The Lamigo Monkeys, with the ringing endorsement of Taoyuan Mayor Cheng Wen-tsan, yesterday announced that they would hold a victory parade in Taoyuan tomorrow to mark the team’s victory in this year’s Taiwan Series, with the players and coaches to sign autographs for the fans.
Cheng said the parade would start at 11am at the Taoyuan International Baseball Stadium, where the Monkeys are based, with the motorcade traveling through Zhongli District (中壢) before heading downtown.
It is scheduled to finish in the plaza in front of Taoyuan City Government building at about 12:30pm for a series of activities through the afternoon.
For Game 4 of the Taiwan Series on Thursday, Cheng and city officials hosted a “fan zone” party at the plaza with a giant video screen to watch the game live with thousands of local residents, as they witnessed the Monkeys down Brothers Baseball Club 4-2 to clinch the Taoyuan-based franchise their fifth title.
The Taoyuan Police Department also issued a statement yesterday, saying that patrols and traffic controls would be beefed up along the route as large crowds are expected to attend the victory parade.
Monkeys first baseman Chen Chun-hsiun went three for three, with one RBI and one run scored in Thursday’s clincher, and was selected as Most Valuable Player (MVP) for the series.
He had a total of 10 hits in the four games, including hits in seven consecutive at-bats in the final two outings.
“It’s nice to win the MVP honor, but it is better to be a member of this team because we were all in this together through this season. We won both of the half-season titles and did not let up in the post-season, seizing the championship with a collective team effort,” Chen said.
He also thanked the leadership of manager Hung Yi-chung.
It was Hung’s fifth Taiwan Series title.
“This is quite a special year, our team were in winning form most of the time and we only had a few brief low periods, so I hope we can continue this peak form next year,” Hung said.
“Well, Taiwan and all the Brothers fans the end of 2017, and I had a blast managing the Brothers and making a lot of new friends along the way... I will miss Taiwan for a few months, but look forward to seeing you all again next season,” Brothers Baseball Club manager Cory Snyder wrote after the loss.
Many touted Monkeys closer Chen Yu-hsun as a hot candidate for the CPBL MVP this year after he made three appearances in the series and did not yield a single run, while also setting the record for most saves with 37 this season.
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