Hsu Ming-chieh became the oldest Taiwanese player in the Chinese professional Baseball League to pitch an entire game and complete a shutout earlier this week when he went the distance on a four-hitter to lift the Lamigo Monkeys past the Chinatrust Brother Elephants at the age of 37.
The Greater Kaohsiung native, who began what has ended up being a 14-year career in Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball in 2000 with the Saitama Seibu Lions (from 2000 to 2011) and the Orix Buffaloes (in 2012 and last year) before returning to Taiwan to play out his career with the Primates, has finally found his groove after a rocky beginning in his first five starts that saw him go 1-2 with a 5.18 earned run average (ERA) over 33 innings pitched.
Even though he has not been dominating opposing hitters like he did in the past — his velocity is lower than it was in his heyday — he is still painting the corners of the plate and getting the hitters to swing at pitches in the dirt as well as anyone has done.
“I know I can’t blow the pitches by people like I used to be able to do, but with what I’ve learned over the years in Japan, I hope I can still compete effectively and show some of the younger guys what this game is all about,” Hsu said after signing with the Monkeys during the off-season to show his desire to give back to the game.
Hsu’s rediscovered success will undoubtedly give the top-ranked Primates a big boost in a staff that boasts three of the top-five hurlers in total wins, including Miguel Mejia (4), Ken Ray (3) and Chen Yu-hsun (3).
Meanwhile, the results for the Most Valuable Players of the Month last month were announced this week, with Andy Sisco of the EDA Rhinos and teammate Lin Yi-chuan being named the MVPs in pitching and hitting respectively.
Sisco went 3-1 with a 1.29 ERA in six starts, while Lin batted 29-for-78 (.372) with 15 RBIs and one home run in 21 games.
Sisco and Lin are the main reasons that the third placed Rhinos managed to salvage a 10-11 mark in their 21 games last month after starting off with a dismal 3-8 record to drop to the cellar in the standings midway through the month.
The Rakuten Monkeys on Sunday downed the CTBC Brothers 2-1, handing the hosts their second consecutive loss in the best-of-seven CPBL Taiwan Series at the Taipei Dome. Monkeys’ ace starter Pedro Fernandez of the Dominican Republic dominated on the mound, cruising through six scoreless innings before giving up a run on a wild pitch in the bottom of the seventh inning. He gave up only three hits and walked two batters in a 93-pitch outing, giving his Taoyuan-based team an edge. Offensively, the Monkeys’ leadoff batter Lin Li hit Brothers starter Brandon Leibrandt’s pitch over the center-field wall in the game’s first at-bat,
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