA and anti-doping authorities in China swept positive tests “under the carpet by failing to fairly and evenly follow the global rules that apply to everyone else in the world.” The
Taiwanese judoka Yang Yung-wei on Saturday won silver in the men’s under-60kg category at the Asian Judo Championships in Hong Kong. Nicknamed the “judo heartthrob” in Taiwan, the Olympic silver-medalist missed out on his first Asian Championships gold when he lost to Japanese judoka Taiki Nakamura in the finals. Yang defeated three opponents on Saturday to reach the final after receiving a bye through the round of 32. He first topped Laotian Soukphaxay Sithisane in the round of 16 with two seoi nage (over-the-shoulder throws), then ousted Indian Vijay Kumar Yadav in the quarter-finals with his signature ude hishigi sankaku gatame (triangular armlock). He
Rafael Nadal on Wednesday said the upcoming French Open would be the moment to “give everything and die” on the court after his comeback from injury in Barcelona was curtailed by Alex de Minaur. The 22-time Grand Slam title winner, back playing this week after three months on the sidelines, battled well, but eventually crumbled 7-5, 6-1 against the world No. 11 from Australia in the second round. Nadal, 37, who missed virtually all of last season, is hoping to compete at the French Open next month where he is the record 14-time champion. The Spaniard said the clash with De Minaur was
RALLY: It was only the second time the Taiwanese has partnered with Kudermetova, and the match seemed tight until they won seven points in a row to take the last set 10-2 Taiwan’s Chan Hao-ching and Russia’s Veronika Kudermetova on Sunday won the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix women’s doubles final in Stuttgart, Germany. The pair defeated Norway’s Ulrikke Eikeri and Estonia’s Ingrid Neel 4-6, 6-3, 10-2 in a tightly contested match at the WTA 500 tournament. Chan and Kudermetova fell 4-6 in the first set after having their serve broken three times, although they played increasingly well. They fought back in the second set and managed to break their opponents’ serve in the eighth game to triumph 6-3. In the tiebreaker, Chan and Kudermetova took a 3-0 lead before their opponents clawed back two points, but