Lamigo Monkeys’ outfielder Wang Po-jung was the biggest winner at the year-end baseball awards event on Friday, taking home the League MVP and five other top honors.
Wang received the most votes for League MVP, beating Kao Kuo-hui of the EDA Rhinos, along with Brothers Baseball Club sluggers Lin Chih-sheng (also known as Ake Ngayaw) and Chiang Chih-hsieng.
The Lamigo star had a breakout year with prolific hitting, setting a new record of 200 hits and the league’s best ever batting average of 0.414.
Photo: Lin Cheng-kung, Taipei Times
He broke the previous CPBL record of 176 hits by Wilton Veras from the Dominican Republic with the Sinon Bulls in 2009, which is difficult with the pro season only being 120 games per team.
Wang also set records for most runs (130), most hits better than a single (72) and most total bases (333).
He ranked in the top five in most offense categories, including home runs (fourth with 29 homers), RBIs (third, 105) and bases stolen (third, 24).
Wang also won the batting king title for best average, top hitter for most hits, as well as best outfielder and the Golden Glove award for his position.
With only 29 appearances last year, he was classified as a first-year player, making him the obvious choice for Rookie of the Year.
“It a surprise to me to win these six awards, it must be for breaking a few hitting records... Maybe there will be pressure on me next year to do even better, which is a good thing,” Wang said at the ceremony. “When there is pressure on me, I feel compelled to improve myself.”
Wang has had expressions of interest from pro baseball scouts overseas.
Wang said he would honor the remainder of his contract with Lamigo, which ends in 2018.
“My goal is to improve next year,” he said. “To do this, I have to remain healthy, continue to hit consistently and stay in the starting lineup.”
“Yes, my goal is to head to pro baseball in other countries, in two years time, if I get the chance,” he said.
Meanwhile, Fubon Financial Holding yesterday took over the EDA Rhinos and dismissed some coaching staff.
Fubon dismissed Rhinos veterans Tsao Chun-yang and farm team head coach Tseng Chih-chen as it took charge of the ballclub.
No new names were announced and the owners said that for the time being the team is to be called “Fubon Professional Team.”
Freddie Freeman homered and drove in four runs, Shohei Ohtani also went deep and Roki Sasaki earned his first major league win as the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Atlanta Braves 10-3 on Saturday night for their seventh straight victory. The Dodgers have won the first two games of the series to improve to 5-0 against Atlanta this year. Los Angeles’ three-game sweep at home early in the season left the Braves 0-7. Sasaki allowed three runs and six hits over five innings. The 23-year-old right-hander gave up a home run to Ozzie Albies, but received plenty of offensive support in his
INTER AWAIT: Superb saves by PSG ’keeper Gianluigi Donnarumma inspired the victory, as Arsenal were punished for misses, including one by Bukayo Saka Arsenal on Wednesday fell short on the big stage again as their painful UEFA Champions League semi-final exit against Paris Saint-Germain left Mikel Arteta to rue his club’s failure to provide him with enough attacking options. Arteta’s side were unable to reach the Champions League final for the first time in 19 years as PSG clinched a tense 2-1 win at Parc des Princes. Trailing 1-0 from last week’s first leg in London, the Gunners made a blistering start to the second leg, but could not convert their chances as Gianluigi Donnarumma’s superb saves inspired PSG’s 3-1 aggregate victory. Arsenal were punished for
Bayern Munich on Sunday were crowned German champions for the 34th time, giving striker Harry Kane his first major trophy, after second-placed Bayer 04 Leverkusen drew 2-2 at SC Freiburg. Bayern’s 3-3 draw at RB Leipzig on Saturday, when the Bavarians came from two goals down to take the lead before conceding a stoppage-time equalizer, meant defending Bundesliga champions Leverkusen needed to win at Freiburg to delay the title party. Leverkusen were two goals down before scoring twice in the final 10 minutes, but Xabi Alonso’s side could not find a third, as Bayern reclaimed the title at the first attempt after
THRILLER: Raphinha gave Barca a 3-2 lead with two minutes remaining of regular time, but Francesco Acerbi equalized the game in the second minute of added time Davide Frattesi on Tuesday fired Inter into the UEFA Champions League final with an extra-time winner that gave the Italians a stunning 4-3 triumph over Barcelona, 7-6 on aggregate. Italy midfielder Frattesi won a tie for the ages under a downpour in Milan when he lashed home in the 99th minute, sending a packed and rocking San Siro wild with joy. Simone Inzaghi’s team will face either Arsenal or Paris Saint-Germain at the end of this month in Munich, Germany, where they would feel they have a great chance to be crowned kings of Europe for a fourth time after
RSS