Yeh "The Savior" Chien-wen (葉賢文) thanks his lucky glove for the success he has been enjoying as a pitcher this season, after three years in the wilderness.
In a season full of dramatic turnarounds, the Taipei Gida pitcher has gone from playing a support role for his team to being the center of attention.
PHOTO: AFP
Instead of playing sporadically, Yeh is now considered the "go-to guy" on a team full of superstars.
And it's a lucky glove from his manager that is partly the reason.
The glove manager Ishii gave Yeh was the same one he had used in his All-Star days with the Nippon Ham Fighters of the Japanese Pacific League.
Ishii says the glove has made Yeh more successful because "confidence was what was missing in [him] before this season."
Yeh believes Ishii's pitching glove has been a lucky charm that has given him an invisible power he lacked previously.
As a result, people in local baseball now call him "The Savior," because most of his victories this season have snapped losing-streaks by his team.
Now, in the middle of a seven-game winning streak, Yeh has puzzled and frustrated hitters with his pinpoint control and confidence under pressure.
The common belief among managers is that Yeh is mentally and technically as sound as anyone in the game.
His eight wins so far this season have nearly doubled his tally of five over the past three season, while his current ERA of 2.65 is less than half of what it was [5.53] over the previous three seasons. .
Besides being the most-talked-about player of the season thus far, Yeh's dramatic turnaround has also won him the monthly TML MVP honor for July and clearly puts him ahead of the pack for the Most Improved Player Award issued at the end of the season.
For Yeh, who is unfamiliar with the spotlight, his recent successes have been the result of countless hours of hard work.
After a mediocre amateur career with various teams and three not-so-impressive professional seasons with the Taipei Gida, the 28-year-old native of Taitung's A-Mei tribe has finally blossomed as a star player.
According to Yeh, in a recent interview with a TML reporter, "My achievements so far this season owe a great deal to Gida manager Ishii and pitching coach Huang Ping-yang's (
Agan fall to Fala
In a nailbiting finish the Kaohsiung Fala was victorious over the Taichung Agan, winning by just one run, 5-4.
Fala starter Lee Fong-hwa gave up three quick runs but managed to keep the Agan hitters in check, until he left in the seventh inning.
After the seventh inning it was 4-3.
His counterpart Lee Ming-ching was tagged for all five runs.
The loss pushed his record to three wins and six losses for the season, even though he had the fifth-best ERA in the league going into this game.
Hsieh of the Fala hit his 13th home run.
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