Cobras need old gear back
Confused Macoto Cobras players are scrambling to recover baseball clothing and equipment they had given to friends and family after learning that they will need it this season after all, the Chinese-language China Times reported yesterday.
In January Macoto Bank reached an agreement to sell the team to a firm called Chiuho International (九禾國際開發股份有限公司), but the CPBL has been holding up the deal because it says the company doesn't have the financial resources to support a baseball team.
After the team prematurely revealed its new name and logo in January, many players expected to be playing for the new "Chiuho Dragons" this year and gave away their old gear to friends as memorabilia. But just after the Lunar New Year holiday the league announced that because of the controversy over the sale, the team would remain the Macoto Cobras this year.
Team officials said they were investigating what equipment was missing and needed to be replaced.
Coffie's big helmet arrives
In more encouraging team news, Macoto third baseman Ivanon Coffie has been able to flex his muscles at the plate now that his new extra-large batting helmet has arrived. Coffie had been kept from batting because he couldn't find a helmet big enough to fit him.
During the fifth inning of the team's last scrimmage on Wednesday, Coffie belted his first home run since coming to Taiwan from the Netherlands this year, going 2 for 5 on the day.
Futsal qualifying starts
The preliminary qualifier for the Asia Futsal Cup indoor soccer tournament got underway at Sinjhuang Stadium in Taipei County last night.
Eight teams are competing for four spots to compete in the finals in Japan in May. Taiwan is grouped with Lebanon, the Maldives and the Philippines in Group A, while Iraq, South Korea, Indonesia and Guam are in Group B.
The probable contenders and losers of the tournament became apparent on the first day. Lebanon beat the Philippines 8-2, South Korea beat Indonesia 6-1 and Iraq obliterated Guam 19-0.
Taiwan was leading the Maldives 1-0 at press time last night, and will play the Philippines at 7pm tomorrow.
A sumo star was born in Japan on Sunday when 24-year-old Takerufuji became the first wrestler in 110 years to win a top-division tournament on his debut, triumphing at the 15-day Spring Grand Sumo Tournament in Osaka despite injuring his ankle on the penultimate day. Takerufuji, whose injury had left him in a wheelchair outside the ring, shoved out the higher-ranked Gonoyama at the Edion Arena Osaka to the delight of the crowd, giving him an unassailable record of 13 wins and two losses to claim the Emperor’s Cup. “I did it just through willpower. I didn’t really know what was going
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Shohei Ohtani’s interpreter is being criminally investigated by the IRS, and the attorney for his alleged bookmaker said Thursday that the ex-Los Angeles Dodgers employee placed bets on international soccer — but not baseball. The IRS confirmed Thursday that interpreter Ippei Mizuhara and Mathew Bowyer, the alleged illegal bookmaker, are under criminal investigation through the agency’s Los Angeles Field Office. IRS Criminal Investigation spokesperson Scott Villiard said he could not provide additional details. Mizuhara, 39, was fired by the Dodgers on Wednesday following reports from the Los Angeles Times and ESPN about his alleged ties to an illegal bookmaker and debts well
MLB on Friday announced a formal investigation into the scandal swirling around Shohei Ohtani and his former interpreter amid charges that the Los Angeles Dodgers superstar was the victim of “massive theft.” The Dodgers on Wednesday fired Ippei Mizuhara, Ohtani’s long-time interpreter and close friend, after Ohtani’s representatives alleged that the Japanese two-way star had been the victim of theft, which was reported to involve millions of dollars and link Mizuhara to a suspected illegal bookmaker in California. “Major League Baseball has been gathering information since we learned about the allegations involving Shohei Ohtani and Ippei Mizuhara from the news media,” MLB