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The President Lions roar back with relief pitching

Closer Michael Garcia of the US is the main reason that the Lions have been able to win so many close games this season. He's 14-for-14 in save opportunities. PHOTO: CPBL

Before the second half of the 2004 Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL) season begins, let us revisit how the first half has gone for each of the six teams in a two-part analysis for today and tomorrow.

First and foremost, the President Lions overcame a slow start (going 6-7-2 in their first 15 contests) to run away with the first-half title -- the biggest surprise of the season thus far.

No one would have thought that the team that barely won half of its games last season (54-39-7) would beat out perennial powerhouses such as the Brother Elephants and the Sinon Bulls for a ticket into the annual Taiwan Series this fall.

Other than second-year starter Pan Wei-luen's (潘威倫) eight wins, which ties Elephants veteran Jonathan Hurst for the league-high mark, no Lions pitcher has more than four victories this season.

American ace Michael Garcia has been spectacular out of the bullpen in his closer's role and is the main reason the Lions have been able to win so many close games. The right-hander from California remains a perfect 14-for-14 in save opportunities converted with an incredible 0.42 ERA in the 42-2/3 innings he's pitched.

He struck out 69 batters while giving up just 18 hits in the 151 batters that he's faced.

Garcia's tremendous dominance late in the game not only took pressure off the starters, it gave the Lions an overwhelming mental boost that helped them to a 15-7 record in games decided by three runs or less.

The Lions offense, meanwhile, managed to score 212 runs on just 392 hits -- the second most efficient squad in the league -- just behind the Elephants, which had 260 runs on 451 hits.

No Lion hitter placed in the top five in any of the major offensive categories, as they succeeded without the presence of a superstar.

There were different heroes on each night as 11 players contributed at one time or another to knocking home the game-winner.

Bulls lose stamina

The Bulls' season started off relatively well as they went 9-4-2 in the first 15 games of the year.

Observers wondered if the Bulls would miss their ace closer Ramon Morel at all.

Morel, who joined Nippon Professional Baseball's Hanshin Tigers during the off-season, converted 30 of 34 save opportunities and was the main reason why the Bulls made it into the 2003 Taiwan Series.

The lack of sound relief pitching led to several late-game collapses during the middle of the first half. Without their recent offensive surge (7-3 in the last 10 games), the Bulls could have easily ended the first half placing fourth, instead of their final second-place finish.

Starting left-hander Jeff Andra was sidelined by a hand injury that made last year's 14-game winner a spectator for the entire month of May.

The spot left vacant by Andra's absence created a big personnel problem for skipper Chen Wei-cheng (陳威成) in the bullpen, especially during the course of a four-game series.

Where have the Elephants gone?

The Elephants actually held the top spot in the league standings during the entire month of May.

If it were not for a recent slide in pitching quality that led to a subpar 3-7 finish, the defending champs could have wrapped up the first half with a few games to spare.

Japanese veteran Nakagomi Sin's trouble with his control has raised his ERA from 1.98 in late May to 2.72 by mid-season.

His ability to keep the already-shaky Elephants bullpen off the mound is likely to play a key role in the team's pursuit of an unprecedented fourth consecutive title.
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