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Baseball players suspended in match-fixing probe

Former US major league baseball player Cory Bailey and two Taiwanese players were suspended yesterday because of their alleged involvement in match fixing, baseball authorities said yesterday.

“If the players are involved in match fixing, we will terminate their contracts and seek damages,” Chinese Professional Baseball League secretary-general Lee Wen-pin (李文彬) told reporters.

Bailey, 37, has played in the US major and minor leagues since 2001 and also played for Japan’s Yomiuri Giants in 2003.

He played for Taiwan’s La New Bears in 2004 and 2005 before returning to the US to play for the Chicago Cubs.

He returned to Taiwan in April to play for dmedia T-Rex and has been the team’s coach since last month.

The scandal erupted on Wednesday when prosecutors detained six T-Rex members — including the manager and coach — and four bookies for allegedly fixing 10 matches since March.

The Banciao Prosecutors’ Office said T-Rex executive director Shih Chien-hsin (施建新) has confessed to using a gangster ring to run the team and fix matches.

Bailey was released on NT$100,000 bail and catcher Chen Ker-fan (陳克帆) and central outfielder Chen Yuan-chia (陳元甲) were released on NT$50,000 bail yesterday each. All three were suspended indefinitely by the team.

Prosecutors have also filed a request to detain alleged gangsters Lin Bing-wen (林秉文), Lin Ting-yu (林霆祐), Lin Chia-ching (林家慶), Lin Ching-chang (林慶昌), as well as dmedia spokesman Kuo Teh-chih (郭德志) and assistant manager Wu Chao-hui (吳昭輝).

Banciao District Court had yet to announce its decision on the request as of press time.

Banciao Prosecutor Wang Cheng-hao (王正皓) is leading an investigation into the amount of money involved in the alleged match fixing and whether more players were involved. Calling himself a long-term baseball fan, Wang said he was disappointed by the case.

“A case like this is the last thing I want to see. I do not see any hope for Taiwan’s professional baseball league,” he said.

The Sports Affairs Council urged prosecutors to thoroughly probe the scandal.

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