Taiwanese pitcher Wang Chien-ming (王建民) said through his agents yesterday that he can still pitch and would continue to seek opportunities in the US after being released by the Atlanta Braves on Friday last week.
“[My release] is the reality of professional sports,” Wang said in a statement.
“As long as I can pitch, I want to challenge myself,” he said.
Wang said he had signed a contract with the Southern Maryland Blue Crabs, who are part of an independent baseball league that is not affiliated with Major League Baseball, and is set to start for the team tomorrow.
The 35-year-old right-hander seemed well aware that the move could be his last stop in a professional baseball journey that had shown tremendous promise and given him hero status in Taiwan before being derailed by injuries.
“I don’t know if I can return to the major leagues, but I know I love baseball. I realize that as a 35-year-old pitcher with a history of injury, I have to work twice as hard to have a chance,” he said.
Wang was a star player with the New York Yankees from 2005 to 2008, going 54-20 with a 3.79 ERA, but he suffered an injury to his foot while running the bases in Houston in a game against the Astros that started his slide.
While recovering from the foot injury in 2009, he hurt his arm, ending his career with the Yankees.
He then attempted a comeback with the Washington Nationals in 2011 and 2012, and seemed in position to return to the major leagues with an impressive showing for Taiwan in the World Baseball Classic in 2013.
Wang signed with the Toronto Blue Jays in 2013 and had three good outings after being called up to the big league team in June that year.
However, he was sent back down to the minors after struggling in his next three appearances.
He played for the Triple-A teams of the Cincinnati Reds and Chicago White Sox last year, but he was not called up by either major league team while going 13-8 with a 4.13 ERA in the season.
Wang was signed by the Atlanta Braves to a minor league contract in November last year, but performed poorly for the club’s Triple-A team this year, slumping to a 2-6 record with an ERA of 6.10, leading to his release.
A preclearance service to facilitate entry for people traveling to select airports in Japan would be available from Thursday next week to Feb. 25 at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport, Taoyuan International Airport Corp (TIAC) said on Tuesday. The service was first made available to Taiwanese travelers throughout the winter vacation of 2024 and during the Lunar New Year holiday. In addition to flights to the Japanese cities of Hakodate, Asahikawa, Akita, Sendai, Niigata, Okayama, Takamatsu, Kumamoto and Kagoshima, the service would be available to travelers to Kobe and Oita. The service can be accessed by passengers of 15 flight routes operated by
GIVE AND TAKE: Blood demand continues to rise each year, while fewer young donors are available due to the nation’s falling birthrate, a doctor said Blood donors can redeem points earned from donations to obtain limited edition Formosan black bear travel mugs, the Kaohsiung Blood Center said yesterday, as it announced a goal of stocking 20,000 units of blood prior to the Lunar New Year. The last month of the lunar year is National Blood Donation Month, when local centers seek to stockpile blood for use during the Lunar New Year holiday. The blood demand in southern Taiwan — including Tainan and Kaohsiung, as well as Chiayi, Pingtung, Penghu and Taitung counties — is about 2,000 units per day, the center said. The donation campaign aims to boost
ENHANCING EFFICIENCY: The apron can accommodate 16 airplanes overnight at Taoyuan airport while work on the third runway continues, the transport minister said A new temporary overnight parking apron at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport is to start operating on Friday next week to boost operational efficiency while the third runway is being constructed, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications said yesterday. The apron — one of the crucial projects in the construction of the third runway — can accommodate 16 aircraft overnight at the nation’s largest international airport, Minister of Transportation and Communications Chen Shih-kai (陳世凱) told reporters while inspecting the new facility yesterday morning. Aside from providing the airport operator with greater flexibility in aircraft parking during the third runway construction,
American climber Alex Honnold is to attempt a free climb of Taipei 101 today at 9am, with traffic closures around the skyscraper. To accommodate the climb attempt and filming, the Taipei Department of Transportation said traffic controls would be enforced around the Taipei 101 area. If weather conditions delay the climb, the restrictions would be pushed back to tomorrow. Traffic controls would be in place today from 7am to 11am around the Taipei 101 area, the department said. Songzhi Road would be fully closed in both directions between Songlian Road and Xinyi Road Sec 5, it said, adding that bidirectional traffic controls would
RSS