Taiwanese sports official Tom Peng has been elected to the top post in the Baseball Federation of Asia (BFA), baseball’s governing body in Asia.
He is the first Taiwanese president of the BFA since it was established in 1954. Peng replaces Kang Seung-kyoo of South Korea and will serve a four-year term.
The election was announced last weekend at this year’s International Baseball Federation (IBAF) congress in Tokyo.
“Taiwan has been actively involved in Asian baseball for the past six decades. Finally a Taiwanese official can take up the leadership role for the game in Asia. It is also a recognition and honor for Taiwanese baseball on the world stage,” Peng said after his election.
“Team Taiwan did well at the World Baseball Classic tournament and have revitalized people’s passion for the game in Taiwan. This resurgence will have a tremendous impact on the development of Taiwanese baseball in the next 10 years,” he added.
Peng is vice chairman of the Chinese Taipei Baseball Association (CTBA), Taiwan’s national baseball body, and had already served two previous terms as CTBA chairman from 1998 to 2006.
In the campaigning for BFA president last week, Peng was initially challenged by a rival South Korean candidate who later withdrew. Peng was then unanimously elected to the top post by all 17 members of the BFA voting body, who represent the various national governing bodies of the association’s member countries.
Peng also announced that Lin Hua-wei, who was coach of the Taiwan national team for 12 years and a star player in the 1980s, will be the new BFA secretary-general.
According to information from the CTBA, of the current 24 BFA member countries, two-thirds are “still in a nascent state of developing the game.”
As such, one major goal for Peng as president is to help these nations promote the game at grassroots levels, especially Little Leagues and amateur baseball.
One important outcome from the IBAF congress in Tokyo was ratification for the creation of a new global sporting body, the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC).
This new organization is the result of a merger between the IBAF, world baseball’s governing body, and the International Softball Federation for a global campaign effort to get baseball and softball back in the Olympic Games.
“This is an historic day,” IBAF president and WBSC co-president Riccardo Fraccari said.
“We have brought a new level of worldwide unity and determination to our quest to return to the Olympics. The 65 million currently playing baseball and softball around the world now have a single federation to rally behind,” he said.
At the congress, Peng was also elected as an IBAF vice president, joining Alonso Perez of Mexico and Antonio Castro of Cuba as one of the global body’s three vice presidents.
Boston Red Sox pitcher Connelly Early on Tuesday struck out 11 in five shutout innings to match a franchise record during his MLB debut against the Oakland Athletics. “Pretty sick performance,” teammate Romy Gonzalez said. “It was fun to watch.” The only other Red Sox starter to rack up 11 strikeouts in his first career game was Don Aase versus the Milwaukee Brewers on July 26, 1977. “It was amazing, just to go out there and have that first opportunity,” Early said after getting the win in a 6-0 victory. “A long day of travel yesterday and just getting to the field, seeing
‘DEVASTATED’: Argentina’s win was a reversal of their 28-24 defeat last week, with Australian forward Fraser McReight adding that ‘we did the same thing last week’ Argentina flyhalf Santiago Carreras punished an undisciplined Australia with 23 points off the tee as the Pumas held on grimly for a 28-26 win in Sydney yesterday to breathe new life into their Rugby Championship campaign. A try-fest beckoned in afternoon sunshine at Sydney Football Stadium, but Argentina needed only one through captain Julian Montoya, with Carreras doing the damage with seven penalties and a conversion in front of a sell-out crowd. A week after letting a 14-point lead slip in a 28-24 defeat to Australia in Townsville, Argentina saw most of a 21-point advantage erased in the final quarter as the
ELEVEN STRIKEOUTS: Blake Snell allowed two singles and two walks against the Rockies as he ended a personal three-game skid with his first win since Aug. 16 Blake Snell on Wednesday struck out a season-high 11 in six innings, while Mookie Betts hit a grand slam in the eighth as the Los Angeles Dodgers defeated the Colorado Rockies 9-0 for their fourth straight win. Helped by their third series sweep of the Rockies this MLB season, the Dodgers increased their National League West lead to three games over the San Diego Padres, who lost 2-1 at home to the Cincinnati Reds. Betts went four for five with five RBIs, capped by his seventh career slam on a 3-0 pitch from reliever Anthony Molina to make it 8-0. Andy Pages and
Captain Vijay Kumar led the way yesterday as the Hsinchu Titans claimed the Taiwan Premier League title at the Yingfeng Cricket Ground in Taipei’s Songshan District (松山), beating PCCT by 27 runs. The weather was a topic again, but not the rain that played a role in previous matches in the often-delayed tournament. Kumar, who made 80 not out from 63 deliveries, and teammate Vishwajit Kumar (58 from 43) rescued the Titans from a precarious state at the end of the power play in the T20 match. The visitors were put in to bat and struggled to 26-3 as PCCT
RSS