More than 10,000 screaming fans are expected to flock to the Taipei Municipal Baseball Stadium in Tianmu this afternoon as the Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL) opens its 23rd season with a showdown between the Uni-President Lions and the Brother Elephants at 5:05 pm.
The highly anticipated rematch of the 2009 Taiwan Series that saw the Lions rally from a 2-3 deficit to blow past the Elephants with back-to-back victories in Game 6 and Game 7 will feature a pair of fresh starting arms as the Lions send newcomer Jon Leicester to the mound to take on local rookie sensation Lin Yu-ching of the Elephants.
“It’s a dream come true for me to be able to start off the season for my favorite team,” Lin said during the opening day press conference at the Brother Hotel in Taipei yesterday afternoon.
Photo: CNA
Lin has been an Elephant fan all his life and will try to give his club a leg up on the rest of the league with a good start this afternoon.
“You’d think that we would go with a more experienced player to start the season, but [Lin] is really our best starter at this moment, with the foreigner [Leicester] still trying to adjust to our system,” Elephants manager Chen Rei-chen said about his decision to start a rookie.
Leading the offense for the Elephants will be team icon Peng “Chia Chia” Cheng-min, who hopes to celebrate his multiyear contract that includes a guaranteed NT$500,000 a month with a promising season at the plate.
The Big Cats, who went through an eventful offseason with veteran manager Lu Wen-sheng abruptly stepping down after he admitted to tipping off sports gamblers prior to games, will look to put their woes behind them.
Replacing Lu on an interim basis will be Terushi Nakashima of Japan, who could not wait for the season to begin in order to put the off-field distractions behind him.
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