Taiwan’s baseball circles were buzzing with excitement yesterday at the prospect of Lamigo Monkeys slugger Wang Po-jung playing pro ball in Japan next year, as scouts from Nippon Professional Baseball powerhouse the Hansin Tigers attended Lamigo’s home game in Taoyuan last night.
It was the second time this year that the Tigers’ scouting team observed Wang after they visited in May, indicating high interest in signing Wang at the end of the season.
The outfielder’s hitting prowess has helped the Monkeys to three CPBL titles in the past four years and earned him the league’s MVP award the past two seasons.
As of Tuesday, Wang leads most offensive categories with 135 hits in 98 games, including 13 homers, 27 doubles, two triples, 72 RBIs and 81 runs, as well as a 0.353 batting average.
Although experts have said that Wang’s power and hitting have declined this season compared with last year, it could be attributable to injuries and pitching adjustments.
Wang during his second and third CPBL seasons drew attention after earning the “best Taiwanese hitter of his generation” moniker.
He finished 2016 with 29 homers, 40 doubles, 105 RBIs and a 0.414 average batting average, then followed it up last year with 31 homers, 33 doubles, 101 RBIs and a 0.407 batting average.
Wang had made it known that he wants a challenge in a foreign major league next year, since his contract with the Monkeys is to end this season.
“As a pro player, I would like to challenge myself at a higher level, when given the chance, but right now, I have to focus on today’s game, since our team has to get wins and prepare for the playoffs,” he told reporters yesterday.
As of Tuesday, Lamigo are on top of the table for the second half of the season, a half game ahead of the Brothers, with the Uni-President Lions in third and the Fubon Guardians in fourth at two-and-a-half and three games behind respectively.
In other news, 20-year CPBL veteran Chang Tai-shan yesterday announced that he would retire this year.
He finished his CPBL career in 2015 and has played in the Australian Baseball League and in Japan’s Shikoku Island League. He played on the amateur Taiwan Life Insurance team this year.
Known as the “Jungle Prince,” Chang played for the Weichuan Dragons, Sinon Bulls and Uni-President. He accumulated many league records, including most RBIs (1,338), most home runs (289), most doubles (377), most hits (2,234), most runs scored (1,075) and most games played (1,863).
Lamigo won last night’s game against the Brothers 5-1.
Wang was 0-4 at bat, dipping his average to 0.350.
A sumo star was born in Japan on Sunday when 24-year-old Takerufuji became the first wrestler in 110 years to win a top-division tournament on his debut, triumphing at the 15-day Spring Grand Sumo Tournament in Osaka despite injuring his ankle on the penultimate day. Takerufuji, whose injury had left him in a wheelchair outside the ring, shoved out the higher-ranked Gonoyama at the Edion Arena Osaka to the delight of the crowd, giving him an unassailable record of 13 wins and two losses to claim the Emperor’s Cup. “I did it just through willpower. I didn’t really know what was going
The US’ Ilia Malinin on Saturday produced six scintillating quadruple jumps, including a quadruple Axel, in the men’s free skate to capture his first figure skating world title. The 19-year-old nicknamed the “Quad god,” who is the only skater to land a quadruple Axel in competition, dazzled with an array of breathtakingly executed jumps starting with his quad Axel and including a quadruple Lutz in combination with a triple flip and a quadruple toe loop in combination with a triple toe. He added an unexpected triple-triple combination at the end to earn a world-record 227.79 in the free program for a championship
Shohei Ohtani’s interpreter is being criminally investigated by the IRS, and the attorney for his alleged bookmaker said Thursday that the ex-Los Angeles Dodgers employee placed bets on international soccer — but not baseball. The IRS confirmed Thursday that interpreter Ippei Mizuhara and Mathew Bowyer, the alleged illegal bookmaker, are under criminal investigation through the agency’s Los Angeles Field Office. IRS Criminal Investigation spokesperson Scott Villiard said he could not provide additional details. Mizuhara, 39, was fired by the Dodgers on Wednesday following reports from the Los Angeles Times and ESPN about his alleged ties to an illegal bookmaker and debts well
HSIEH MAKES QUARTERS: Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei and Elise Mertens of Belgium won in the women’s doubles and face Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Sofia Kenin of the US Top-ranked Iga Swiatek and US Open champion Coco Gauff were knocked out of the women’s singles at the Miami Open on Monday, while Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei advanced in the women’s doubles. Swiatek lost to Ekaterina Alexandrova 6-4, 6-2, hours after third seed Gauff fell in three sets to No. 23 Caroline Garcia 6-3, 1-6, 6-2. Alexandrova beat a top-ranked player for the first time and advanced to face Jessica Pegula, a 7-6 (7/1), 6-3 winner over Emma Navarro, in the quarter-finals. Alexandrova recorded her second win over Swiatek, following a 2021 victory in Melbourne. Swiatek had won their three matches since. “We played quite