The four teams of the CPBL will take a break for the weekend, but there is no respite for star players and legends of the game, including Chen Chin-feng and Lin Chung-chiu, who are to compete for glory and prizes at the Xinzhuang Stadium in New Taipei City.
In a break from tradition, the All-Star Game is to be played first, starting tomorrow at 5pm, while the Legend Game starts at 2pm on Sunday, and the popular Home Run Derby is to cap off the annual mid-summer festivities on Sunday evening at 5pm.
Rosters for the Red and White teams to compete at the All-Star Games were determined by month-long balloting by fans, in which the top vote-getters were Chen Ching-feng of the Lamigo Monkeys and Peng Cheng-min (彭政閔) of the Brothers Baseball Club.
Chen, known as “Taiwanese Big Cannon” for his power and clutch homer hits for Taiwan at international tournaments, is the focus of media and fan attention this year because he has announced he would retire at the end of the season, so this will mark his final participation in the All-Stars and the Home Run Derby.
Fans are expected to pay tribute to Chen during the All-Star Weekend action and snap up Chen’s baseball souvenir products, which are to be sold at the ballpark this weekend.
Still enjoying a productive campaign thus far, with a .322 batting average, Chen slammed his 12th home run this season, and 999th homer in club history, to lead the Monkeys to a 10-9 win over the Uni-President Lions in Wednesday’s contest in Hualien City.
As Chen still ranks in the top 20 in most offensive categories, fans and game officials have urged him not to retire, and play for another season.
League commissioner John Wu told Chen at a press briefing last week: “Don’t walk away from the game. The fans want to see you hit more home runs.”
Chen replied: “I have heard these voices, but the decision has already been made, and I have no regret at all.”
In the Legend Game, fans can see old-timers and retired stars in action, including Lin Chung-chiu, the Mercuries Tigers’ home run king in the 1990s, Wu Fu-lien (吳復連), former shortstop and current head coach for Chinatrust, and the famous “Red Dragon” tandem of Chang Chia-hao and Tseng Hua-wei from the heyday of the Sinon Bulls’ champion dynasty.
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